All that is wrong with the world today.

The PC Monster Part 1

Part 2

I'm off to find a "safe space" :-)

For our Mr. Left/Right. Read it through to the end.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2017/01/difference-left-wing-populism-170112162814894.html

The difference between right and left-wing populism
Right-wing populism evokes fear, left-wing populism - hope.

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For our Mr. Left/Right. Read it through to the end.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2017/01/difference-left-wing-populism-170112162814894.html

The difference between right and left-wing populism
Right-wing populism evokes fear, left-wing populism - hope.

Yep, we hope that the idiots of the world will learn. :-)

Cheers.

For our Mr. Left/Right. Read it through to the end.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2017/01/difference-left-wing-populism-170112162814894.html

The difference between right and left-wing populism
Right-wing populism evokes fear, left-wing populism - hope.

Yep, we hope that the idiots of the world will learn. :-)

Cheers.

Wiggo,

Yes, but exactly WHO are the 'idiots', and why do you use such an insulting term?

The article that Gary linked correctly (in my opinion) lays out a case against populism in total, but then does some hand waving and claims that it only applies to right-wing (and not left-wing) populism.

Although both apply the same principle - bringing together a crowd around a political idea in order to shape an "us" against a "them" - the concepts used to define these groups are radically different. This is also evident in the emotions each side uses to mobilise voters: fear of the foreigner on the right and hope for a better future on the left. The former is rooted in hatred and indifference, and the latter, in justice and equality.

The right-wing populism of Donald Trump and Nigel Farage, expressed in their "Make America Great Again" and "Leave" campaigns, restricts the national identity of "the people", excluding immigrants, refugees, and any Other definable as "foreign" to a sentimental ideal.

Although exclusion is also present in the left-wing populism of Bernie Sanders and Pablo Iglesias, they do not exclude categories of people but rather those sectors of the establishment in the service of neo-liberal global corporations.

Both bring together a crowd using emotion to stir up an 'us vs. them mentality'....

But... BOTH sides evoke both fear AND hope...

The article mentions only 3 choices in politics... right-wing populism (Trump), left-wing populism (Sanders), and the 'neo-liberal establishment third-way' (Clinton)... There are more choices than that.

The article makes several good points about the negatives of populism, but then claims, without any factual justification, that these points do not apply to left-wing populism, right after admitting that they do.. hand-waving. "It's not bad when the left does it", somehow... BS.

As to your use of the term 'idiots'... You do realize that per this article, you are put in the right-wing populist camp? Your frequent praising of Australia and condemnation of much of the rest of the world makes you a.... wait for it... nationalist.

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https://youtu.be/iY57ErBkFFE

#Texit

Don't blame me, I voted for Johnson(L) in 2016.

Truth is dangerous... especially when it challenges those in power.

All that is wrong with the world today.

The PC Monster Part 1

Part 2

I'm off to find a "safe space" :-)

LOL

The roles have been completely reversed. Whereas today's leftist student movement is willing to sacrifice the freedom of speech -- fought for by their political predecessors - on the altar of trigger warnings and "safe spaces," this right is now being defended by the very same right-wing whose political antecedents sought to prevent it back in the day.

This new right can be seen every day on Fox News. The cable network interprets freedom of speech to mean the right to insult. And that freedom of expression also provides a license to spread untruths.

I agree with some of it.. The first paragraph of my quote is spot-on. It IS strange that the left has abandoned freedom of speech, while the right has embraced it.

But the next part...

Of COURSE, freedom of speech MUST include 'freedom to insult'. Really... If one's "speech" can be shut down by someone else's claim of being 'offended', then one does not truly have "freedom of speech", does one?

And "license to spread untruths"... ALL do that. CNN does that. Al-Jazeera does that. (MS)NBC does that. Both ABCs do that. ITAR-TASS does that. Xinhua does that. VOA does that (in spades). The NYT does it. The BBC does it. Der Spiegel does it. AP, UPI, Reuters, AFP... they do it. And yes, Fox News does it. They ALL spread exaggerations, outright lies, and exercise editorial decisions to shape public opinion and/or their pet political agenda. ALL of them.

The only sane thing to do, in my opinion, is to 'consume' media from a wide variety of sources... Just like getting a 'balanced diet', you need (at least in my opinion) a 'balanced world-view and perspective'.

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https://youtu.be/iY57ErBkFFE

#Texit

Don't blame me, I voted for Johnson(L) in 2016.

Truth is dangerous... especially when it challenges those in power.

Economic growth helps everyone. It is NOT a 'zero-sum game'.

Yes. Well perhaps not in the US.
This visualization shows you 35 years of US income inequality.
This is however actually a trend in the western world...
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/11/this-visualization-shows-you-35-years-of-us-income-inequality
The largest section (in yellow) shows the bottom 90% in the US.
From 1979 to 2014, their share of income fell from 67.65% to 52.66%.

But Trump will fix that. It's gonna be Great:)

You are forced to give rich people your money every time you are denied a raise or given a smaller raise than they can afford. You are forced to give rich people your money every time your employer profits a dollar and doesn't give you any.

Rich people aren't necessarily bad or evil. But the system in which we function encourages greed and encourages them to screw us .

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#resist

You are forced to give rich people your money every time you are denied a raise or given a smaller raise than they can afford. You are forced to give rich people your money every time your employer profits a dollar and doesn't give you any.

Rich people aren't necessarily bad or evil. But the system in which we function encourages greed and encourages them to screw us .

The reason your employer exists is to profit from your labor. If they did not, the company would close and you would not have a job.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

But Mark, I don't feel it's asking too much that they share a bit of the profits with me.

By all means, let them profit. Just give me (us) even a tiny bit!

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#resist

But Mark, I don't feel it's asking too much that they share a bit of the profits with me.

By all means, let them profit. Just give me (us) even a tiny bit!

Well, MY employer certainly does.
I have no complaints there.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

Quotation: "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."

Was used by a number of famous figures, including Frederick Douglass, James Buchanan, and William Henry Harrison.

It can be traced back, ultimately, to John Philpot Curran's statement, "The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt."

The natural state of the human race is for the powerful to rule mercilessly over the weak.

Well, perhaps a more famous, or at least more modern, instance of that quote...

"The price of freedom is eternal vigilance... Remember, it CAN happen here!"

John Bloom, writing as Joe Bob Briggs, drive-in movie critic for the Fort Worth, Texas newspaper, the Star-Telegram. It was the tagline near the end of (almost?) all of his drive-in movie reviews.

I quoted him here a few years ago...
http://setiweb.ssl.berkeley.edu/forum_thread.php?id=74146&postid=1479839

And I like that quote you used... Though you did leave off the first line.

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https://youtu.be/iY57ErBkFFE

#Texit

Don't blame me, I voted for Johnson(L) in 2016.

Truth is dangerous... especially when it challenges those in power.

But Mark, I don't feel it's asking too much that they share a bit of the profits with me.

By all means, let them profit. Just give me (us) even a tiny bit!

Well, they kind of do share it. In both Taxes and Wages.

The employer pays his employees their wages... That is the employer buys the employee's labor at a price they mutually agree on. If the employee feels it is not enough, they can always either quit or not take the job to begin with. Either find another job that will pay more, or go into business for yourself.

If enough people feel that the Taxes are not enough, well... that is why we have elected representatives in Government... the taxes can be increased thusly.

Just don't be an indolent whiner. Either do something to help yourself, or hush.

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https://youtu.be/iY57ErBkFFE

#Texit

Don't blame me, I voted for Johnson(L) in 2016.

Truth is dangerous... especially when it challenges those in power.

But Mark, I don't feel it's asking too much that they share a bit of the profits with me.

By all means, let them profit. Just give me (us) even a tiny bit!

Well, they kind of do share it. In both Taxes and Wages.

The employer pays his employees their wages... That is the employer buys the employee's labor at a price they mutually agree on. If the employee feels it is not enough, they can always either quit or not take the job to begin with. Either find another job that will pay more, or go into business for yourself.

If enough people feel that the Taxes are not enough, well... that is why we have elected representatives in Government... the taxes can be increased thusly.

Just don't be an indolent whiner. Either do something to help yourself, or hush.

As I said before .... .

Yes, one can seek better (higher paying( employment.
But that search requires time and money.
Time above and beyond the current work.
Money to send one's transcripts, for example.
To travel to job interviews.
T move to the new job.
So on and so forth.

You often point out factors people miss, yet you leave out many factors as well.

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Capitalize on this good fortune, one word can bring you round ... changes.

Yes, one can seek better (higher paying( employment.
But that search requires time and money.
Time above and beyond the current work.
Money to send one's transcripts, for example.
To travel to job interviews.
T move to the new job.
So on and so forth.
You often point out factors people miss, yet you leave out many factors as well.

Sounds very familary to me and I'm sure to many other Europeans as well.
Blaming people to not work where it's no need for work to be done!

Note to other Posters.

Are you enjoying The Lefts squirming, as I am?

Translation: "Help! I'm being attacked and I sure could use some help from some of the people that have been battling these lefties on the forums. They're starting to make me defensive and I'm losing my cool. Sure could use some backup!"

Nope.

One Non Left or Right poster, with one hand tied behind his back. Can defeated the silliness, and worse, of a Universe of Ideologues.

BTW: You guys are sinking faster and faster.

Translation: "Never show them blood! Never show them your sweat! Never let on how bad you're doing so long as you keep saying you are winning, you're winning!"

I kinda feel like a cat toying with a mouse. I would almost feel bad if you didn't do this to yourself.

I am enjoying this.

BTW: You are the mouse. But you don't understand it.

Excusing "So the Palestinians should be kicked out of Gaza by an invading horde of Jews with an army?

As if one described a Black African Country, invading a White African Country as:

"So the Whites should be kicked out of... by an invading horde of Blacks with an army?"

Pure Racist Comment. As "hoard of Jews' is pure Anti Semitism.

Case closed.

https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=horde&qs_version=NIV

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Capitalize on this good fortune, one word can bring you round ... changes.

https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=horde&qs_version=NIV

Oh dear.
When did the US Elections and voters start to consider to old Bible texts?

https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=horde&qs_version=NIV

Oh dear.
When did the US Elections and voters start to consider to old Bible texts?

There has been a block of them going back many years. Sometimes on the left, sometimes on the right, but always objectionable and unwilling to reason.

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Only one more day until Nixo- I mean Trump, takes over.



@Guy, yes, sometimes you can work you @ss off, and be smart and get ahead. I too have worked very hard to even get to a point where I can save anything at all, and on my current path I will obtain a better retirement than any of my close friends and even family will (because they too are irresponsible with their money). That said, there are many of us out here who are still grossly underpaid, and my ability to save for retirement certainly comes at a cost (lower standard of living), and any little disaster or illness or unforseen consequence in my life could certainly wipe out everything I've worked so hard to save.
---Good thing we have the 'greatest jobs president' coming in to power now, which will certainly put upward pressure on my wages, I mean, that's what Republican presidents do, right??

oh, and as a proponent of single payer healthcare as I've mentioned many times, I would rather we all pay a little in taxes every week into a socialized system (like Medicare for example) and everyone have coverage. the ACA is not my ideal system, but I also cannot advocate a repeal-without-replace, because then we are once again just leaving our brothers and sisters behind to die.
It's all too easy for those who have, to not care about those who don't and can't have. There aren't jobs for everyone and even people with jobs often don't have access to health care.
What do you suppose those people should do??

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#resist