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>This is why things are so volatile and dangerous now. In a few short years, a decade perhaps, China would not have the manpower or political will to accomplish it's geopolitical goals… Unfortunately going by the examples of history I suspect being in civilizational remission is going to make them worse both to their neighbours and to their own people.

Yeah, the hope that a population crash would cause a lowering of tensions instead of a rise was overly optimistic. For a supposed rising power, China's dalliance with "wolf warrior diplomacy" has also shown them to be aggressive and defensive, more similar to a failing empire.

With all that's said about the problems with the West, we're not the only ones with problems. Despite everything, the US is the country where people go to.

>A good point; what the WEF billionaires seem to desire is more a sort of feudalism. Feudalism with a thin veneer of "environmentalism" to try and stop people from looking too closely.

A main underpinning of Feudalism is the noble class monopoly on a good ( often force, but it could just as well be industrial and technological might). That and serfs, which is why "you'll own nothing and be happy" is so terrible. Many already have the wealth and influence, they just need to fully cement their fiefdoms now, possibly with automatisation.

No jobs would be safe, even that of Artists.

It's also interesting to see the way there's some issues people agree with (here it's billionaires) and where they disagree. I disagree about environmentalism. Davos using it as a veneer of virtue doesn't mean it's not important. Pollution sickens and kills the land and people, and it overwhelmingly hits everyone else except the rich. Lützerath is a perfect example of a village being destroyed, because some have the greed and power necessary to do it.

One look at the rates of cancer near heavy metal laden electronics incineration plants, and see who suffers and profits from it (despite gaslighting attempts that slashing regulations and protections is somehow to the benefits of workers, and not the rich).

Just like in novels set in the industrial times, the divide in classes would become a divide in environment, with some working near the sludge of mines while others live in an untouched garden.

I'm mainly posting this here because it's believed to be political in some way, but can anyone explain to me why the actual fuck there have been so many instances of random gunmen shooting up electrical substations in the past few months? It seems the Carolinas in particular seem to be where it's mostly happening.

It's domestic hooliganism/terrorism. Why specifically electrical substations?

It seems to be an easy way to do a lot of damage while remaining relatively anonymous. It's also a political "meme", that is once someone gets the idea other copycats will unfortunately do the same thing.

As for the actual culprits? This is the part where it's unsure, but some articles say it's white supremacists.

"As a string of attacks on electrical substations unfolded in Oregon and Washington in 2022, the FBI was warning utilities of white supremacists’ plots to take down the nation’s power grid… The individuals of concern believe that an attack on electrical infrastructure will contribute to their ideological goal of causing societal collapse and a subsequent race war in the United States".

Three men plead guilty to crimes related to a scheme to attack power grids in the United States in furtherance of white supremacist ideology. February 2022

I disagree about environmentalism. Davos using it as a veneer of virtue doesn't mean it's not important.

I didn't say that it isn't important, I just said that it's being abused by the billionaires at Davos to try and pretend that they're looking out for everyone and not just themselves.

Lützerath is a perfect example of a village being destroyed, because some have the greed and power necessary to do it.

What's funny about the reforged German desire for coal is that it's the product of environmentalism's bizarre and arbitrary fear of nuclear power. While environmentalism by itself isn't a bad thing, this nigh-omnipresent aspect absolutely is; I'll be frank here and say that a functional power grid needs a reliable, around-the-clock form of power generation. In practice, this means you need to use either fossil fuels or nuclear power as your backbone, as wind and solar are subject to the whims of the weather, while hydroelectric and geothermal are limited by geography.

I say this because Germany's phase-out of nuclear power was almost entirely pushed by its environmentalist Green party. It started at the turn of the millennium, and the Fukushima nuclear disaster only strengthened their efforts. This is, of course, in spite of the fact that said disaster was caused by two natural disasters practically never seen in Germany combined with the power plant's design being outdated and not intended for its sort of location. The last three operating nuclear power plants in Germany had their contracts expire at the end of the year; the push for a return to coal suggests that they may not be renewed.

There are some common criticisms from environmentalists about nuclear power, but they all fall flat if you prod them enough. Nuclear power does, of course, produce a lot of nuclear waste; however, coal actually produces even more per unit of power, due to its soot byproducts, and more modern methods of nuclear power generation produce even less waste than classic uranium reactors. Those new designs also have very little in the way of byproducts useful for building nuclear bombs, another common concern. Mining for nuclear materials does have some environmental impact, but all mining does; lithium mining, which is necessary for electric vehicles, is even worse. The only criticism I can agree with is that nuclear plants are expensive to build, but much of that cost is in technology used to make it very safe, so that agreement only goes so far.

tl;dr: what's going on in Lützerath is, ironically enough, caused by environmentalism and its self-defeating hatred of nuclear power.

An important part of the infrastsucture while largely devoid of armed guards or bystanders; seems like obvious targets now that I come to think of it.

>I didn't say that it isn't important, I just said that it's being abused by the billionaires at Davos to try and pretend that they're looking out for everyone and not just themselves.

That's fair.

>What's funny about the reforged German desire for coal is that it's the product of environmentalism's bizarre and arbitrary fear of nuclear power… what's going on in Lützerath is, ironically enough, caused by environmentalism and its self-defeating hatred of nuclear power.

Yeah…

I'd say it's German environmentalism and the law of unintended consequences in politics, where parties who say they stand for something have an alarming tendency to achieve the opposite, what with Germany going back to fossil fuels because of their shortsightedness.

They not only closed their nuclear power, they didn't make any investments or plans afterwards. Germany didn't even have Liquid Gas Terminals until December ! We're really lucky this has been a warm winter and there was ample warning for countries to wean themselves off Russia.

>this means you need to use either fossil fuels or nuclear power as your backbone, as wind and solar are subject to the whims of the weather, while hydroelectric and geothermal are limited by geography.

All energy systems have a form of intermittency, including coal which tends to overheat. Some just need more time than others, or can be more easily scheduled by men. Nuclear power also needs to cool-down, although that's not normally a problem unless the rivers are too hot like last summer.

Relying on renewables by themselves is more difficult, although the North of Europe with Orsted have managed to create good offshore windpower, and the US's East Coast is apparently attempting to do the same with NYSERDA. Morocco has done the same with a solar farm near Ouarzazate. These are large installations like Hoover Dam instead of single turbines however, and are just as geographically dependent on being in places which are almost always sunny and/or windy.

>cost of nuclear power, but much of that cost is in technology used to make it very safe, so that agreement only goes so far

Funny thing is that even with that, the cost of watt per cent nuclear is still one of the cheapest. It's main drawback is that it takes a long-time and expertise to setup. This means a long-time for return of investment and that you need people who know what they're doing, and a culture of making sure responsible experts have the wheel. The benefit of renewables is that they're very fast and easy to setup, so it could be useful for areas prone to brownouts.

In comparison, fossil fuels has the pollution problem and kills the most, it's not the cheapest to run and it's not even the fastest to setup. It's main 'benefit' is many countries already have some plants and know how to run them, and that's the issue with Germany. Germany's processes are sluggish, and it has been slow to build any kind of new infrastructure. As an example, just ask a German about the pain of getting internet there.

At least the Polish and the rest of the East are trying to start with nuclear.

Yeah I dont have much hope when it comes to climate change, this is partially why.

I'd say it's German environmentalism and the law of unintended consequences in politics, where parties who say they stand for something have an alarming tendency to achieve the opposite, what with Germany going back to fossil fuels because of their shortsightedness.

Exactly. Though the self-defeating opposition to nuclear power isn't unique to German environmentalists; it's actually nearly omnipresent. The operating factor here is that they've managed to get enough influence in German politics to start actively fucking shit up.

As for the other topic,

As for the actual culprits? This is the part where it's unsure, but some articles say it's white supremacists.

I'm skeptical of this claim because I don't trust the FBI or DHS tbh. Whatever is going on, it's probably not connected to protests against drag shows, as was claimed back in December, since it's continuing to happen (and has been happening, more quietly, for a few years now).

I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be mostly lone wolves, as it's not exactly a sophisticated or challenging sort of attack.

Well I mean…no offense but you aint relevant anymore Kyle

Lots of downvotes but when was the last time anyone talked about this guy?

Since the last time we talked about this guy: the man has been pariah-ed, defacto blacklisted from higher education and employment. Pigeonholed into a choice of either punditry or flipping burgers the rest of his life, and now even the punditry is being interfered with.

All because he had the temerity to have his innocence confirmed in a court of law after the court of media opinion had already declared him guilty.

He has every right to be furious.

A little googling shows his event was at the Las Vegas Strip. The Las Vegas Strip? That glitzy place? For what? Fortitude in sports, intellectual contributions or artistic merit? No, it's a pseudo-celebrity for being a kid who had to defend himself in a bloody way. I would think there's a line between innocence and celebration which that crosses.

Personally, I think it's culture war at it's greatest extent, since I remember some on the American Right used to despair at the degeneration of having useless talking heads be spokespeople and celebrities. Well, now it's the pot calling the kettle black, at least the Kardashians had the excuse of having a giant ass.

>punditry

Why is punditry even an option? Thinking outside of the current political climate, before even the internet, is this normal? I didn't or don't even feel comfortable having actual soldiers talk in length of their service.

Then again, the Boston Bombers got a front-page on the Rolling Stone and even Macron accused the New York Times and Washington Post of justifying the murderer of Samuel Paty. The Blackwater war criminals got lauded by the Americans after they were pardoned. Even before that Old West "gunslingers" (glorified serial killers) were lionized.

Maybe it's just culture clash, although cultures can be judged by their heroes.

>I'm skeptical of this claim because I don't trust the FBI or DHS tbh… I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be mostly lone wolves,

Well, remember what happened when France was continually attacked by "lone wolves" and everyone knew they were part of a specific ideology, but some didn't want to admit it? Lone Wolves can be dismissed as freak events after-all, and that lasted until ISIS.

A dangerous ideology meanwhile requires concerted effort and implies failure to address it earlier from authorities. In terms of skepticism, it's easier to try to conceal and play down then create a conspiracy of whole-cloth.

Personally, it took the Muslims in France realizing that saying they're moderates isn't enough, because it's more damaging to have extremists committing attacks than having to admit there's an issue of extremists among them. My point? Maybe getting the morons yelling "civil war" to calm down, instead of ignoring them would work better.

That was my same frustration I had with the evangelicals in the US, and nothing is or was done until it started blowing up in the face of those trying to ignore them.

Anyway, back to a topic I like:

>Exactly. Though the self-defeating opposition to nuclear power isn't unique to German environmentalists; it's actually nearly omnipresent.

Well, I'm for nuclear power, for what it's worth. There's going to have to have to be some changes on the priorities of environmental groups, since there's a spectrum from people who realize the many reasons why we should switch from oil, to crunchy neo-pagans.

Still, it has to be admitted there's a bunch of issues with environmental groups that need to be solved if they actually want to be effective.

It should also be noted that when you see all the disputes against the creation of additional nuclear power plants, the opposition tends to be more " nimbyism" from, well, everyone (including oil companies, maybe it's being defensive, but environmental groups by themselves don't really have that much influence, especially in the 2000's). There's this collective fear of anything with the word "nuclear" in the public, which may be an artifact of the Cold War. There was even an entry on this site where people were surprised that nuclear power was just "boiling water", instead of some glowing green rocks.

Gen III reactors have been out for decades, but few have ever been constructed with most still thinking of Gen I and Gen II. As such, it's more likely that Gen IV would see mass adoption than Gen III this late in it's cycle.

An entire design generation, skipped.

He's less a hero and more a martyr (though there are those who view him as heroic); the event was a textbook example of why the right to lethal self defense is so important to be preserved and the storm around his trial was a grand exhibition of all who would strip americans of that right.

The man shot 3 footsoldiers of the dominant ideology of the american oligarchy; the modern equivalent of blackshirts.

Those aligned with the ideology hate him in the same way a mafia hates those who kill thier men: it would show weakness to let him live free, intolerable to those who are accustomed to being untouchable. First they tried to grind him under the wheels of the legal system. That failed so they have resorted to the tried and true method of pressuring corporations into cutting his life off at the knees.

Those who are politically neutral or even sympathetic fear retaliation by the ideological mob and wont touch him with a ten foot pole. Our world is remarkably unforgiving to those who have difficulty keeping a bank account and those banks (and more prevelntly payment processors) are becoming increasingly partisan.

So the only resort he has is either running into exile, dropping into lowly obscurity or take up the one practice that has proven resistant to the pressure and where he is likely to find those who will treat him like a human being; punditry. And they are trying to take even that away.

In some happier news, for those like me at least, an article from the Guardian has come across my radar that I want to believe;

Klaus Schwab, Mr "Eat ze boog, live in ze pod, own nothing and love it" is pulling a Diadochi and has no successor lined up

“There isn’t much of a future for the WEF beyond Klaus not just because there isn’t a clear successor but also because his managing board is such a viper’s nest that senior leadership will be at each other’s throats the moment the old man pops off.”

Would that the bastard had died before his lot set the world on a collision course with an economic Depression, but it is still somewhat gratifying knowing that the wannabe New World Order is destined for a long knife fight.

It also explains why they are in massive acceleration mode and set for 2030 completion dates on their white elephant projects: the old bastard doesn't have faith in the movement staying on course once he's dead.

I wish Blair, Sunak and Trudeau a very shot in the back of the neck and left in a shallow ditch in the upcoming managerial tyrant hunger games.

More confidential documents found in Biden's house, this time they were from when he was a senator. When he was elected I thought Biden would be many things, a pinata full of government secrets wasn't one of those things.

So the boogeyman will be gone, but it won't matter because the corpos running the state on wall street were already working towards everything as a service

Heh, boogeyman

Ted Cruz actually mad that the Xbox Series consoles have a more energy efficient sleep mode

This is just comical at this point, I'm beginning to question why Texans keep electing this guy.

Probably because alternative was Beto "Hell yes we're coming for your guns" O'Rourke.

In Texas.

I guess it's telling towards Cruz that even with such an open goal it came within a single point.

I checked, he only wants a ban on automatic assault weapons, which is what was used in the Uvalde school shooting last year, not handguns which are the weapons people mainly use for self defensive purposes. I'm not anti-gun at all but I do still find it weird that weapons typically reserved for military warfare like assault rifles are even available to the general public.

I will say though that 2023 certainly ain't helping the pro-gun crowd as California alone has had a bunch of mass shootings in such a short amount of time, like ffs that episode of South Park where shootings are so commonplace in America that the general populace is completely numb to them was supposed to be satire, not a reality.

Does kinda bring to mind a comparison I saw someone make where they compare Mr. Waternoose from Monster's Inc to the NRA. "I'll let a million children die before I allow anyone to touch my assault rifles!"

I think the appetite for gun control has been in remission since the "summer of love". As I've said before to take away firearms is to ask the populace to put their safety in the hands of the state and the public's trust in that state is kaput.

Half the nation thinks the police has malicious intentions against minorities and the other thinks the police won't show up if the perp has dark skin and the local politician has a blue rosette. The appreciation for self reliance in the matter of personal safety has gone up accordingly across the spectrum.

Democrats can have BLM and ACAB or they can have gun control, not both.

It also really doesn't help that the anti gun push is headed by politicians hilariously ignorant on the subject of firearms. It's hard to push a "we're only after the scary types of guns" line when the Democrat president thinks a 9mm handgun has the same effect on the human body as a thermobaric warhead.

I am not outright antigun cause some people should fear the fact there is a low but never zero chance they might get shot, it dissuades them, shoplifters, kidnappers, bullies (not that I approve of that but technically), assasins, rapists muggers….really scummy paparazi, etc for example.

Not that they should get shot, ideally they shouldnt especially like minor crimes and stuff like paparazzi especislly shouldnt get shot..but you understand what I am saying, gotta have that fear that any random stranger could be carrying a gun at any time to encourage restraint.

Like I said I just find civilian ownership of ASSAULT weapons to be odd, I've never said anything about having issues with civilians owning handguns like glocks for self defense.

I saw a news article recently that said Oklahoma lawmakers are looking to introduce a bill that would get rid of transgender affirming care for anyone below the age of 26 and could even force trans people under 26 to "detransition," and the comments had quite a few people saying "Oklahoma lawmakers are about to realize liberal gun owners are a thing if they dare try and enforce this."

he only wants a ban on automatic assault weapons

He wants gun confiscations and to override a landmark Supreme Court case that affirmed that yes, by "keep and bear arms", the Second Amendment actually did mean "keep and bear arms". Automatic weapons are already illegal on a federal level iirc (which is probably unconstitutional, but that's a different topic), and "assault weapon" is just politician talk for "spoopy gun", and is thus of little use in a discussion about firearms.

I saw a news article recently that said Oklahoma lawmakers are looking to introduce a bill that would get rid of transgender affirming care for anyone below the age of 26 and could even force trans people under 26 to "detransition," and the comments had quite a few people saying "Oklahoma lawmakers are about to realize liberal gun owners are a thing if they dare try and enforce this."

Hmm, interesting. I can see the reasoning, at least, as brain development generally only fully leaves its rapid and unstable teenage state around the age of 25 (most people can attest to being a lot less stupid at 25 than they were at 18), but most other life-changing and/or near-irreversible sorts of things are gated behind being 18 or 21.

Perhaps their real reasoning was that, since people will get mad at any restrictions, they may as well shoot for the moon and scale it back later?

Edit: Also I'm curious, why did you put "detransition" in scare quotes?

As a form of emphasis.

And that's sorta the "thing." You're considered an adult by 18 or 21, so why the hell are they policing already fully grown adults who have been done with puberty for a long while? The drinking age being 21 is already stupid given the US considers a citizen to be old enough to deal with military life by 18, so this just feels like a blatant attack on young adult trans folk.

Also for what it's worth apparently Beto did change his stance on assault weapons a while ago but it's been acknowledged by his peers his original comments will "haunt him."

Weird, my post got three downvotes in like two minutes. Anyway…

Again, I think they're either planning to haggle down to 18 or 21, or it's the brain development thing. Probably the former tbh. I won't get too much into it, as I know from experience that some of the jannies here are uncomfortably passionate about certain facets of this topic, but it feels like a displaced instance of an eye being taken for an eye. Not necessarily good, but we live in a society…

I don't trust O'Rourke to have legitimately changed his stance, by virtue of him being a politician and thus inherently dishonest. It should haunt him, because it exposed him as a wannabe tyrant who can't even read a room.

Edit: Also, "scare quotes" aren't a very "good" thing to use for "emphasis", because they make you sound "sarcastic". Use italics instead. Or bold. Bold is probably better in this case, actually.

Breaking the Democratic party's carefully maintained illusion that the latest gun bill isnt an incremental step towards full disarmament tends to do that.

I question downvotes myself sometimes so I acknowledge I'm being a bit of a hypocrite here but ever considered the reason for the downvotes is just as simple as people here really disagreeing with you?

Also on that edit, you sound like you're "fun at parties."

"Ok, we are putting common sense restrictions on the sale of ARs"

Riflefags: "Noooo they are going to grab my guns"

Fcking idiots.

It IS way too easy to do a shooting, nowadays any insane nobody can do one.

Like either way obviously there will always be shootings especially in the US, but it should be harder that at least not everyone crazy enough can do it, I had algebra homeworks in elementary that were of higher difficulty than doing a shooting in the US…just saying

Mistress Fortune wrote:

Oklahoma lawmakers are looking to introduce a bill that would get rid of transgender affirming care for anyone below the age of 26

Oklahoma State Legislature SP 129 would create the Millstone Act of 2023

Article from The Hill

Article from Stillwater News Press

Spaghetto wrote:

I can see the reasoning, at least

I understand hesitancy in giving a full green light in every instance of someone who has gender dysphoria in undergoing gender transition. This is a full ban on it without exception. Not additional review, not a delay from requesting treatment and getting it, not on a case by case basis.

Spaghetto wrote:

Perhaps their real reasoning was that, since people will get mad at any restrictions, they may as well shoot for the moon and scale it back later?

May 2022-
Oklahoma GOP governor signs anti-transgender bathroom bill into law

October 2022-
Oklahoma governor signs bill withholding hospital funding over trans youth care

October 2022-
Oklahoma governor urges action on anti-transgender medicine

They aren't "planning to haggle down" anything.

Spaghetto wrote:

Also I'm curious, why did you put "detransition" in scare quotes?

The bill as is would make giving gender affirming care to anyone under 26 a felony. I felt it was simply used due to the fact that "detranstion" is still somewhat of a slang-ish word, and when it is used, it is generally applied to people who willingly choose to do so.

Spaghetto wrote:

some of the jannies here are uncomfortably passionate about certain facets of this topic

I have a close friend who has lived as a woman for two years, who is consistently surprised that people do not realize she is trans. She would have to detransition for several years or leave her job and live somewhere else if this passes. The bill would be enacted immediately and she already has debt from being recently out of school. How is this bill supposed to benefit her?
I have had another friend who was on the verge of suicide who only felt that life would be worth living if she could live somewhere else and would also have been prohibited by this bill. Thankfully she is okay now somewhere else. How would this bill have benefited her if she didn't leave?

I grew up in this rural state, with family on both sides being here over 100 years. I was the only one of their progeny who had any interest in agriculture and natural resource management. I'm the one that was interested in family history. I spent most of my childhood under the mindset that I was supposed to stay and take care of the family legacy here.

I'm so sorry you feel uncomfortable on a meme website dismissing impacts of real people and actual clinical recommendations on helping those with gender dysphoria.

Cool story, not what I was actually talking about but go off I guess. Not even gonna touch all of that tangled mess of personal issues… tell it to your therapist, please. For clarification, I was referring to kole and his abnormal passion for wanting children to develop bone atrophy. Also, keep note that "I understand what the reason is" doesn't equal "I agree with this in its totality". The world isn't black and white, and there's no sin in understanding that in which you don't believe. Again, geez, therapy…

Word to the wise, being so ready and willing to fly off the handle doesn't do you any favors, in any manner or capacity.

Let's shift to a less heated topic, aight? Things never go well when the jannies are spilling their hot pockets all over the place. I hear those clowns at the "doomsday clock" have said something stupid again.

The imaginary situation created by fox

Bold of you to assume that the US goverment is organized enough to do something that smart, they can barely function most of the time.

They aren't; roe V wade wasn't the only casualty to Ried's removing the filibuster: gun control is currently getting shredded in the supreme court.

Every time a democrat claims a pistol grip makes a gun more shootier, or that a suppressor makes a gun Bond movie silent, it tells anyone even remotely gun savvy that these people are way too ignorant for "common sense" gun control to be anything but platitude.

The Democrats had the crutches of ignorance and disengagement: most attempts to point anything out hit hit the snag of minutiae that has little impact on the people not already aligned against the democrats. Most do not hear the opposition's arguments at all and many who do don't know have much understanding themselves, far as they know the Democrats aren't talking complete bunk and the next bill will be the one to stop mass shootings. And even if you break that illusion of competence you still haven't proven abolition is the intended end goal.

However a soundbite like "hell yes we're coming for your AR-15s" is memetic enough to reach far and wide as well as unambiguous in the intent. All you need do is point out that the "AR" in AR-15 doesn't actually mean "assault rifle" and cannot go full Rambo with it like a machine gun, and the ambiguity is gone.

"This high ranking Democrat isn't interested just in taking the military grade stuff off the streets they're going for your civilian grades rifles, do you really think the other democrats are any different?"

Hence why O'Rourke going off script and making that soundbite turned him from golden child to untouchable.

'Course that was a few iterations back, now we're in the Biden era where the rhetoric has gone up inversely to the amount of legislation left un-Clarence-Thomas-ed and the line has become "the same pistol rounds we give to the average beat cop can blow someone's lungs clean out of thier chest".

A lot seems to have happened and discussed here, which I need to catch up on.

From the gist of, I'll just say what I've always said: I despise the way religious mores interferes in the private lives of others, especially when backed by the state.

I despise how in the "free" West there's now efforts to control books, women and their bodies (heck, what anyone can do) and what words can or cannot be mentioned. Now we see the rise of maternal deaths, and raped underaged children being forced to carry to term by Christian Taliban Pigs. It is of such grotesquery that it's always at the back of my mind when there's something about the US (but not only them if the situation continues to degrade).

So when the American Right & affiliates mention "freedom" or "morality", I give it the same weight as when Turkish followers of Erdogan complains about anything, especially with the way Turkey is giving a good example of how a former democracy falls into a theocracy.

To me at least, if ones ignores fundamentalists & evangelists, than there's little point waxing philosophical about what else is causing the downfall of democracies.

Also, Turkey has now made a whole drama of how a Koran was burned in Sweden by some Dane (just in time for Turkish elections for Erdogan). A grave insult to "Allah, and Allah's army is Turkish" (no kidding, that was said by Devlet Bahceli of Erdogan's MHP). Apparently they're not going to allow Sweden in NATO anymore, not like they ever were with their attempts to extort the Nordics and NATO for concessions.

Not that it matters, the GOP's old Buddy, Wannabe Dictator and "Christian Shield" in Hungary, Orban has once again blocked sanctions against Russia and would likely do the same for NATO (what with the purge he's recently done). It hasn't helped Hungary one bit, since the EU did a joint bulk deal to buy Gas, while Hungary was frozen out last time they blocked sanctions on gas. In a twist of fate with prior propaganda, it's Hungary that's freezing since the EU stocked up their reserves while Hungary has not been getting that gas from Russia.

Goddamn, do I despise the petty dictators that are supposed to be tolerated, and even worse, admired and emulated by some in the West. Putin used to be in that category too.

Ironic how "the party of small government" really does just want to be Big Brother, and don't forget some infamous figures outright admitted they WANT the US to become a Christian nationalist state that's basically no different from middle eastern countries that are under an Islamic theocracy.

Don't you know "freedom" is when we force everyone to behave according to ancient traditions

Reducing an entire field of study in political science to "muh theocracy" has to be one of the most stupid things you have ever posted here.

In a perfect world, people with dangerous anti-democratic ideals in the american right would have gotten the "AdF Treatment" (aka being ignored and basically not giving them any kind of concessions). But they sadly have now political power thanks to liberturdians giving them a platform.

Seriously, liberturdianism is a cancer in the american right.

I don't know, a lot of other stupid things have been said around there, including by myself.

"One reason for the uncertainty is that Americans don’t really know what backsliding from democracy looks like, at least not firsthand." Well, you now have an example in Hungary and Turkey. Iran is also an example of how it can get worse. We can get Karl Popper's books in here if you want, but I'd say it's safe to say that Theocracies and those who believe that there should be no separation between church and state are a threat to open societies.

It's not every case that backsliding is due to religion, but it's a factor and trying to ignore it as some liberals and conservatives have done had led to this day of ignoring the bloody obvious. Some were even deluded enough that they thought the Taliban could be brought to reason.

Trump disappearing hasn't changed the threat has it, as shown by the article? Turns out the American Left was wrong that all issues began because of Trump. I would wager it's been there even before Barry Goldwater noticed it.

I mean, with all this polarisation, have you noticed that no politicians really wants to go against the religious lobby groups? Apart from some wide-eyed nobodies on the far-left.

Iran, Pakistan, Turkey and Hungary aren't the only ones. India with Modi (and his recent ban of a BBC documentary and harrassment towards Students who watched it), Indonesia, Israel and Russia are infamous for it and even Korea and Japan has to deal with Cults of Moonies (Unification Church).

Religious factions on the rise all of them, and yet constant complaints of being opressed.

It's a bigger threat than "critical race culture" or the LGBTQ (they're not hurting anyone), or even guns. Our gun control didn't prevent shootings in France did it?

I am not really against religion, but whenever the words "religion" and "politics" are ever combined imo all you should feel is fear.

"I mean, with all this polarisation, have you noticed that no politicians really wants to go against the religious lobby groups?"

I guess that dynamic occurs with the Muslim and Jewish lobby groups but I cannot say the Christian lobby groups enjoy anything of the sort in the bits of the west whose politics I am familiar with.

At best they are tolerated as long as they toe the progressive line (hell the Anglican church has become an outright progressive vassal) but whenever they return to the old fire and brimstone they get dogpiled by nigh every leftie politician in the country (and in my country some of the conservatives do it too).

I'd like to precise that I'm not against religion either, but against their influence in politics. 'Course, one of the current issues is that certain religious groups are trying to say those two things are synonymous.

>I guess that dynamic occurs with the Muslim and Jewish lobby groups but I cannot say the Christian lobby groups enjoy anything of the sort in the bits of the west whose politics I am familiar with.

Maybe not in the UK, although if you're anything like France you've probably seen an import of Evangelists recently. Never had any of the American religious imports knocking at your door?

In the US the Megachurches are obscene, and are a large private interest group. The Mormon Church alone has amassed over 100 billion dollars, to compare even the Vatican is one third of that

That's not even counting the Moonies which are nominally Christian, and the Christian Churches in Africa, which quite frankly frighten me. It's a close-run thing to choose between them and the Jihadists.

Plus, Putin's ally in the Russian Orthodox Church (which apparently even has it's private army and acted like subversives in Ukraine), as well as Orban (and yes, I'll keep mentioning how the GOP invited that son of a bitch) and their reliance on Christianity means that one can't say there's no dictators who's not using Christianity are their own divine right to rule.

Hindus, Muslims, Jewish, Christians even the Buddhists can't say much with what's going on in Myanmar.

I was turning against religion cause there a lot of reasons to not like religion yeah but then I thought "oh yeah tell everyone what to believe all the time, regulate people's view of the universe that isnt controlling No!" so yeah… also Jews could catch a break I guess.

It can be kind of controlling to be like "no you cant believe in anything supernatural if you do you are a bad person" you know?

I mean you need some order (look what 4chan became) but I dont think I should go that far.

But anyway I cant say religion has ever had a positive effect on politics and I dont think I am the only one who has noticed that. Dear god is a huge chunk of the middle east a complete dystopia, cant think of any good teocracies out there, certainly not good for women who are often MORE THAN HALF the population and what not.