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Topic Summary

Posted by: antihellenistic
« on: March 17, 2024, 10:13:05 pm »

Quote
People who lean socialistic tend to feel good about community, sharing, and collaboration over competition. They often feel that the greatest good accrues from self-sacrifice for the common good and feel good about redistribution until all lives are much more equal. Of course, that was foundational to Karl Marx’s famous exhortation: “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.”

Such a psychology translates into sadness, often anger, even fury, that top executives make millions, owning mansions while other people, despite government and private charity, live a meager existence. Socialist-leaning people also tend to feel government is more aligned with their values than is the private sector.

...

In addition, capitalists are more likely to believe that psychologist Abraham Maslow's theory of self-actualization over social contribution leads people toward selfishness and away from prioritizing needs of the collective. Capitalists point to the communes in the U.S. and kibbutizim in Israel, most of which have long since disbanded because, in practice, individualism (ahem) trumped the collectivist ideal.

Hence, people who lean capitalist are more likely to support Republicans, including Donald Trump, even though they may dislike his personal style, his past, and that he’s been inconsistent in his capitalism, for example, imposing a tariff on Chinese goods. Capitalist-leaning people ignore those because they so advocate many of his other positions—perhaps most conspicuous, his calling for a merit-based immigration system, as opposed to the Democrats’ approach of amnesty for all except for major felons. Also, capitalists' belief in people's tendency to selfishness leads them to embrace Trump and other Republicans' wariness of trust but rather an insistence on stronger sanctions on Iran, a bolder defense and that Europe be pressured to pay its fair share of NATO expenses.

Source :

Nemko, Marty. (2019). The Psychology of Socialism and Capitalism Toward voting for the best candidates, not the best marketing machines. Accessed on Sunday, 17th March 2024, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/how-do-life/201909/the-psychology-socialism-and-capitalism
Posted by: antihellenistic
« on: March 17, 2024, 09:45:18 pm »

Western Capitalist way of life Make People into Degenerates

Quote
Studies suggest that mere exposure to money, for example, can increase self-centeredness and diminish altruism (Vohs, Mead, & Goode, 2006). Societies that have embraced market economies tend to foster individualism (Taras, Steel & Kirkman, 2016) and exacerbate inequality (Bettache, Chiu & Beattie, 2020) over time.

Social class also influences self-perception, with individuals from higher economic classes placing greater emphasis on personal choice and achievement (Stephens, Markus & Townsend, 2007). Moreover, marketing strategies stoke the flames of materialism and have a significant impact on well-being (Kasser & Kanner, 2004).

Capitalism also interacts with biases and stereotypes related to race, gender, and competition. Discrimination often arises when capitalism prompts individuals to view others as competitors (Bobo & Hutchings, 1996).

Gender biases, for example, tend to be more prevalent in societies with greater economic inequality (Glick et al., 2000). Neoliberal ideologies that commodify race can further perpetuate racism (Goldberg, 2009). Even the widespread bias in which individuals perceive themselves as "above average" can be traced back to capitalist values of individual success and competition (Zell et al., 2020). By examining these biases in the context of competitive capitalism, we gain a deeper understanding of their origins.

Source :

Bettache, Karim. (2023). How Capitalism Shapes the Mind Have we overlooked an "invisible hand" that's shaping our psychology?. diakses pada 17 Maret 2024, dari https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/a-cultural-psychology-of-discrimination/202310/how-capitalism-shapes-the-mind#:~:text=The%20structures%20and%20values%20inherent,and%20others%2C%20and%20promotes%20biases.
Posted by: 90sRetroFan
« on: January 01, 2024, 03:49:30 pm »

Mainstream journalism gradually catching up to the obvious:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/13/opinion/european-union-far-right.html

Quote
Hans Kundnani’s mixed heritage—he was born of a Dutch mother and Indian father—frames his very readable critique of the European project (the EU), Eurowhiteness. When his parents arrived in the UK in the 1960s his Indian father was, he tells us, in some ways less of an outsider than his mother – he could vote, she could not. In his lifetime however, non-white Commonwealth citizens were “reimagined as immigrants” while the rights of Europeans continually grew.

https://trueleft.createaforum.com/news/ethnonepotism/

Continuing:

Quote
the focus on divisions within the bloc obscures a much more disturbing development taking place beneath the surface: a coming together of the center right and the far right, especially on questions around identity, immigration and Islam. With European parliamentary elections next year, this convergence is bringing into clearer view the possibility of something like a far-right European Union. Until recently, such a thing would have seemed unthinkable. Now it’s distinctly plausible.

Actually, I had warned about it well over a decade ago.

Quote
For the past decade, European politics have widely been understood in terms of a binary opposition between liberalism and illiberalism. During the refugee crisis in 2015, for example, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and Mr. Orban were seen as political opposites—she the figurehead of liberalism, he of illiberalism.

Since then, the convergence between the center right and the far right in Europe has gone further. The lesson that center-right parties drew from the rise of right-wing populism was that they needed to adopt some of its rhetoric and policies. Conversely, some far-right parties have become more moderate, albeit in a selective way. At a national level, parties from the two camps have governed together, both formally, as in Austria and Finland, and informally, as in Sweden.

Yet the most striking illustration of this convergence is the harmonious relationship between the European center right and Giorgia Meloni, the leader of the post-fascist Brothers of Italy, who became prime minister of Italy last year. As soon as she indicated that she would not disrupt the bloc’s economic policy and would be supportive of Ukraine, the European People’s Party was willing to work with her—and its leader, Manfred Weber, even sought to form an alliance with her. The center right, it turns out, doesn’t have a problem with the far right. It just has a problem with those who defy E.U. institutions and positions.

The two, in fact, can agree on a lot—something that plays out most clearly in immigration policy. In contrast to its progressive image, the European Union has, like Donald Trump, sought to build a wall—in this case, in the Mediterranean—to stop migrants from arriving on its shores. Since 2014, more than 28,000 people have died there as they desperately tried to reach Europe. Human Rights Watch said earlier this year that the bloc’s policy could be summed up in three words: “Let them die.”

The European Union’s distinctive approach to migration depends on what might be called the offshoring of violence. Even as it has welcomed millions of Ukrainian refugees, the bloc has paid authoritarian regimes in North African countries to stop migrants from sub-Saharan Africa from reaching Europe, often brutally.

We have covered this double-standard extensively.

Quote
today’s far right speaks not only on behalf of the nation but also on behalf of Europe. It has a civilizational vision of a white, Christian Europe that is menaced by outsiders, especially Muslims.
...
figures like President Emmanuel Macron of France have also begun to frame international politics as a clash of civilizations in which a strong, united Europe must defend itself.

In this respect, Mr. Macron is not so far from far-right figures like Mr. Wilders who talk in terms of a threatened European civilization. His electoral success in the Netherlands could be a prelude, many fear, to a major rightward shift in the European parliamentary elections next June. That would give the far right substantial power to shape the next commission even more than the current one—both directly, with the possibility of far-right figures in top positions, and indirectly, with their concerns channeled by the center right.

This is why I said back in 2015 that Hungary should have been nuked the moment it refused to accept refugees. The reason all of the above is happening is because Hungary was not held accountable promptly and ruthlessly.
Posted by: 90sRetroFan
« on: December 22, 2023, 07:13:47 pm »

https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-migration-deal-roberta-metsola-refugees-migration-asylum-rules/

Quote
BRUSSELS — The European Union on Wednesday broke years of political deadlock by agreeing on a deal that will significantly change how the bloc limits migrant entry, moves migrants around EU countries and effectively makes it easier to deport unsuccessful asylum seeker applicants.

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola hailed the deal as historic. Negotiators worked through the night to agree on the overhaul of the EU’s asylum procedures, signalling a shift to the right
...
Under the agreement, which still needs to be formally ratified, front-line countries in Southern Europe will institute a stricter asylum procedure at their non-EU borders and will be more empowered to deport rejected asylum seekers. Countries further inland will be given a choice of whether to accept a certain number of migrants or pay into a joint EU fund.
...
The deal comes just six months before the EU election, with polls showing a surge in support for far-right, anti-immigration parties in countries like Germany and the Netherlands. The debate around immigration is set to be a decisive and divisive element of elections in Europe in 2024.
...
Speaking to reporters in Brussels later on Wednesday morning, Metsola acknowledged that the pact was “not a perfect package” and denied it mirrored proposals from the far right, arguing it was a instead a political compromise reached amongst centrist parties.

“It’s a center that does not copy the right, it goes on pragmatism,” Metsola said.

STFU. Here is the reality:

Quote
While EU officials celebrated the agreement on the migration pact first presented by the Commission in 2020, human rights organizations and migrant advocacy groups have warned of the deal’s implications on migrants and asylum seekers reaching Europe’s borders.

More than 50 nonprofit organizations warned in an open letter that the migration pact would allow countries to arbitrarily detain children, remove migrants to what the deal called “safe third countries,” and increase “racial profiling.”

“Today is a catastrophic day for people fleeing war and violence. With its asylum reform, the European Union is focusing on detention camps, fences and deportations to unsafe third countries.
This is a compromise at the expense of human rights,” said Christos Christou, international president of Médecins Sans Frontières.
Posted by: 90sRetroFan
« on: December 20, 2023, 09:29:57 pm »

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/20/france-immigration-bill-passed-controversy-emmanuel-macron-marine-le-pen

Quote
Emmanuel Macron’s ruling centrist party was divided and soul-searching on Wednesday after a strict new immigration law was approved by parliament but contained so many hardline measures that the far-right Marine Le Pen claimed it as an “ideological victory” for her own anti-immigration platform.
...
Le Pen, leader of the anti-immigration, far-right National Rally party, said her party would vote in favour of the bill, calling it an “ideological victory”. The far-right MP Edwige Diaz described the bill as “incontestably inspired by Marine Le Pen”.
...
Opposition politicians on the left pointed out that when Macron was re-elected for a second-term in 2022, he had acknowledged that many voters chose him not for his own ideas but to keep out the far-right ideas of his opponent Marine Le Pen.

Cyrielle Chatelain, a Green MP, told parliament there was a feeling of “shame and betrayal” that Macron had instead brought in the ideas of the far-right with this bill.

This will keep happening until leftists understand that when rightists call for violence against refugees, the only genuine countermeasure is for leftists to call for total extermination of those who call for violence against refugees.
Posted by: Immigration
« on: November 16, 2023, 12:25:42 pm »

France’s New Immigration Bill Explained
Quote
On Tuesday evening, the French Senate passed an immigration bill that would significantly restrict asylum and deportation policy in France. But despite the passing, it is already proving to be a controversial topic, both because of its content and because Macron may once again be forced to use Article 49.3 to force the bill through the National Assembly. But can this immigration bill once again send the protesters to the streets, or can Macron with his deep unpopularity see it through?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X09A8sjQLac

Quote
seven million people

Almost seven million people, or 10.3% of all people in France that year were immigrants, meaning "born a foreigner in a foreign country," it said. In comparison, 6.5% of French residents hailed from abroad in 1968, it added. More than a third of immigrants in France in 2021 had acquired French citizenship, it said.
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/france/article/2023/03/30/one-in-10-people-in-france-an-immigrant-statistics-agency_6021240_7.html
Posted by: Project2025
« on: November 13, 2023, 09:36:33 pm »

Indeed!




Posted by: walls
« on: November 13, 2023, 08:52:20 pm »

Walls can only take so much pressure before they break.
Posted by: Germany
« on: November 13, 2023, 02:31:53 pm »

German Opposition Wants New Citizens To Accept Israel; 'Can't Take Anti-Semitic Refugees...'
Quote
A German opposition party has called for measures to combat anti-semitism amid the ongoing Israel-Palestine war. The Christian Democratic Union has urged that anti-Israeli activities be "put to an end". The leader of the party, Friedrich Merz, said that the ability to become a German citizen should be linked to respect for Israel's sovereignty.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCtP9AK_dt0

Comments:

Quote
Europeans should have thought about that before they started creating refugees via western colonialism and constantly interfering in Africa and the Middle-East. You don't get to go around the world destroying people's ways of living and then run away when the consequences for your action's come back to haunt you.
Quote
The DownFall Of Germany Is So Insane😂
Quote
Forcing someone to like their oppressors ....how ludicrous is that

(Rightist) Europeans want to run away and wall themselves off and not have to face the consequences for the western colonialism that they all participated in. This is how you know they are all COWARDS! Walling yourself off from your colonial victims sounds so Israeli these days...
Posted by: gaza
« on: October 24, 2023, 06:33:43 pm »

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/10/23/germany-bans-public-grieving-and-solidarity-with-palestine/

Germany bans public grieving and solidarity with Palestine

Quote

Germany is home to Europe’s largest Palestinian community, with roughly 80,000 Palestinians living in the country. For years, German authorities have tried to stifle Palestinian activism in the country, viewing it as a nuisance to its explicit policy of “unconditional support for Israel.” Demonstrations, such as one earlier this year to mark the 75th anniversary of the Nakba, have been sporadically banned in recent years and organizations, like the Palestinian prisoner solidarity network Samidoun, have also come under increasing scrutiny.

Yet the criminalization of solidarity with Palestine on a national level has taken on entirely new dimensions since October 7.

Talking points that were two weeks ago only uttered by far-right AfD politicians are now being openly expressed by politicians from all parliamentary parties in Germany. Playing off the idea of “imported antisemitism,” the social democratic Chancellor Olaf Scholz is now arguing that “we must finally deport on a large scale” residents who do not hold German citizenship and openly protest against Israel. The Christian Democrats (CDU) are even demanding that the recognition of Israel’s right to exist must become a precondition for German citizenship.

Samidoun has been made into public enemy number one, as the media presents the group as a bastion for “sympathizers of terror” that poses “a particular danger, because as a secular organization, they are building bridges between Islamists and radical leftists.” In a speech before parliament on October 12, Chancellor Scholz personally announced a ban on Samidoun along with a ban on the activities of Hamas in Germany.

The authorities have been particularly hostile towards any signs of solidarity with Palestine.

Sonnenallee, a busy street in the district in which many Arab migrants live, has become a focal point of dissent against Israel’s attack on Gaza. The police patrol Sonnenallee every evening with tight controls on the public squares. Racial profiling and brutal arrests are commonplace and often recorded and posted to social media.

As other European states are witnessing mass protests in solidarity with Palestine, the German state has been able to use force and violence to prevent such scenes on German streets. Yet it is unlikely that the government will be able to ban these sentiments of solidarity indefinitely, especially as the images of Israel’s brutal attack on Gaza continue to circulate around the world.





Posted by: .
« on: October 15, 2023, 08:30:51 pm »

Full Sullivan: 'I won’t draw red lines on phosphorus bombs’ for the Israeli military
Quote
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan says the U.S. government is not interfering in Israeli military planning of a counteroffensive in Gaza but that safely evacuating American citizens and civilians from the region remains a top priority for the Biden administration.
https://youtu.be/35JSr3Etro8?si=hLyVKqyZmR2tpufT
Posted by: .
« on: October 12, 2023, 09:26:19 pm »

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/12/france-bans-pro-palestine-rallies-cracks-down-on-protesters-amid-gaza-war

France bans pro-Palestine rallies, cracks down on protesters amid Gaza war

Quote

Ban comes as Israeli bombs kill more than 1,400 people, wound thousands and wipe out neighbourhoods in Gaza.

The French police have used tear gas and water cannon to disperse protesters who took to the streets in support of the Palestinians, shortly after the government moved to ban all such rallies.

Police broke up a rally in capital Paris on Thursday, following orders from Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin to ban all pro-Palestine demonstrations in the name of “public order”[Then Why do you not also ban pro-Israeli demonstrations in the name of “public order”?.] Critics called the order an attack on civil liberties.

“We live in a country of civil law, a country where we have the right to take a stand and to demonstrate. [It is unfair] to forbid for one side and to authorise for the other and that does not reflect the reality of Palestine,” 29-year-old Charlotte Vautier told the Reuters news agency.

French minister Darmanin also said at least 24 people have been arrested across France for “anti-Semitic acts” since Saturday, adding that he believes any foreigner who commits such acts should be expelled from France “without delay”.

No restrictions have been announced for events in support of Israel.

“France is doing everything alongside Israeli authorities and our partners to bring them home safely because France never abandons its children[ Unless their "black" or Arab],” Macron said, adding that Israel has the right to destroy Hamas but must do so while “preserving civilian populations”.




Posted by: .
« on: October 11, 2023, 07:46:01 pm »

https://apnews.com/article/france-racial-profiling-police-e7a943a9bebdfc0e40a99d756e9b4c16

It's OK for rejection to be white

France’s top body rejects contention by campaigners that racial profiling by police is systemic


Quote

France’s highest administrative authority on Wednesday rejected an effort by rights campaigners to end what they allege is a systemic and generalized practice by French police of targeting Black people and people of Arab descent for stops and checks.

Local grassroots organizations and international rights groups had hoped that a favorable ruling from the Council of State could force deep reforms within French law enforcement to end racial profiling.

Plaintiffs expressed dismay, although some drew comfort from the ruling’s recognition that discriminatory checks do happen and aren’t rare.


“These high judicial authorities have failed to understand the violence and exclusion generated by these police practices,” Issa Coulibaly, the head of a Paris youth association involved in the compalint, said in a statement.

“They failed to grasp the historic opportunity to improve the daily lives of millions of their fellow citizens, particularly those perceived as Black and Arab,” said Coulibaly, who is Black.

The Council of State is France’s ultimate arbiter on the use of power by authorities. The plaintiffs’ lawsuit, France’s first class-action case against police, was filed in 2021. It included a 220-page file that was chock full of examples of racial profiling by French police.

The government has denied systemic discrimination by police.



https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/11/court-police-france-racial-profiling-identity-checks-discriminatory

Court finds police in France often use racial profiling in identity checks


Quote

Practice ruled to be discriminatory, but Conseil d’État says it does not have power to force change in policy

France’s highest administrative court has recognised discriminatory police identity checks based on racial profiling exist in France and are not isolated cases, but said it could not change political policy on the issue.

In a class action against the French state, six French and international organisations including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Open Society Justice Initiative had asked for French authorities to be found at fault for failing to prevent the widespread use of racial profiling.

They had asked the court to impose measures to make France end the practice, arguing that non-white people across France, notably young men perceived to be black or from north African backgrounds, are routinely singled out and stopped in the street, asked for identity papers and frisked without explanation – often several times a day and from as young as 10 or 11 years old.

The court – the Conseil d’État – stopped short of calling the issue systemic, but did say such checks were “not limited to isolated cases”.

Significantly, it also said the practice amounted to “discrimination for the people who have had an identity check on the basis of physical characteristics associated with their real or perceived origin”. But it added that it did not have the jurisdiction to force a change in political policy.

Maïté De Rue, a senior lawyer at the Open Society Justice Initiative who is involved in the case, said: “The decision of the state council is extremely disappointing. It recognised that ethnic profiling is a serious and pervasive problem in France.

“But it missed the historic opportunity to order the French authorities to take measures to to end this racial discrimination, in compliance with their international obligations.”

Bénédicte Jeannerod of Human Rights Watch said she hoped this would stop what she called the “posture of denial” of successive governments over the existence of the problem of racial profiling in France.

Issa Coulibaly, the head of Pazapas, a local youth group based in the Paris suburb of Belleville, who was part of the legal action, said the court had “failed to understand the violence and exclusion generated by these police practices”.

He added: “They failed to grasp the historic opportunity to improve the daily lives of millions of their fellow citizens, particularly those perceived as black and north African.

“It was a missed opportunity. The court had the opportunity to change the daily reality of people subjected to this. They considered they couldn’t do it. And that raises a lot of questions. How will that be seen by people affected by racial profiling?”

He said people would once again feel that the problem was being minimised.

Coulibaly said he had turned to the court because politics and politicians had failed to address the problem for 40 years. “And today the court is sending us back to politics, but for decades the political class has failed to acted on this,” he said.

In 2017, the French rights ombudsman estimated that men perceived to be black or north African were 20 times more likely than others to be stopped by police for identity checks.

France’s interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, told a parliamentary commission in July: “It’s false to say there is systemic racism in the national police.”


The judgment will be coming to you very soon France.





Posted by: 90sRetroFan
« on: September 29, 2023, 05:33:48 pm »

https://www.yahoo.com/news/german-opposition-leader-faces-criticism-113145409.html

Quote
Friedrich Merz, who leads the center-right Christian Democratic Union, assailed the government's approach to immigration in an appearance Wednesday on Welt television. He said people “go crazy” when they see large numbers of unsuccessful asylum applicants staying and getting “full benefits.”

“They sit at the doctor's and get their teeth redone, and the German citizens next door can't get appointments,” he alleged.
...
Health Minister Karl Lauterbach told the daily German newspaper Bild that Merz was stirring up hatred against migrants “by apparently deliberately creating the false impression that they steal expensive care from Germans.”

When in reality:

Quote
The head of the German dentists' association, Christoph Benz, was quoted in Friday's edition of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper as saying that “dentists are not being overrun” and that he hadn't heard of any practice having an appointment backlog because of having to treat large numbers of migrants.
...
reporting had made clear “that what Mr. Merz asserted here largely does not correspond to the facts.”

Asylum-seekers have only limited entitlement to health care during their first 18 months in Germany, though they can see a doctor in cases of acute illness or pain. They would only be able to get dentures in that period if it was urgent.
Posted by: 90sRetroFan
« on: September 18, 2023, 04:53:51 pm »

https://www.yahoo.com/news/italy-mulls-migrant-crackdown-talk-140455932.html

Quote
The French government of Emmanuel Macron has shifted right on migration and security issues, and on Monday, his interior minister, Gerald Darmanin, was heading to Rome for meetings. Darmanin said before he left that France would help Italy maintain its border to prevent people from arriving but was not prepared to take in migrants who have arrived in Lampedusa in recent days.

’’Things are getting very difficult in Lampedusa. That’s why we should help our Italian friends. But there should not be a message given to people coming on our soil that they are welcomed in our countries no matter what," he said on France’s Europe-1 radio.

‘’Our will is to fully welcome those who should be welcomed, but we should absolutely send back those who have no reason to be in Europe," he said, citing people arriving from Ivory Coast or Guinea or Gambia, saying there is no obvious political reason to give them asylum.

Here are some obvious reasons:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Ivory_Coast#Establishment_of_French_rule

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Guinea#Colonial_era

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gambia#English_and_French_administration

Here is another obvious reason:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/damian-carrington-blog/2011/oct/26/climate-change-developing-country-impacts-risk

Quote
Map reveals stark divide in who caused climate change and who's being hit
...
while rich, industrialised nations caused climate change through past carbon emissions, it is the developing world that is bearing the brunt.
...
The point is starkly illustrated in a new map of climate vulnerability (above): the rich global north has low vulnerability, the poor global south has high vulnerability. The map is produced by risk analysts Maplecroft by combining measures of the risk of climate change impacts, such as storms, floods, and droughts, with the social and financial ability of both communities and governments to cope.
...
"Large areas of north America and northern Europe are not so exposed to actual climate risk, and are very well placed to deal with it,"