I wonder who’ll be next week’s Prime Minister?
Politics and Current Affairs
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I get where you’re coming from with the martyr thing, but the MAGA movement without Trump to focus on would (will eventually, presumably) flounder and devolve into chaotic in-fighting. This will strengthen all their resolve.
Eventually that would happen, but it would take time. In the interim though, this country would be absolute, unbridled chaos.
His supporters would come fucking unglued. I can genuinely see them becoming violent and the whole thing spiraling out of control.
Y’all aren’t here to feel this atmosphere. Seriously, Dead Trump right now would be far worse than Wounded Trump.
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Yeah, there’s no way this doesn’t get bloody and messy, the unknown quantity is how much. Whatever can be done to reduce that is good.
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Donald Trump names Ohio senator JD Vance as vice-presidential running mate – Guardian
The former ‘never Trumper’ once called the ex-president a ‘terrible candidate’ and asked if he was ‘America’s Hitler’
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AOC to anonymous Democrat who said party resigned to Trump win: ‘Retire’
Comments made by unnamed senior Democrat after Trump shooting draw stinging rebuke from progressive
Seriously, Dead Trump right now would be far worse than Wounded Trump.
Even if Wounded Trump were to become President again?
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Donald Trump names Ohio senator JD Vance as vice-presidential running mate – Guardian
The former ‘never Trumper’ once called the ex-president a ‘terrible candidate’ and asked if he was ‘America’s Hitler’
He looks like a church pastor that you later discover is a child molester.
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Donald Trump names Ohio senator JD Vance as vice-presidential running mate – Guardian
The former ‘never Trumper’ once called the ex-president a ‘terrible candidate’ and asked if he was ‘America’s Hitler’
He looks like a church pastor that you later discover is a child molester.
Well, considering whose running mate he is…
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Donald Trump names Ohio senator JD Vance as vice-presidential running mate – Guardian
The former ‘never Trumper’ once called the ex-president a ‘terrible candidate’ and asked if he was ‘America’s Hitler’
He looks like a church pastor that you later discover is a child molester.
so… a church pastor?
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AOC to anonymous Democrat who said party resigned to Trump win: ‘Retire’
Comments made by unnamed senior Democrat after Trump shooting draw stinging rebuke from progressive
Proof that AOC has a bigger set of balls than her male Dem counterparts. AOC IN 2028!!!
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So Vance said before he was a “never Trumper” and called him “America’s Hitler”
How they all fall in line. Wow.
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Everyone’s acting like Trump getting shot means he’ll win the election now but… does it? Is sympathy for getting shot at really going to sway undecided voters? I just can’t fathom anyone thinking “well I’m not sure about his politics and attitude but now a failed assassin has taken off part of his ear, I think he’s got my vote.”
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I think it’s not the specifics of the attack so much as the way it will energise his base, dominate the news agenda, and give him something to leverage that will support his narrative of being unfairly attacked by his political opponents. As cynical as it sounds, something like this is a real gift for a campaigning candidate.
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It’s basically the plot of Bob Roberts, though if this is a false flag like in the movie then there’s no way Trump was in on the planning.
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Heh…a substantial part of the left is turning into Alex Jones with the false flag stuff.
I’ve seen just as much if not more speculation from the right that it’s a deep state conspiracy – they put the shooter up to it or let it happen.
Everyone’s acting like Trump getting shot means he’ll win the election now but… does it? Is sympathy for getting shot at really going to sway undecided voters? I just can’t fathom anyone thinking “well I’m not sure about his politics and attitude but now a failed assassin has taken off part of his ear, I think he’s got my vote.”
Anecdotal and all online but there have been suggestions that some people who weren’t going to vote are impressed at Trump’s supposed toughness and fearlessness – immediately shrugging off the attempt and whatnot.
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Heh…a substantial part of the left is turning into Alex Jones with the false flag stuff.
I’ve seen just as much if not more speculation from the right that it’s a deep state conspiracy – they put the shooter up to it or let it happen.
Everyone’s acting like Trump getting shot means he’ll win the election now but… does it? Is sympathy for getting shot at really going to sway undecided voters? I just can’t fathom anyone thinking “well I’m not sure about his politics and attitude but now a failed assassin has taken off part of his ear, I think he’s got my vote.”
Anecdotal and all online but there have been suggestions that some people who weren’t going to vote are impressed at Trump’s supposed toughness and fearlessness – immediately shrugging off the attempt and whatnot.
He was so tough; he went golfing the next day after a bullet grazed his ear.
Meanwhile, Biden called and offered his condolences to the widow of the retired fire chief who died. This is something Trump has yet to do.
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It’s that image. Blood-smeared fist, standing straight raising his fist while those Secret Service agents are trying to shield him… this goes a long way in a country that loves strong, tough men.
It’s not a done deal that he’ll win, but in a race in which every vote counts, this image in contrast to Biden’s perceived frailty and weakness may be the deciding factor.
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I hope Biden pulls out.
That’s what she said!!!
Give Kamala a chance.
I still think there’d be better candidates than her, but I’d fine with her as compared to Biden. The most important thing is you need someone who can campaign against Trump properly, and she can deliver that, I think.
Trump could destroy democracy
It’s really fucking crazy. A public plan to dismantle American democracy open for anyone to see (in Project 2025), a (first) criminal conviction, surviving an attack like this… whoever is writing the screenplay for our current reality should really lay off the meth.
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I hope Biden pulls out.
That’s what she said!!!
Give Kamala a chance.
I still think there’d be better candidates than her, but I’d fine with her as compared to Biden. The most important thing is you need someone who can campaign against Trump properly, and she can deliver that, I think.
Trump could destroy democracy
It’s really fucking crazy. A public plan to dismantle American democracy open for anyone to see (in Project 2025), a (first) criminal conviction, surviving an attack like this… whoever is writing the screenplay for our current reality should really lay off the meth.
Oh, it’s moved onto the harder stuff, meth was not enough.
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I hope Biden pulls out.
That’s what she said!!!
Give Kamala a chance.
I still think there’d be better candidates than her, but I’d fine with her as compared to Biden. The most important thing is you need someone who can campaign against Trump properly, and she can deliver that, I think.
Trump could destroy democracy
It’s really fucking crazy. A public plan to dismantle American democracy open for anyone to see (in Project 2025), a (first) criminal conviction, surviving an attack like this… whoever is writing the screenplay for our current reality should really lay off the meth.
Oh, it’s moved onto the harder stuff, meth was not enough.
They’re doing a lot of cocaine from the 1970s.
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Project 2025 seems bad…to be honest I’m a bit more concerned with the influence of Thiel and Musk in a future Trump presidency but it’s bad overall.
Another thing I’m concerned about is Trump possibly making the conflict in the Middle East even worse. I understand why some left wingers dislike Biden because of his stance on Gaza, but Trump could be worse. It’s about goddamn time to stop the wars in Palestine and Ukraine.
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And Biden has dropped out
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Which begs the question: now what?
Kamala Harris to run for POTUS. There have also been rumors that CA governor Gavin Newsome may throw his hat into the ring.
The name I’m that I saw (and I’m sure there will be many more) for VP is former astronaut Mark Kelly.
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Something to keep in mind is that even after the debate, Trump’s lead over Biden in the polls was not that big. There were some other polls that had Kamala with a sizable lead over Trump if they went head to head.
In other words, this is going to be a clusterfuck.
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The amount of gnashing of teeth by the worst people on the internet over this has been hilarious.
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Biden has quit the White House race. Where does his campaign money go now? – MarketWatch
If you donated, can you get your money back? MarketWatch asked experts this, and much more.
_____________________Interesting, although I’ve heard it’s all bullshit too.
They couldn’t be stopped from donating to a 3rd party who in turn donates to the two brand new people on the ticket.
As long as every penny accounted for, there would not be an investigation, or at least most would bet on assumed none.
There’s no precedent for this.But yeah, Kamala staying on one of the two spots on the ticket is far easier from many points of view.
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Biden is either now going to pass away in the next few months or live for another twenty years.
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They already had the primaries though. That’s the stupid thing about this, the primary elections would have been ideal to pick a new candidate but that didn’t happen because Biden’s problems were dismissed as a right wing conspiracy.
Right. Open nomination process, then.
And yes, it’s a shame Biden himself didn’t assess his state realistically before it came to the current moment. I don’t think anybody could’ve derailed his nomination before that debate performance, not with him himself wanting to hold on to it. That’s just the way it was, and there are a number of good reasons for it. While at the same time, a lot of people – probably mostly outside of the Democratic Party, but also inside of it – were also lamenting that there was going to be a presidential election featuring Two Old White Guys.
So I just hope they make their decision quickly enough to be able to put up a campaign that focuses on that, that focuses on a person who isn’t eightyish.
On the other hand, I hope they keep Biden’s announced policies. It should tell you something when Bernie Sanders is praising them.
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OK, so hear me out.
JD Vance:
Robert Z’Dar in legendarily bad movie Samurai Cop:
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I can’t unsee that, now.
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Personally I don’t see anything noble about him and all the “Oh, isn’t he a hero for stepping down and putting the party first” talking heads are cringy as fuck.
Trump didn’t want to let go of power and neither does Biden, which is why he’s spent the last three weeks trying to gaslight everyone into to thinking his brain isn’t fried.
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Personally I don’t see anything noble about him and all the “Oh, isn’t he a hero for stepping down and putting the party first” talking heads are cringy as fuck.
Trump didn’t want to let go of power and neither does Biden, which is why he’s spent the last three weeks trying to gaslight everyone into to thinking his brain isn’t fried.
Biden wasn’t trying to gaslight everyone. Everyone knew he wasn’t up for the fight.
He was trying to gaslight himself. And Saturday night, reality finally set in.
He should have withdrawn the day after the press conference. That press conference should have been an easy win. If he had aced that, it would have quieted a lot of the doubters. But when he muffed that, it was time to bail. Personally, I thought he was going to drop out shortly after that. But he dragged it out, and that took valuable time away from Harris to hit the ground running and start building her campaign.
And let’s be honest, there had to be those in his inner circle that knew he wasn’t up for a second term. Maybe they were trying to get him to drop out last year. Or maybe they were hoping he could squeeze out a win over Trump and shortly into his second term, he would step down and let Harris become POTUS.
He probably convinced himself to stay in out of loyalty to the party when deep down, he knew he was not up to the task. He gaslit himself.
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Personally I don’t see anything noble about him and all the “Oh, isn’t he a hero for stepping down and putting the party first” talking heads are cringy as fuck.
Trump didn’t want to let go of power and neither does Biden, which is why he’s spent the last three weeks trying to gaslight everyone into to thinking his brain isn’t fried.
I’m not saying he’s noble really, just nobler than Trump.
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This presidential race has been focused on one incompetent candidate. Now that Biden has stepped down, the race will be focused on one incompetent candidate
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Curious on what her approaches to the masses will be. The opponent is already being a bully and name calling.
Obviously, she will try to rally women overall with reclaiming rights to their own bodies and so on.
Other things we’ll see.
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Personally I don’t see anything noble about him and all the “Oh, isn’t he a hero for stepping down and putting the party first” talking heads are cringy as fuck.
Trump didn’t want to let go of power and neither does Biden, which is why he’s spent the last three weeks trying to gaslight everyone into to thinking his brain isn’t fried.
I’m not saying he’s noble really, just nobler than Trump.
Not exactly a high bar to clear.
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These motherfuckers:
Tennessee Republican files articles of impeachment against Harris
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Biden isn’t a psycho like Trump, but I still don’t really like him or anything. His war record is bad.
One thing I like about him is that the fits thing in his twitter account info is:
“Husband to @DrBiden, proud father and grandfather.”I think he was a pretty good President, really, during a time in which it was tough to be that.
Curious on what her approaches to the masses will be. The opponent is already being a bully and name calling.
She seems to be taking him head-on, emphasising her time as a prosecutor in contrast to her opponent being a criminal. Seems like the smart thing to do.
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Fucking Starmer suspending seven MPs for rebelling on a motion that Labour was never going to lose voting down (one that aimed to remove the two child cap on benefits – Labour want to keep it, for clarity). What a fragile little bitch.
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Fucking Starmer suspending seven MPs for rebelling on a motion that Labour was never going to lose voting down (one that aimed to remove the two child cap on benefits – Labour want to keep it, for clarity). What a fragile little bitch.
It was a three-line whip. Translation: Vote for this or kiss your arse goodbye. Not the kind of thing that the trigger can’t be pulled on if someone’s determined to push it.
There’s also an aspect of SNP stirring the crap because, having screwed up spectacularly, independence isn’t happening any time soon, especially if Labour really do some serious devolution – they have nothing else to do.
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If he doesn’t, he gets accused of being weak. Labour MPs rebelling against the party line is going to create bad headlines for him either way,
I really don’t agree with this take. It’s 7 MPs (ok arguably a few more if he hadn’t instigated the three line whip on the vote). Less than 2% of his entire cohort of MPs. If that level of rebellion is considered “weak” then fuck, he can never be strong. Putin allows a bigger percentage of that to go against him in his total legit elections. Suspending them has given them more prominence than if he’d just ignored them. It paints him as unable to brook any kind of dissent or disagreement, incapable of compromise or living with differing opinions and that’s less than three weeks into the job. Where does it escalate do when he really gets a significant rebellion from his party on an issue. Taking his ball and going home?
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They’ve been in power for a very short amount of time, but in that time the media has gone off the deep end. You want to know why Labour were cautious for years? Why even Blair and New Labour needed someone like Campbell? This is why. A 7-MP protest is being spun as a gigantic event.
You can say it’s all media bollocks, but it’s influential media bollocks. Labour know the media will gun for them in a way the Conservatives do not get.
They also need to kill the “there’s no money” millstone that they’ve struggled with since 2010.
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Really not a huge deal, and I think shows how undramatic Starmer’s leadership has been so far if this is the most scandalous story the papers can latch onto.
It really is a big deal. Three line whips are for important votes like the second reading of bills, not opposition motions that are doomed to fail. Removing the whip (and suspending MPs for six months) is a nuclear option usually only held back for discipling people who have rebelled on key votes and under investigation for misconduct (sexual harassment etc). To wheel it out at the first moment of dissent is a pathetic over-reaction. Suspending seven of your own MPs from your party after less than a month in office is a big deal.
It reminds me a lot of a fill-in teacher I had in Y10 or so. Seemingly nice guy but as soon as someone spoke out of turn, the very first time, he absolutely lost it and started bellowing in her face to be quiet and sent her out of the room. Which I’m sure he thought was a show of strength, but it wasn’t. He immediately lost that tacit respect of the class because he has absolutely nowhere to go from there and the entire lesson descended into chaos. It’s like sledgehammering an ant.
I’m also minded of this.
I’d argue the opposite, that he cares too much about public opinion and his caution and unwillingness to depart too significantly from established current political ideas is because he doesn’t want to scare the horses. He knows there’s a big centrist voter base out there and he doesn’t want to do anything that appears too radical and leftwing and might scare them away (or which the Tories could weaponise against him to that end).
I am similarly frustrated with Labour’s lack of ambition at the moment, but I do appreciate that they are focused on actually winning the election so that they can get into power and make some changes.
He’s won the election, he’s got the power and centrist voter base. But he’s not only still sticking to right-wing policy but annihilating those trying to move him to the left (which you also said was the only recourse for change; elect Labour and pressure them to move to the left). He is not a man of compromise and that is not going to work long term.
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They can’t always go this heavy on everything too.
The problem I see with this is it’s all very Popular People’s Front of Judea, left-wing splinter bollocks. We got rid of the most right-wing government ever, one that would have kept causing damage and killing people.
There’s the emotive line of “do you want kids going hungry?” but that gets met with “do you want hospitals to collapse?” Not everything can be done at once, decisions will be made which will be disagreed with. I’m still sceptical they have the nerve to challenge the disability scrounger toxic rhetoric that has run rampant for the last 15 years. But keeping the last lot instead? No.
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Trump shocks with ‘fever dream’ suggestion that football coaches should guide the military
https://www.rawstory.com/donald-trump-military-2668813632/
Fever dream or senility?
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Donald Trump’s Gains With Black Voters Have Been Wiped Out
I have at least one cousin who supports Trump, and it still makes no damn sense to me.
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Trump shocks with ‘fever dream’ suggestion that football coaches should guide the military
https://www.rawstory.com/donald-trump-military-2668813632/
Fever dream or senility?
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It’s crazy how the Evangelical faction sucks Israel’s dick. I know I have defended certain things Israel did in the past, but right now I’m absolutely against what Israel is doing.
Unfortunately it seems the foreign politics of the US (and also my own country) is completely supportive of the Israelis.
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Fever dream or senility?
Nah, that’s just Trump being Trump. It’s like his sunlight covid treatment idea. He comes up with something in an area that he doesn’t know shit about and it’s obviously just complete nonsense, but he thinks it’s genius because he doesn’t understand what skills or competence or expertise are. He thinks everybody just walks around making shit up because it’s all he himself does. He has no comprehension of the way the world actually works.
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It’s crazy how the Evangelical faction sucks Israel’s dick
They literally believe that an apocalyptic war in the Middle East will usher in the Rapture, and then they all get to go to heaven while the anti-christ rules over the unbelievers on Earth.
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Nikki Haley denounces GOP attacks on Kamala Harris over race, gender as ‘not helpful’
Since when has the current GOP given a damn about being helpful?
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Meanwhile, the couch JD Vance shagged is doing interviews.
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There may be more problematic things about Vance than defiling furniture:
https://x.com/maddenifico/status/1816616518630687091
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Looks like Vance is going to be a nightmare for that campaign. Awesome!
The couch thing is just silliness, but his radical stance on abortion and IVG and his pro-family fundamentalism is going to make it tough. And I’m sure there’s other shit that’s going to come up.
There’s a first overview here that’s fun:
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/07/26/republicans-jd-vance-attacks-00171473
Republicans are already souring on JD Vance
Also, he’s tied to Project 2025 which is great because Trump is trying to wriggle out of that one and now the Dems can just keep hitting that point.
“I’m a little surprised they didn’t vet him as thoroughly as they should have, or if they did, did they not know he was writing the forword to Kevin Roberts’ book,” said a Republican strategist and veteran of multiple presidential campaigns, granted anonymity to speak freely. “So, you’ve got Trump trashing this Project 2025, and Vance writing the forword.”
I am not surprised he wasn’t vetted by the way. He’s Peter Thiel’s puppet, isn’t he? I am sure Thiel made a great deal with Trump to make sure Vance was going to be VP. Maybe Musk’s in there, too, he’s not giving out those campaign millions for nothing, and Tump’s always for sale if nothing else.
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Meanwhile, the couch JD Vance shagged is doing interviews.
I’m holding out for the interview with the dolphin.
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I am not surprised he wasn’t vetted by the way. He’s Peter Thiel’s puppet, isn’t he? I am sure Thiel made a great deal with Trump to make sure Vance was going to be VP. Maybe Musk’s in there, too, he’s not giving out those campaign millions for nothing, and Tump’s always for sale if nothing else.
And in unrelated news, Trump has just announced he wants to make Bitcoin the basis of US currency or something like that.
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First it was couches.
Then it was dolphin porn.
Then it was a total inability to defend his wife against racist crapbags.
And now there’s something about Vance and burnt monkey balls that sounds nasty.
Historians a few decades down the line ain’t going to believe the primary sources for this era.
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Don’t forget he’s possibly against battered women leaving their abusers.
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Stephen Colbert used the expression “Handmaid’s-Tale-curious” about him, which I thought was extremely funny.
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The housing problem is a big issue politicians have to solve.
Same here.
I am surprised that Amsterdam is worse than Paris. But yeah, it’s a big issue. I mean, it’d be solved if everybody decided to move to the countryside, of course; to an extent, this is a crisis of urban areas.
The countryside is expensive too…because there are just not a lot of properties for rent. The town I was born in is pretty rural, and most houses there are family homes that are expensive, especially if you’re paying for it as the single inhabitant.
Outside the Randstad, like in Drenthe or something, the rent is a lot lower but I’m pretty sure that if everybody decided to move there, the prices there would rise through the roof as well…if demand rises and they don’t build enough to keep up, things get expensive.
I f someone were to have a job in Amsterdam and they can’t find an affordable home there, I’d advise them to look around in the surrounding towns. You’d have a commute of 30 minutes to an hour. Towns like Leiden or Haarlem or Alkmaar have a good connection with Amsterdam. (Just don’t go to Almere, it’s boring)
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Juts found out that Amsterdam is the most expensive city in Europe for rent…that is just awful. Apartments go for 2.5K a month on average.
I know a few Millennials and Gen-Xers in Manhattan area who would KILL for a one-bedroom apartment costing $2,500 a month. One of them is my son.
From RentHop.com:
Average rent for one bedroom rentals for the zipcodes in or near Manhattan, New York, NY is $4,286 per month. Or in other words, $7 per sqft. Meanwhile, two bedroom apartments will cost you an average of $5,500 per month.
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Juts found out that Amsterdam is the most expensive city in Europe for rent…that is just awful. Apartments go for 2.5K a month on average.
I know a few Millennials and Gen-Xers in Manhattan area who would KILL for a one-bedroom apartment costing $2,500 a month. One of them is my son.
From RentHop.com:
Average rent for one bedroom rentals for the zipcodes in or near Manhattan, New York, NY is $4,286 per month. Or in other words, $7 per sqft. Meanwhile, two bedroom apartments will cost you an average of $5,500 per month.
Affordable housing is a problem everywhere, and there is no simple solution.
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Juts found out that Amsterdam is the most expensive city in Europe for rent…that is just awful. Apartments go for 2.5K a month on average.
I know a few Millennials and Gen-Xers in Manhattan area who would KILL for a one-bedroom apartment costing $2,500 a month. One of them is my son.
From RentHop.com:
Average rent for one bedroom rentals for the zipcodes in or near Manhattan, New York, NY is $4,286 per month. Or in other words, $7 per sqft. Meanwhile, two bedroom apartments will cost you an average of $5,500 per month.
So are you going to suggest he moves to Amsterdam and commutes?
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Changing tack, the far right is causing a lot of trouble in the UK. Only benefit, if the politicians get a spine and splat Farage, is it makes the point as to why these ideas aren’t let out of the box.
It’s also being enabled by a combination of social media and AI that will not be limited to the UK:
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It’s also being enabled by a combination of social media and AI that will not be limited to the UK:
I think recent events have shown how dangerous it can be in the real world for lies and misinformation to rapidly circulate on social media.
It’s why it always makes me laugh when Elon Musk peddles his standard bullshit about Twitter replacing traditional news media; what he doesn’t say is that it’s replacing legitimate news reporting with nonsense that often has no tether to reality but exists to whip up rightwing sentiment based on nothing at all, but gets traction because it gets fake information out quickly, before more traditional media can do boring stuff like verify facts and find out genuine information.
In the case of Southport, you had almost immediate indications from the usual suspects that the attacker was a Muslim (he’s not) and an immigrant (he’s not) and even false names circulating, all of which whipped up the current riots we’re seeing.
At some point these social media platforms are going to have to come under some kind of governance that holds them responsible for the crap that they publish online, as it is increasingly driving horrors in the real world.
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Well, propaganda is always especially effective when there’s a kernel of truth to wrap your agenda around. There are structures going back to the times of colonisation that produce effects that are mainly beneficial to Western countries and that exploit the global South, sure. But there aren’t necessarily easy answers to changing those, and more importantly China doesn’t really have anybody’s best interest but their own at heart.
EDIT: Also, it sounds like you’re digging into the kind of political discourses that aren’t good for your peace of mind, Arjan…
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Kamala Harris energizes Democrats and shakes up presidential race. Can she keep this up?
Let’s hope so.
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There are structures going back to the times of colonisation that produce effects that are mainly beneficial to Western countries and that exploit the global South, sure.
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Maybe. I dunno. I have a suspicion that much of it is due to communist propaganda to make Western countries feel bad about their prosperity.
Well, this is stuff that’s not hard to look up. I mean, you don’t need to dig deep to find out about the coup against Mossadegh, or the history of Shell in Nigeria (and I would hope that this is being taught in Dutch schools nowadays). Our prosperity is very much based on exploitation.
Where communist propaganda is concerned: Again, all of this doesn’t mean that the USSR did better in the Eastern countries, and especially not that China is a benevolent presence in the world today. You can open your eyes in all directions, it’s not an either/or thing. (This is the same kind mindset, by the way, that in the opposite direction drives me crazy when it comes to some people around me who are so much into anti-Americanism that they’ll defend Russia and China no matter what they do.)4 users thanked author for this post.
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If you think it’s just about guilt and making you feel bad you’re sitting in the trap because you feel like it’s impossible to change things (this is what Marx called false consciousness). The point of acknowledging structures of exploitation is to try to change them in the long term – through things like the supply chain legislation that the EU recently adopted.
You’re not wrong though, the “average” people in the Western countries reap hardly any of the profits of the exploitation of the global South, because we also live in incredibly inequal societies. Currently in Germany, 3300 people own about a quarter of all financial wealth. At the same time, our country is falling apart – recent events have exposed that our infrastructure is collapsing, and public services are pretty much breaking down because services like childcare, care of the elderly or education have been underfunded for decades under Merkel – and the political forces of those wealthy have managed to create a political discourse where the arguments being exchanged are only about either raising the debt ceiling (on the left) or taking money away from the unemployed and refugees (on the right). While nobody at all of the major parties is talking about a wealth tax. It’s quite an incredible feat, and once again one that I am sure the propagandists of hostile countries can work with very well.
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I agree with that mostly. But the malevolent framing is calling it “the global North vs the global South”, the West against the rest, white against black, etc. This is all deceptive. Rather I think it is some groups of people at the top who exploit the masses. And that isn’t just white against black, it is also white against white and black against black. That’s a problem of capitalism I think.
Like the war in Iraq. Americans didn’t just wake up and thought “I want war with Iraq”, elites lied them into this shit. I am in favor of countries and communities taking care of their own, doing what is right for their people. But without oppressing other countries.
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