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midnightshade · 8 months

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Geto Suguru's Downfall and the True Scope of His Plans

I've noticed a lot of misconceptions surrounding Geto as a character, specifically considering his goals. I've seen some people say his plans weren't very well thought out, but I couldn't disagree more!

Geto's plans were a little more refined than just, "kill everyone," and we even see evidence later on in the series that shows his plans were a lot more refined than people give him credit for.

Before I begin, as always I'd like to provide a disclaimer. This is a discussion on Geto's plans and the depth and thought behind them. This is not a defense of his plans.

Let's begin with a recap of Geto's downfall and what led him to his current beliefs up until his death.

Geto originally believed that the strong existed to protect the weak. He clung to those ideals so resolutely that when he came face to face with the ugliness and unfairness of the system he was working within, it broke him.

Riko's death was the catalyst that sent Geto spiraling. He was one of the Strongest and yet he couldn't even protect a scared girl right in front of him. Haibara's death broke him further, as his Junior had given him some hope: to keep doing what he could because it was something he could do, only for him to die tragically on a mission.

Finally, Geto snapped when he saw Mimiko and Nanako in a cage, beaten and sentenced to death by ignorant, hateful humans.

Geto wasn't born evil. He was struggling and desperately clinging to his ideals in a system that saw him and other sorcerers as fodder. He was right to break away from the system and right to call out the ugliness of humanity. By all accounts, shaman are an oppressed minority and humans are the oppressors.

Minorities are well within their right to be angry at their oppressors, but Geto's mistake was turning to genocide and hatred rather than finding other methods of changing the system.

So, what exactly was Geto's plan? Kill all non-shaman, yes, but it's a little more refined than that.

If you look back at his conversation with Yuki, you see that she mentioned how a mass cull might force the survivors to develop Cursed Energy, much like how birds developed wings. Suguru took that idea and ran with it, and to his credit, it's implied to be a possible route

A good route? No, but a possible one

We learn this thanks to Kenjaku. Shoko is the first to mention a connection between the brain and the Cursed Technique, but Kenjaku later confirms this connection: the brain of a Shaman and Non-Shaman are fundamentally different, but it's possible for the latter to become the former.

Kenjaku himself does this. He used transfiguration to transform a handful of modern day people into Shaman and we see Mahito do the same with Junpei, altering his brain for Jujutsu.

It's just that, unlike Kenjaku, Geto lacked the scope required to perform a mass-evolution on the scale he likely wanted.

But why would anyone join him? Even if his plans could work, why would anyone willingly go along with it?

Simple. Shaman, as mentioned, are oppressed. While Geto's methods are cruel, it's no surprise that those who have been continuously hurt and disenfranchised would side with him. Unfortunately, Gege doesn't give us much to go on with his family, but Mimiko and Nanako are good enough examples.

They were children, only 6 years old when their parents were murdered and when they were locked up and tortured for the crime of being Shaman. Considering Nobara sees similar behavior in her own town, it's safe to assume that the Countryside (and many humans in general) have not improved with their bias towards Shaman.

The narrative is against Suguru's methods, but notice that it never says he's wrong in his core beliefs that the system is flawed. We see this with characters like Gojo and Nanami, who each react differently to similar pressures. Nanami leaves Jujutsu Society and even goes so far as to say he understands Geto and what he's doing. Gojo, meanwhile, is trying to change the system gradually from the inside. Regardless of their methods, they're in agreement: this system isn't fair and it isn't working.

Geto Suguru is considered a genius through effort, compared to a natural born genius like Gojo. His methods are cruel and very clearly wrong, but they're more thought out than people give him credit for, and there's a good reason why people follow him.

#jjk #jujutsu kaisen #geto suguru #forbidden writings #jjk meta #jjk spoilers #spoilers

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suncaptor · 3 years

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The way Azazel was rooting for Sam Winchester to win including shaping his life to be the king of hell while Jake Talley still ended up as the true winner. The way Jake wasn't who Azazel was betting on. The way Azazel was happy for Dean bringing Sam back because despite the obvious ways in which that puts Sam in a place beyond his skill level, making Azazel's games inherently unfair, it wasn't technically cheating. The privilege Sam held: as the wanted legacy king of hell.

#the point of this message is the evil demon azazel is racist #azazel #jake talley #psychic kids #sam winchester #all hell breaks loose #s2 #jake #sammy #spn #supernatural #incoherents #the way that Sam literally did not succeed within that system whatsoever but still ended up titled king of it......#not that he'd ever want it.#I mean part of that is why he was so bad at it. he was incapable of succeeding with his powers due to repression right?#so if Hell hadnt focused on him his legacy if he hadn't been placed as winner in a rigged game #maybe they would have succeeded #it was a role Sam would never be good at.#the unfairness within this system led to the downfall #not that I think Jake is very evil either but he was also placed in the final round. Ava had been there for months.#so like....#who else could have killed Sam so easily he never even went up against?#besides Jake: who did.#btw this analysis is not about how fucked up the way they portrayed Jake in spn is like. this is in universe biad #bias*#obviously I am appalled by this horrific show depicting Jake as violent and then graphically killing him #i just want to talk about him outside that too cause his character still deserves analysis. like his backstory and motivations #are SO interesting #I've spent forever wondering where every reasonable action he takes switches when he doesn't shoot Azazel and what led him to go off track #there besides obviously the show villainsing him. what is his past. his relationship with his family. we get tidbits

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historical-revolution · 6 years

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French Revolution Master post

The French revolution was a very important event in modern European history. This post will give a brief understanding of what caused this revolution, key events,historical figures involved and the aftermath.

The Basics: The French revolution was not one major event but a series of radical Political, Social and Economic changes. Scattered across twelve unstable years from 1787 to 1799. That would change how France and Europe saw the aristocracy and equality forever.

Historical Figures of note:

The Royals/ Second Estate

King Louis XVI

King Louis XVI was born 23 August 1754, Palace of Versailles, Versailles, Yvelines, France. He was the grandson of King Louis XV who left France in severe debt after defeats in the Seven years war. Louis XVI married the 15 year old Austrian archduchess Marie Antoinette in 1770 at the age of 16. He was a loyal husband and monarch. He was actually quite intelligent and progressive. Actively trying to get out of debt even suggesting taxation to the aristocracy. Unfortunately he was easily persuaded and indecisive. This contributed to his downfall. He was Guillotined 17th of January 1793

Queen Consort Marie Antoinette

Marie Antoinette was born 2 November 1755

Hofburg Palace, Vienna, Austria.

Marie Antoinette was the beautiful Archduchess of Austria. Louis XV arranged the marriage between her and the Dauphin (Future Louis XVI) in a bid to unite and bring peace between the two enemy nations. This made her vastly unpopular with the French people and Nobility alike. She became the figurehead of all that was wrong with the aristocracy. The fact that it took 11 years for her to produce a male heir weighed heavily on her image and popularity for years to come. She was Guillotined 16th October 1793. Only one of her three surviving children lived to see the other side of the Revolution.

Gilbert du Motier, Marquis De Lafayette

Lafayette was a key figure in both the American revolution and the French Revolution. He was however of the French nobility and stood behind king Louis. On 29 December 1786, King Louis XVI called an Assembly of Notables, in response to France's fiscal crisis. The king appointed Lafayette to the body, which convened on 22 February 1787. Lafayette decreed that there should be a truly national assembly representing everybody. Including the third estate/ Commoners. However he was ignored by the king. And later as leader of the national guard tried to save the king and his family while supporting a constitutional monarchy. He was exiled and take prisoner by the Austrians.

The third Estate/ The radicals

Maximilian Robespierre

Born 6 May 1758 Arras, Artois, France. Robespierre is famous for being the Leader of the jacobin political party and member of the Committee of Public Safety. He is a principal figure of the French Revolution and the reign of terror. An intelligent self made man earning an enviable education on merit alone. He was heavily influenced by the writers of the enlightenment such as Voltaire and Rousseau. Near the end of his life he suffered a period of illness and started having a nervous breakdown that led to a series of self-destructive actions finally leading to a conspiracy that made him into a villain. He was Guillotined

Camille Desmoulins

Lucie-Simplice-Camille-Benoist Desmoulins born 2 march 1760, Guise, France. Was one of the most influential figures of the french revolution. He was a accomplished journalist and pamphleteer. Despite his stammer he was a effective orator. Calling for Parisians to take up arms ( 12,July1789) This lead to storming of Bastille on July 14. Not soon after he published the pamphlet La France Libre (“Free France”) which lay charges against the disintegrating ancien régime. He fell far however and was ordered by Robespierre to be guillotined on 24 March 1794 because he began to disagree with the Committee's use of political terror and anti religious ideals.

Causes of the Revolution:

Finacial: King Louis’s Grandfather Louis XV left France in severe debt because of the loss of the seven years war. Then King Louis XVI decided to fund the American Revolution as a dig at the British. This unfortunately backfired when America didn’t keep the promises they made and France sunk into further debt. Causing higher taxation and reduced privlage on the already struggling Third Estate. Louis XVI consulted quite a few Financial advisors all were a failure. He even tried to tax the Second Estate (Nobility) but a lot of them were his family and reluctant to give up their life of excess at Versailles.

Social: The rise of the Bourgeoisie (Middle class) out of the Third Estate (the commoners) had evolved to have it’s own agenda to reach political equality with the Clergy ( First Estate) and Nobility (Second Estate)

Political: The French political system was broken up into three Estates The First Estate ( The Clergy) The Second Estate( The Nobility) and the Third Estate (the Common people). The Third Estate made up the majority of french population and was often overlooked and underrepresented by the other higher estates. This was grossly unfair and the combination of food shortages and the preachings of the Enlightened middle class such as Robespierre. the people decided to revolt and form their own National Assembly separate from the King.

Cultural: The Age of Enlightenment brought radical new ideas of philosophy and democracy. This promoted the idea of having a government based on reason and equality. Rather than the traditions and autocratic rule of the monarchy and the Catholic Church. The writing of the Devine rights of man and the citizen drafted by Lafayette greatly reflects this.

Economic: The deregulation of agriculture and the grain market supported by Liberal Economists. As well as a harsh harvest. Lead to a vast increase in the price of bread a staple of the French diet. The French people as a result were starving and they blamed the well fed Nobility. So they revolted

Some Key Events:

Meeting of the Estates General: King Louis XVI reluctantly called the estates general in May 1789. This was Louis’s last desperate attempt to solve the financial crisis. The First and Second Estate could always out vote the third. Knowing this Robespierre lead the Third Estate representatives to form their own National Assembly after being locked out of the Estates Generals. They then formed in a near by indoor tennis court. And pledged the famous Tennis Court Oath, vowing to remain there until a new constitution had been written.

The Fall of Bastille: 14th of July 1789. A mob of angry, starved french people marched on the medieval fortress of Bastille. It was considered a symbol of Louis XVI’s reign and everything the Second Estate represented. The commander of the Bastille, Marquis de Launay and his troops resisted. but they eventually surrendered. After learning about the events of Bastille, King Louis XVI withdrew the royal troops from the French capital and recalled finance minister Jacques Necker whom he dismissed just three days earlier. However, he could no longer reverse the Revolution, while the National Assembly became the French government.

March on Versailles: In October, a large crowd of protesters, mostly women, marched from Paris to the Palace of Versailles, convinced that the royal family and nobility there lived in luxury, oblivious to the hardships of the French people. They broke into the quarters of Queen Marie Antoinette who as an Austrian was particularly despised. The crowd demanded bread and wanted to bring the King and his family back to Paris to “live among the people”. Louis conceded to their demands and agreed to go to Paris with the mob, believing it would only be a temporary inconvenience.

Flight from Varennes: the National Assembly decided to impose limits to the King’s authority. The King would have veto power but the National Assembly could overrule his veto. These restrictions appalled Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. They also felt like prisoners in their Tuileries Palace in Paris. They decided to leave France and seek refuge in Austria, hoping to eventually be reinstated on the throne as absolute monarchs. Before leaving, Louis wrote a manifesto denouncing the Revolution. On June 20, 1791, the royal family quietly left Paris. They managed to get within a few miles of the border before being recognized in the town of Varennes and forced to go back. Marquis De Lafayette was denounced a monarchist and exiled to Austria. And with him The King had lost his National Gaurd.

Declaration of the Republic and the Trial of King Louis and Marie Antoinette: Following the arrests of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette for treason, the Legislative Assembly disbanded and replaced itself with a new political body named the National Convention. Their first order of business was to declare France a republic. And it was 21 September, 1792. Louis was guilty. The next was the trail of Louis. The vote on the death penalty was in favour. On January 21, 1793, Louis was driven through the streets of Paris to a guillotine and decapitated. Marie Antoinette had a short trial next. She was accused of numerous crimes, many of them baseless degrading rumors. On October 16, she too was found guilty and guillotined the same day.

The Reign of Terror: The new National Convention was dominated by the Committee of Public Safety. One man in particular, Maximilien Robespierre came to dominate the Committee and established himself as the leader of the so-called Reign of Terror. From September 1793 to July 1794, an estimated 16,000 people were guillotined. Some were moderates not dedicated enough to the revolution. others were too radical. A lot were innocents falsely accused of treason. However strong opposition to Robespierre formed within the Committee. The execution of popular Committee member George-Jacques Danton and Robespierre proclaiming himself as the leader of a new religion of the Supreme Being caused much resentment. On July 27, 1794, Robespierre was arrested. He was guillotined the following day.

Conclusion:

The effects of the French Revolution are still felt today. France tried a few times to restore the monarchy over the years since and failed largely due to the legacy of the revolution. The ideals of the French Revolution largely influenced the events of the Russian Revolution in 1917-1918. However the root causes and aftermath of the revolution is still being debated by historians today.

Read/ watch up on this subject:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28675412

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/169812

https://youtu.be/5pXxoyk5wOo

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/318232

https://youtu.be/dY5jzdkG320

#here you go guys #the french revolution #this only scratched the surface #also I may have mad some mistakes #But I hope it’s informative enough #mine #my posts #history #french history #masterpost #robespierre #sorry it took so long

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satireshitposts · 3 years

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by critically analysing the tinker bell franchise, which is set in pixie hollow, it could be deduced that the setting exhibits multiple characteristics of being a flawed and easily corrupt communist utopian society, which contrasts to our own capitalist society. this is illustrated through the lack of currency showcased within the community, yet all of the fairies appear to have necessities like a house, a daily ration of pixie dust, and other essentials already provided to them. furthermore, pixie hollow is led by the central government of Chief Fairy Officer queen clarion, of whom is possibly a slightly corrupt war criminal, and ran by the state- the community of fairies. the society would be easy to break down, by emphasising the flaws mentioned in this essay.

firstly, in pixie hollow, the fairies are assigned specific jobs according to the set of skills they possess. for tinker bell, this is the job of a tinker, making and fixing things. it isn't in her best interests, as shown by how she tries throughout the films to adopt hobbies to do with animals and seasons, alike some of her friends' jobs who seem to really enjoy their role in the fairy community, so is trying to change her profession to a more front line job in controlling the seasons, as tinkers were very commonly under-appreciated in pixie hollow. this shows that in pixie hollow all fairies work as one body to reach a common goal, even if it might not be in personal self interest. this is similar to characteristics of communism, where equal liabilities are given to those in an establishment of labour, and all citizens work for a common goal, even in the disinterest of some- which could create activism in a society with many flaws that could crumble if challenged.

secondly, all members of the fairy community are treated equally in terms of how all are provided with pixie dust whether they are working or not. this is seen throughout the franchise, for example in the first movie when tinker bell abandons her assigned job of a tinker, and she is still provided with essentials such as her house and fairy dust, even though she is not directly benefiting the society in a way that is clear to understand. now this might be different if she had made it clear that she wished to leave the community, but since the entire film revolves around her place of living, that couldn't be possible. this relates to how in communism, there is a classless society where wealth is spread evenly between everyone, which relies on people fairly working in a society. tinker bell's withdrawal from her job introduces a possibility for her society's communism to become corrupt, as it shows a flaw in the system.

the chief fairy officer queen clarion, who is responsible for keeping the communist utopia running in a governmental style role, has a history of a negative reputation to some. in fairy haven and the quest for the wand, the fairies could have one wish granted each for whatever they desire. once the queen was in possession of the fairy havens wand, her wish was to shrink all of the hawks- as the fairies and the hawks were in an everlasting war from some of the predatory hawks capturing and killing the fairies. this raises an issue, as only some of the hawks are the predators but the queen wished to shrink all of them, which is unfair, and violates the Geneva convention, making her a war criminal- unfit for ruling a kingdom. This shows that the fairies are ruled by someone who could easily become corrupt, and could cause a downfall of their communist society by turning it totalitarian.

in conclusion, the many flaws shown in the communist society in pixie hollow would easily create a downfall through corruption and too much activism, turning it totalitarian hellhole, where the war criminal Queen Clarion is in complete control- perhaps that is what was hinted to when the queen's evil sister was introduced in the movie series

#pixie hollow #tinkerbell

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lockeforpresidentcirca1704 · 3 years

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Argumentative Post, 11/13

Shakespeare’s Coriolanus carries many plot device and memorable characters. The two corruptive Tribunes, for example, seem to be a clear commentary on the politicians that can come to power in a democratic system. The angry riots over social wrongs are clearly not limited to the past either. Nevertheless, it is the central theme and message of Coriolanus that leaves it memorable and intriguing to readers of the modern age. Its commentary on classism and elitism are still just as applicable today!

Coriolanus’s feelings towards the plebians and “lower classes” is the source of his downfall and drives his troubles. Shakespeare presents a character almost flawless otherwise. A brilliant general, without greed, without a self-serving attitude, and—paradoxically considering his elitism—a limited personal sense of pride in his own accomplishments (though perhaps prideful in his character). He is the servient general, merely trying to support his nation. It is not even Coriolanus who seeks to become consul, being egged on by his compatriots and fellow patricians. He bows out when overly complimented in front of the senate. While some readers may think his lack od desire to flatter and “sell himself” to the Plebeians as their next consul is mere disgust towards the social class, there is every reason to think it is also his innate disgust at trying to elevate his accomplishments and persuade fellow beings to support him. His actions lead to his banishment and downfall in the book, and even though he chooses to save Rome from the Volsci and make peace, he never actually overcomes this shortcoming.

(DISCLAIMER: I AM ONLY COMMENTING ON THE TIME OF SHAKESPEARE AND ROME, NOT MODERN TIMES).

Following my vein of being devil’s advocate in these posts, was Coriolanus’s feelings towards the plebians an actual flaw? Was his elitism and harsh condemnation of the lower classes unfair or unjust? His views were that the lower classes were uneducated, had poor judgment, were entitled, and prone to violence. While this made sound akin to the flawed arguments of some politicians of modern days, it was far more valid at the time; The Roman plebian received minimal education if any. In Rome itself, many relied on a grain allowance to survive, and “unemployment” in the city itself could be quite high. As for poor judgement and being prone to violence? Their response towards Coriolanus only proved this. The Plebians were easily manipulated by the Tribunes into rioting and physically trying to attack Coriolanus before casting him out. They ignored his importance to their protection, or how he had saved their city militarily many times. Within a very short period of time, they “regretted” their hasty actions when they saw their city on the verge of destruction. But it certainly shows the danger of an uneducated mass, led by a few self-serving politicians. Coriolanus’s views can be effectively argued as being justified, and only proved by the events of the book. Notably, It isn’t even a change of opinion in Coriolanus that saves the city, but an appeal from his patrician family to save the city (and its nobles). There is no evidence his disgust towards the plebians changes at all.

It seems, in this vein, that Coriolanus’s flaw was not at all his views toward plebians. His real flaw was being unable to hide it or be a “politician”, being pragmatic about the reality of the system and his place in it. In a short conclusion, one wonders what was going through Shakespeare’s head on writing this. The education of the masses in his day had only slightly improved. Literacy was still low. Yet, much of his audience was these masses, attending his plays and works. Many thought of his works as meant for the enjoyment of the lower classes. He certainly must have been frustrated when fickle audiences meant the success or failure of some of his works, and must have been disgusted when some of the finer parts of his works went unappreciated. Maybe, Coriolanus was someone that Shakespeare wrote up as a part of his own identity, and he used his tragedy to demonstrate to himself the wisdom of staying silent and pragmatic about such views. We may never know.

#pols383

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swedna · 4 years

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Behind every corporate coup is a mastermind. At Nissan Motor, that was Hari Nada, an insider known for his aggressive tactics and fondness for Marlboros, French cuff shirts and strong cologne.

The senior vice president orchestrated a campaign to arrest and dethrone then-chairman Carlos Ghosn in late 2018 on criminal financial-misconduct allegations. The aftermath has been messy. High-profile careers were destroyed, and chaos gripped management. Nissan is losing billions of dollars, and its alliance with Renault and Mitsubishi Motors is at risk of unravelling. Meanwhile, Ghosn is unlikely to ever face Japanese justice after escaping to Lebanon late last year.

A cosmopolitan business celebrity who speaks English, French, Arabic and Portuguese, Ghosn saved Nissan from ruin in the early 2000s. Yet in this multi-act corporate drama, the other leading role belongs to Nada, 56, according to a Bloomberg News investigation based on interviews with more than a dozen people, video footage and previously undisclosed internal company documents.

Bloomberg reported in June that Nada and a group of other senior executives, wary of Ghosn’s efforts to strengthen the carmaker’s alliance with Renault, mounted a methodical campaign to unseat the lionised leader almost a year before his arrest in Tokyo.

Hari Nada had been accused of alleged financial misconduct as well, but he had a cooperation agreement with prosecutors granting him immunityHari Nada had been accused of alleged financial misconduct as well, but he had a cooperation agreement with prosecutors granting him immunity Now, new reporting suggests just how far Nada and his allies were willing to go to remove Ghosn from power, settle scores and make major business decisions with little oversight. Ousting Ghosn from the car-making alliance he built sent shockwaves through the corporate world. And it jolted the foundations of not just one but three well-known auto brands. The actions of Nada, who remains at Nissan as a senior adviser, haunt the automaker and its partners to this day.

Among the key discoveries

Nada arranged for a hack into Nissan’s computer systems and Ghosn’s corporate email account without informing key information-technology staff or the chief executive officer. That was months before he began working with prosecutors who later arrested the former chairman, according to current and former IT employees at the company. Former Nissan executive and Ghosn ally José Muñoz, now Hyundai Motor’s global chief operating officer, also feared arrest as part of the Nada-led putsch. Summoned to Tokyo, he refused to go after tip-offs from the US and Spanish ambassadors to Japan, people familiar with the matter said. Nissan’s top corporate attorney, Global General Counsel Ravinder Passi, claims that he suffered retaliation — including a Nissan-initiated raid, captured on video, of his home using a court order to seize company equipment — after raising whistle-blower complaints to the board about Nada running the internal probe into Ghosn’s alleged wrongdoing. Nada had been accused of alleged financial misconduct as well, but he had a cooperation agreement with prosecutors granting him immunity.

In one of the most audacious acts in recent business history, Ghosn staged a stunning escape from Japan in December while out on bail, being smuggled onto a private plane inside a music-equipment box during a $1.4 million operation financed partly with cryptocurrency. By fleeing, he forfeited 10 times that amount of bail money.

Accused of underreporting as much as $140 million in remuneration, misusing company funds and funnelling millions of dollars more into secret units for his own benefit, Ghosn still has questions to answer about his years atop Nissan and the world’s biggest car-making alliance. Those questions won’t be asked by Japan’s legal system, which Ghosn says he fled because it is unfair.

The arrests of Ghosn and former Nissan director Greg Kelly came as the company pursued greater production volumes only to see the global auto market sputter. Dogged by an ageing lineup and overcapacity at 16 plants spread across the world, sales are now being hammered by the pandemic. In May, the maker of the Pathfinder SUV and Altima sedan reported a $6.3 billion loss, and its market value has more than halved since the arrests 21 months ago. Nissan is said to have spent more than $200 million investigating Ghosn.

But these new revelations indicate that the turmoil within Nissan — and Nada’s apparent machinations — didn’t end with Ghosn’s downfall. They endured under the watch of Chief Executive Officer Hiroto Saikawa and his successor, Makoto Uchida, who took over eight months ago with a mandate to put l’affaire Ghosn behind the company. They raise questions about Nissan’s corporate governance and ability to emerge from the crisis.

#Nissan

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deborahaphillips54303 · 4 years

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The 'Bon Appétit' Test Kitchen and the Myth of the Happy Workplace

The Bon Appétit Test Kitchen and its so-called "cinematic universe" has been described as follows: a "bright spot" in a "sea of garbage," the "internet's favorite cooking show," a form of "Sunday therapy," "an unstoppable force," "meme gods," and even "a Green New Deal fantasy," whatever that means.

Every night, "I check in with the chefs at Bon Appétit like I’m catching up with old friends," Louis Peitzman wrote for Buzzfeed in 2018. Another piece from earlier this year claimed the secret to Bon Appétit's YouTube success was that "everyone is just so damn likable." And having been graced with the crew's presence at the company's "Best Weekend Ever" late last year, writer and Who? Weekly host Bobby Finger recalled, "I felt not just starstruck but crazy. I mean actually deranged!"

Those are just the fawning articles. The Test Kitchen also has fan-run meme pages, an official merch store, two subreddits, and two more devoted specifically to personality Brad Leone and Gourmet Makes star Claire Saffitz. Saffitz, the kitchen's most beloved host, has been described as "the internet's collective crush," about whom people say things like "I would die for Claire" and imitate for Halloween or TikTok fame.

Man Repeller reported late last year that the channel was the fastest-growing in YouTube's food space, with more than 40 million views per month and over 5 billion total minutes watched. It currently has 6 million subscribers. As its hordes of doting fans propped the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen on the highest pedestal, the magazine's staff turned into micro-celebrities, their interpersonal dynamics became objects of obsession, and overall, the workplace was seen as a wholesome culinary ideal. What the Test Kitchen's cult of celebrity obfuscated, however, is that the Test Kitchen is just that: a workplace, like that of any other large—and therefore likely imperfect, if not problematic—institution. So honestly, what did any of us expect?

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As the world found out in industry-shaking fashion this week, the reality of the Test Kitchen isn't the bastion of good that its stans have willed it to be. Last weekend, writer Illyanna Maisonet posted an exchange with Editor-in-Chief Adam Rapoport in which he effectively told her that Puerto Rican food wasn't trendy enough for the magazine to cover, and it read as another example of the brand's diversity problem. On Monday, after writer Tammie Teclemariam posted an old photo of Rapoport and his wife Simone Shubuck dressed in costumes centered on Puerto Rican stereotypes (in the photo, which Shubuck captioned "#TBT me and my papi #boricua," Rapoport wears a silver chain and durag), staffers blew open the door on the company's toxic culture, which has been emotionally and financially unsupportive of people of color. Rapoport—who, amid claims of brownface, maintains that he did not color his skin for the image—resigned the same day.

As assistant food editor Sohla El-Waylly wrote on Instagram on Monday, not only was she hired for her role at the rate of $50,000 per year despite her 15 years of experience (and the high cost of living in New York, where the company is located), but she was "pushed in front of video as a display of diversity" and not even paid for those appearances. Per Buzzfeed, El-Waylly and other hosts of color weren't paid for their video work, which is arranged through contracts with Condé Nast Entertainment, while white video stars were compensated. As the floodgates burst open, Twitter users soon dug up drinks editor Alex Delany's old internet history, which included a 2013 Vine of him saying the F-slur, a Confederate flag cake he'd posted to Tumblr, and a series of sexist tweets.

A damning report from Business Insider on Wednesday showed how far the brand's problems extended. From conversations with 14 former and current staffers, writer Rachel Premack concluded that BA was a "locus for exclusion and toxicity." Ryan Walker-Hartshorn, Rapoport's assistant for close to three years and the only Black woman on staff, was repeatedly denied raises from her $35,300 base salary and treated by Rapoport like "the help," in her words. "There is a big difference in terms of how they monetarily value the white employees versus the people of color," El-Waylly told BI.

On YouTube, BA's channel landed at exactly the right time. Compared to other food channels, which increasingly felt over-produced, the Test Kitchen videos were less polished; they had more personality; and they made the filming and editing processes clear. BA's videos resonated philosophically as well. Saffitz's Gourmet Makes, in which she attempts to recreate popular processed foods, is visibly an arduous and frustrating multi-day process, and at Mashable, Morgan Sung described Saffitz's series as an example of "probably the healthiest, most productive way to approach issues," while Quartz called her the "ultimate life coach."

Though the Test Kitchen's transformation into a celebrity force has been good for business, it's also set things up for exactly the reckoning that's happening now.

As with the recent situation involving Alison Roman (who got her start at BA), Chrissy Teigen, and Marie Kondo, the Test Kitchen's growing popularity and prestige outside the insular food world has complicated our ability to talk about its issues with clarity. Just as the bigger conversation about Roman and who tends to profit from cooking global food (the answer: white cooks) was largely portrayed as just a celebrity "Twitter feud," the changes at BA have been framed as the oversimplified result of a "brown face photo sparking anger" or the resurfacing of a "racially insensitive photo." The celebrity culture of the Test Kitchen begets the treatment celebrities get at gossip rags: reductive, lacking in nuance, and sounding the alarm for critics of "cancel culture." It's more than that, though.

The Test Kitchen's gargantuan online presence overrode its offline truth, as it projected and leaned into what people wanted to see, which was an Office-esque sitcom in which a friendly band of coworkers snickers behind the bumbling boss's back. As writer James Factora suggested in a tweet preceding all of this, perhaps the Test Kitchen's popularity is related to the widespread obsession with The Office. While Factora's tweet reads tongue-in-cheek, it's not wrong, and the love for the show perpetuated the illusion that a toxic workplace can be laughed at and lived with.

The Office has funny moments, but in a way, it led society astray. It suggested that a bad boss who makes clumsy, insensitive comments and makes life hard for employees can be a point of humor, instead of a toxic presence that could be booted. Who does that benefit except bosses? As BA turned the Test Kitchen into essentially its own sitcom, with each cooking star becoming an Office-esque talking head, it furthered the false notion of the perfect workplace, and people online were quick to gobble it up. The interactions between co-workers, even when off-putting, became meme fodder and pushed stans to throw their support behind their chosen star.

The idea that everything gets bad once it gets big sounds like a line ripped from Portlandia, but it is a maxim that applies to everything from emo bands to hashtags to dog breeds to cooking hosts. The higher the platform we give something, the more it can fall, and the discourse around the Test Kitchen seemed unprecedented in its fawning, at least within the food sphere. (Though we might have learned from situations like the downfall of Mario Batali.)

When we laud any product or person to this extent and make it an object of cultural obsession, it becomes easier to ignore the flaws and the parts of the conversation that don't fit what we want to see. This is true for the Test Kitchen, which could never really have met the inflated expectations of goodness that stan culture built up around it; people saw the perfect workplace because they wanted a perfect workplace. The problems at BA are institutional, but stan culture allowed people to compartmentalize the Test Kitchen as something separate and authentic.

In response to all of this, BA's parent company Condé Nast—a 111-year-old company with 6,000 employees globally at the start of this year—has announced that it will be "accelerating" its first ever diversity and inclusion report. On Tuesday, Amanda Shapiro, the editor of BA's Healthyish spinoff, became the brand's acting deputy director, and on Wednesday, the editors of BA said in a statement, "We want to be transparent, accountable, and active as we begin to dismantle racism at our brands."

Still, former staffers have identified Shapiro and other remaining BA employees as complicit in "toxic" behaviors. Despite calls for Matt Duckor, Condé Nast's head of programming for lifestyle and style, to step down over the unfair pay system and his mocking tweets about the gay community, he remains employed, as does Alex Delany. Both of them have issued social media apologies. With this new context, though, the joking tweets and fawning memes about the Test Kitchen don't hold up as well.

No surprise, Test Kitchen stans have responded to this all with even more memes and lionizing statements: "Update: we went to war for Sohla from the Bon Appétit test kitchen," reads one popular tweet. The height of the pedestal hasn't changed, though who's on the pedestal has. But as Bon Appétit changes, will its fan culture change also? To grapple with all of this new knowledge, it should.

Follow Bettina Makalintal on Twitter.

via VICE US - undefined US VICE US - undefined US via Mom's Kitchen Recipe Network Mom's Kitchen Recipe Network

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cyberpoetryballoon · 4 years

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The 'Bon Appétit' Test Kitchen and the Myth of the Happy Workplace

twitter

Though the Test Kitchen's transformation into a celebrity force has been good for business, it's also set things up for exactly the reckoning that's happening now.

Follow Bettina Makalintal on Twitter.

via VICE US - undefined US VICE US - undefined US via Mom's Kitchen Recipe Network Mom's Kitchen Recipe Network

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carolrhackett85282 · 4 years

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The 'Bon Appétit' Test Kitchen and the Myth of the Happy Workplace

twitter

Though the Test Kitchen's transformation into a celebrity force has been good for business, it's also set things up for exactly the reckoning that's happening now.

Follow Bettina Makalintal on Twitter.

via VICE US - undefined US VICE US - undefined US via Mom's Kitchen Recipe Network Mom's Kitchen Recipe Network

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melodymgill49801 · 4 years

Text

The 'Bon Appétit' Test Kitchen and the Myth of the Happy Workplace

twitter

Though the Test Kitchen's transformation into a celebrity force has been good for business, it's also set things up for exactly the reckoning that's happening now.

Follow Bettina Makalintal on Twitter.

via VICE US - undefined US VICE US - undefined US via Mom's Kitchen Recipe Network Mom's Kitchen Recipe Network

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carolinechanson97838 · 4 years

Text

The 'Bon Appétit' Test Kitchen and the Myth of the Happy Workplace

twitter

Though the Test Kitchen's transformation into a celebrity force has been good for business, it's also set things up for exactly the reckoning that's happening now.

Follow Bettina Makalintal on Twitter.

via VICE US - undefined US VICE US - undefined US via Mom's Kitchen Recipe Network Mom's Kitchen Recipe Network

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latoyajkelson70506 · 4 years

Text

The 'Bon Appétit' Test Kitchen and the Myth of the Happy Workplace

twitter

Though the Test Kitchen's transformation into a celebrity force has been good for business, it's also set things up for exactly the reckoning that's happening now.

Follow Bettina Makalintal on Twitter.

via VICE US - undefined US VICE US - undefined US via Mom's Kitchen Recipe Network Mom's Kitchen Recipe Network

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moreyouread · 5 years

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What you should know about politics but don’t

A non partisan take on issues

VOTING

- Hanging chad and how all machines are controversial voting systems

- Gerrymandering set after a census every 4 years

- Generally incumbents are voted in until they die? How again?

- Campaign funding is controlled by large organizations technically not associated but largely supported by the candidate

ECONOMY

- Great Recession bail out and why it was necessary, as well as the Dodd-Frank laws to constrain proprietary trading

- Taxes and how the rich are taxed at higher rates, while supply-side and trickle down Reaganomics believe tax cuts for the rich stimulate the economy with investments from the rich (largely not true), and types of taxes like income, capital gain, death tax and sales tax, some of which is double taxation

- Deficit and why it’s especially unfair to young people, why we have to keep China, Japan, Brazil, and Britain happy, and why whoever in power says deficit is ok, how Germany lent to Greek and fell due to the banking crisis in the US, and how deficit means higher interest rates for everyone

- Oil and how selling oil in Euros spiked the price for Americans, and how Russia and Iran approach oil differently

FOREIGN POLICY

- Opinions of war policy range from passive to active: liberal internationalists (diplomacy first), paleocons (weak today but at the time willing to fight in strategic situations), realists, liberal hawks, and neocons (super aggressive)

- Difference in realist and neocons are their motivation for security vs ideology. Liberal hawks are somewhere in the middle

- Middle East is a mess with the US invading Iraq for preemptive reasons when Bin Laden was in Afghanistan and then Pakistan

- Iran also has power with nuclear power and is clearly anti American

- Arab Springs led to the downfall of many governments, including an especially gory revolution in Syria

- Russia: oil, India and China: economic powers, and North Korea: built nuclear bombs without US consent

MILITARY

- military contractors: are they a good thing or is it dangerous to give power to wealth, connect private companies with government? Needed bc military is made up of volunteers but bad given they answer to no one

- don’t ask don’t tell: should we have repealed or were we merely protecting gays?

- drones: are they ethical? Or do we risk violating rights and killing civilians?

HEALTHCARE

- Universal access

- Healthcare is too expensive

- HMOs

ENERGY

- Coal is big in the US and though it is dirty it powers most of our electricity — most politicians are ok with it

- Electricity prices are controversial, as the FERC does not cap wholesale prices, leading to the great heatwave in 2000 in CA

- Oil is controversial bc the suppliers are Russia, Iran, Iraq, and Saudi. OPEC controls prices, and we are shifting towards Canada. Countries like Iraq have invaded Kuwait for oil, and some say the US Iraq war is for the same thing. The risk for the US all depends on when the Hubbert peak occurs

- Nuclear power is risky but most of France runs on it, due to what happens when it leaks

- Democrats want alternative energy and efficiency (CAFE sets average mpg rules for cars) and Republicans want more of what we have

ENVIRONMENT

- acid rain: spent billions to reduce acid rain being caused by coal burning

- ozone hole: easily reduced because had technology to replace it

- both Republicans and Democrats generally believe environment is a problem; started EPA with Republicans through Teddy

- aesthetics >> public health

- environmental moralists, utilitarians, deregulators

- Kyoto Accords cancelled eventually in 2009, but the US didn’t sign it; developing markets didn’t need to reduce

- Cap-and-trade market vs carbon dioxide tax, both strategies to reduce energy and adopted in the US in small ways

- renewable energy vs. Alaska for more oil: wind (disrupts nearby habitats), biofuel (needs a lot of land), solar panels (expensive and requires sun), hydrogen (need electricity to power)

CIVIL LIBERTIES

- philosophical inconsistencies between libertarians and executivists, along party lines

- free speech - Vietnam War and Occupy Wall Street led to questionable police behavior towards peaceful protestors, as well as obstruction of press

- gun violence - Brady Gun Law, urban and rural split

- Warrants and wiretapping - controversial during Bush era of PATRIOT ACT, but it helped prevent a lot of attacks, lenient post wiretapping approval

- Torture - rendition to other countries that will torture or move to offshore places helps get past US habeas corpus, which Obama didn’t really back down on, leaves the US in morale low ground

- Declaring war - similar lenient Congress support but presidents usually ignore this, saying only large world wars need congressional approval

- Capital punishment - is this cruel and unusual? Varies by state

CULTURE WARS

- Abortion: Rode vs Wade, not consistent by state

- Right to Die: Republicans support Terri’s Law to prevent state sanctioned murder, physician-assisted Suicide

- Stem cell research: not super political but Republicans don’t believe in it as much due to Bush’s restrictions that Obama incrementally lifted

- Gay marriage - prop 8 in California in 2008 legalizing gay marriage supported by Mormons

- Pledge of Allegiance, Ten Commandments - allow people to not say it, not put it on public facilities

- Mostly people don’t care about culture wars any way these days, except for the Christian Right

SOCIOECONOMIC POLICY

- Immigration: while everyone agrees illegal immigrants should not be here and that immigration should be controlled in numbers for practical reasons, we cannot figure out ways to deal with illegal immigrants already in the US

— Allowing drivers licenses to immigrants allows for better tracking of them but leads to risks like illegal voting, etc.

— Immigrants kept prices for low income work low as they increased supply with increased demand

— Deporting parents leads to higher costs for the children

- unions are supported by democrats in theory and criticized by republicans for taking jobs overseas

- social security - argue for privatization because government always loans from it, helps the poor or financially illiterate bc there is a cap on how much you get annually, and it is always projected for bankruptcy

- unemployment subsidies and the costs of hiring a woman

- agriculture subsidies - food wonks, food protectionists, and food free marketers; almost everyone supports it; it is needed to compete for markets in Europe that will pay more for food and to bring together dispersed interests

- food stamps and welfare - in the past food stamps were sold to buy drugs but has been fixed with electronic swipe system; today still mostly Democrats support stamps only, believing it is a private matter to support people;

- welfare was important in the Great Depression but became a dependency to be reduced; many poor immigrants work harder and better than the poor; culture is the root cause

HOMELAND SECURITY

- Pork infrastructure jobs get hired through ricision or earmarking, eg bridge to nowhere, and generally politicians support infrastructure for whatever region they represent

- Republicans usually favor privatization of roads, transportation. However Amtrak and private airlines are both examples of how this fails

- roads remain heavily subsidized with tolls or taxes (people prefer tolls on the turnpikes)

- Department of homeland security started after 9/11 by Republicans — doesn’t receive federal employee benefits of non-firing

- Infrastructure is failing, e.g. 2007 bridge collapse in Minneapolis

- Disaster response from FEMA is terrible, demonstrated by Katrina. However more of that could have been a wealth issue

EDUCATION

- has always been connected to race and class, with Republicans favoring freedom and Democrats favoring improvements to public schools

- busing, desegregation of schools in 1950s

- affirmative action quotas were outlawed but a middle ground was allowed as long as individual consideration still happened

- vouchers for private school is controversial given 70% or private schools are religion

- NCLB by Bush failed 50% of schools and was lifted by Obama, not providing support to failing schools — compassionate conservatism or just support McGraw for its political funding

TRADE

- protectionist (Democrats) vs liberalist or free traders

- Great Depression was the start of the trade wars of tarifs for all foreign imports, with protectionism generally looked down upon

- bureaucratic tariffs like more checks etc also exist

- After WW2, created:

—- World Bank to loan money to European banks suffering

—- WTO to regulate trade and provide IP protection

—- IMF to provide cash when a country goes bankrupt

- from this emerged the free traders, who believe developing worlds should not have free trade or protectionism pushed onto them

- free traders believe in morality issues and protectionists believe it hurts the US:

—- lose jobs to people overseas

—- pollution in China makes its way here

—- lack of labor standards abroad is immoral

—- corporations getting around taxes with overseas taxes

—- trader deficit since US imports more than it exports is a bad thing for the US

—- race to the bottom to compete within developing world for jobs from the US, hurting those in developing markets while the US affords more

- agreements like NAFTA pop up around the world: Arab, ASEAN, CAFTA, Malaysia and China, Russia and China, EC or parent of EU, with some challenging trade in the dollar

- banana war: forced EU to buy US Dole bananas thru sanctions and the WTO, angering the EU

- steel tariffs from GW Bush harmed auto industry buying steel in US

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school-bleh · 7 years

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The circumstances that led to the rise of fascism in WW2/Europe

Bella Henderson

The impacts that led to World War 2 are debatable and subjective, many historians argue it could have been prevented, or it was inevitable. But it is widely agreed that fascism was a major influence both to politics and the public which ultimately empowered many dangerous political leaders, and very much contributed to the rise of what became known as World War 2. But what made fascism acceptable if not desirable? An ideology that glorifies conflict, militarism, sacrifice, discipline, denounces peace, and took war as a legitimate means of obtaining the nations goals. How can something so barbaric be so acceptable in what was a wider modern world? Which circumstances led to the rise of fascism in World War Two? Luigi Villari a historian living in Italy (1924) blamed fascism on the inability of action in what he described as a “corrupted, unstable and feeble government”. Professor David Burns (2011) believes that the fascist movement became popular on the host of economic depression, unemployment and discontempt, and that many people living in that time believed fascism was what the nation truly needed to progress further, that it was their saviour in the time of need. Many others claim that the nation was just in such hopeless and desperate conditions, that they would consider any means to escape the shame of what their country had become, longing for their nations proud and patriotic past. The impacts and circumstances which led to the rise of fascism in world war two are more than important because understanding how society can transform into such a violent nation is critically important to both the past and present modern world and Australia.

The end of World War One caused many troublesome circumstances; one of them in 1929 was the great economic depression all throughout Europe and much of the wider world. Because of this many businesses went bankrupt and many factories shutdown. Taylor Rickson Journalist (2008) argues that indirectly it also led to the rise of fascism because as conditions worsened for the nation, people became more desperate and willing to accept radical ideas, in this circumstance fascism. The depression especially affected Europe particularly Germany and Italy as millions of people became unemployed. On top of that The Treaty of Versailles also created a huge war debt for Germany and required them to pay billions of dollars towards the Allied Powers. This decimated Germany as not only did their economy collapse but they believed it was unfair, as the nation became to hate the Allies especially France and Great Britain. And the angrier the public got the more willing they were to use violence and war as an answer. An Example of another previous poor economic condition for Germany was the high inflation prices during the 1920’s (before the depression). The German Government printed more paper money to cover its war debt and expenses; this made the value of its currency drop rapidly which made it extremely difficult for business and banks to create jobs. Prices were out of control, according to the Scientific Market Analysis in 1970 one loaf of bread which cost 250 marks in January 1923, then cost 200,000 million marks in November 1923. The currency was next to worthless that people were using it as fuel, and the prices were so unpredictable that by the time workers got to the shops, they could not always afford food because it would have risen while they were travelling. Much of the public became receptive to extreme right wing propaganda which was fertile soil for fascism. Many who had suffered through inflation then changed their views hoping that new radical political ideas would help them through the depression. This happened all through the modern world, especially Italy and Germany as countries suffered heavy losses in terms of life and property, many World War One soldiers became unemployed, trade and commerce were ruined and there was a major shortage of food grains. Harsh levies against Germany through the Treaty of Versailles as well as the economic depression and unemployment of Europe ultimately assisted in the later rise of fascism and violent political ideas as “solution” to the nation’s problems.

A natural result of the problems leading up to World War 2 was political instability. The economic struggle and chaos of the nation during the 1920’s and early ’30’s led to many different political groups to try and gain power. Riots and protests reined the streets consisting of angry supporters of different political parties. Historian Luigi villiari argued that this political chaos was caused by the lack of courage within the government which caused a spiralling downfall process which would have taken political courage to prevent, and this was lacking. As usual, the true facts were hidden behind a barrage of excuses, explanations and propaganda laying blame on everyone except the true culprit. A pro-fascist view on the March of Rome written by Edgar Ansel Mowrer describes the Italian government as; “It must be admitted that the country was in such a desperate condition owing to the incompetence, inefficiency, and feebleness of the governing class and the dishonesty of many leading politicians and indeed breakdown of the whole government, concludes that only a revolutionary change would bring about any real improvement.” This source argues that Italy was a divided government which caused a lack of continuity in their policies and were unable to deal with problems of unemployment, strikes, and riots. This source especially indicates that much of the public believed that only revolutionary change such as new political ideas like fascism would be the only solution to real change in their politically unstable and economically devastated nation. These same problems were common throughout much of Europe and in other countries that fought World War One. The political instability and pre-occupation with the domestic economic crisis contributed to the failure to meet the rising threat of fascism in Europe and the wider modern world.

Another important circumstance that led to fascism in World War 2 is the resurgence of nationalism. The nationalist rhetoric in World War 2 became critical to gaining support among the desperate people of Europe and Japan. Governments that rose to power were elevated because of the prestige, glory and faith they claimed to believe in the common man. These appealed to the public because many believed that only a strong man could restore the past prestige that many longed for after being shamed in World War 1. Others also preferred the extreme nationalism and “strong” leaders over the democratic parliamentary system. Much of these ideas that captured the public embodied many aspects of fascism like regarding war as an instrument to further national interest, faith in totalitarian rule, and believing in aggressive nationalism and imperialism. For instance in Hitler’s speech of April 12, 1922 he stated that ”we must be on principle the most fanatical nationalists, we realize that the state can be for our people a paradise; and we realise that a slave state will never be paradise, but always a hell.” In this source he argues that democracy is a slave state claiming that it could be a paradise if the German population embodied nationalism. He promised the German population a paradise with glory and prestige, and they welcomed him with open arms. The way Hitler and other European leaders in WW2 used nationalism as a way to gain support among the public was critical to the rise of fascism leading up to and during World War 2.

In conclusion the most influential circumstances that led to the rise of fascism in World War 2 were the economic instability, political failure, and the resurgence of extreme nationalism. Economic struggles caused lack of jobs, food, money and created desperate conditions. Political power was feeble and unprogressively leaving its nation in a chaotic struggle both politically and economically as the government failed to meet the rising threat of fascism and conflict. And nationalistic rhetoric empowered dangerous leaders through the longing old past glories and prestige. All of this created the unexpected opportunity to attract followers with promises of a new strong and successful nation through a new government ideology, fascism. Total power was given to the dictator, individual rights such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of press was denied. This unfortunately happened because of people taking advantage of the disastrous economic and political situations. It is important that we can recognise what leads to such violent and desperate measures such as fascism so we can better manage our policies and create a better world for Australia and the wider modern world.

Bibliography

Adolf Hitler. (1922). Munich - Speech of April 12. Retrieved from https://archive.org/stream/TheSpeechesOfAdolfHitler19211941/hitler-speeches-collection_djvu.txt

BBC. (2017). Weimar - crisis of 1923. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/germany/crisis1923rev_print.shtml

Benito Mussolini, Giovanni Gentile. (1932). definition of fascism, Italian Encyclopaedia

Boundless. (2017). Italy and Germany. Retrieved from https://www.boundless.com/u-s-history/textbooks/boundless-u-s-history-textbook/from-isolation-to-world-war-ii-1930-1945-26/the-beginning-of-the-war-201/italy-and-germany-1104-9743/

David Burns. (2011). The Causes of World War II. Retrieved from http://www.fasttrackteaching.com/ffap/Unit_10_WW2/U10_Causes.html

Edgar Ansel Mowrer. (1922). Immortal Italy, Appleton and Company

London Jewish Cultural Centre. (2015). The holocaust explained. Retrieved from http://www.theholocaustexplained.org/

Luigi Villari. (1924). The Awakening of Italy: The Fascista, Methuen & Company Limited

Roger Griffin. (1995). Fascism, Oxford University Press

Scientific Market Analysis. (1970). The Nightmare German Inflation. Retrieved from http://www.usagold.com/germannightmare.html

Suffolk community College (n.a) Causes of World War II. Retrieved from http://www2.sunysuffolk.edu/westn/causeww2.html

#history #essay #facism

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newstwitter-blog · 7 years

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New Post has been published on News Twitter

New Post has been published on http://www.news-twitter.com/2017/03/09/la-times-will-south-koreas-impeached-president-be-removed-from-office-court-to-announce-verdict-friday-9/

La Times: Will South Korea's impeached president be removed from office? Court to announce verdict Friday

The public corruption scandal that has rocked South Korea’s democracy in recent months got a step closer to resolution on Wednesday as a court confirmed its plans to announce the fate of the country’s impeached president later this week.

The decision on whether to remove suspended President Park Geun-hye from office amid bribery allegations involving the country’s top conglomerate, Samsung Group, is expected Friday morning.

“It’s definitely an exciting time,” said Joung Hwang, a professor at ‎Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Law School who has followed the case closely. “When the announcement will be made on live TV, I think virtually every Korean will be glued to the screen. It’s highly anticipated.”

The process to determine Park’s future began not long after the National Assembly, prompted in part by public outcry over the president’s decisions, impeached the embattled leader in December.

Park, 65, South Korea’s first female president, has been in power since 2013 — a tenure marked by controversy and what her critics say was ineffectual leadership and an autocratic style. Park has repeatedly apologized to the public and said she never acted outside the country’s national interest.

“I apologize for hurting the people’s hearts with my carelessness in supervising my associates,” she wrote in a statement last month to the court weighing whether to remove her from office.

The allegations against her and others atop the nation’s government and corporate systems have prompted widespread anger among the South Korean public. That’s led to massive but peaceful street rallies in recent months reminiscent of protests that led to the country’s democratization in the 1980s.

Millions of South Koreans — including families toting their young children — have attended the rallies across the country, calling for Park’s ouster. The rallies in Seoul have been the largest, with some stretching more than a mile.

Park was elected in 2012 and her downfall was swift after revelations last fall that a longtime confidant with no government title, Choi Soon-sil, gained access to sensitive government documents, including the president’s speeches.

Later came allegations that Choi, the daughter of a deceased cult leader who has been jailed in a sprawling corruption investigation, also used her close relationship with Park to extort millions of dollars from the country’s largest family-owned conglomerates, known as chaebol.

For months the judges on the nation’s constitutional court, which has final jurisdiction in impeachment cases, have held public hearings to weigh the myriad allegations in the impeachment case — both political and criminal.

Park’s removal, which opinion surveys show the public supports, would prompt a new presidential election within two months. The country’s prime minister, Hwang Kyo-ahn, would remain, as he is now, the interim president.

If the judges were to reject the impeachment, a regular election is scheduled to replace the term-limited Park in December, and she could remain in office until February of 2018. Several candidates, including Park’s opponent in the close 2012 presidential election, are preparing campaigns to succeed the embattled leader — either way.

Most everyone, it seems, has followed the scandal, and they appear eager for an outcome.

“They are all waiting, very intensely, to find out how the court is going to decide,” James Kim, a research fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul, said of the public. “My son’s friends, when they were over for his birthday in February — they are 10-year-olds, and they were talking about this.”

The three-month investigation ended this month, with prosecutors accusing Park of bribery. They allege she pressured payments of about $37 million to Choi-controlled firms from Samsung Group in exchange for help pushing through approval of a controversial merger between two of the tech giant’s affiliates.

The merger was seen as an effort to solidify third-generation dynastic control for Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, grandson of Lee Byung-chul, who founded the company in 1938.

The prosecutors alleged in their final report that the president — who, for now, has immunity from criminal charges — personally instructed the National Pension Service to vote for the controversial merger at a 2015 shareholders’ meeting.

“The core subject of this team’s investigation has been the abuse of power to monopolize state affairs for personal interest and the collusive links between business and politics,” said Park Young-soo, who led the investigation.

Authorities received approval to arrest Lee Jae-yong, 48, last month on charges of bribery, perjury, embezzlement, concealing gains from a criminal act and improperly diverting funds overseas. Lee Jae-yong — one of the country’s most powerful men who is reportedly worth about $6 billion — is considered heir apparent to lead Samsung.

He remains in jail, a fate his father, former Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee — himself convicted of corporate malfeasance years ago — never endured.

Samsung has denied the allegations, saying the company looks forward to the facts being settled at trial.

As a result of the investigation, dozens of other people — including several associated with Park and her government — have been implicated in wrongdoing.

The prosecutors also alleged that the president helped create a “blacklist” of thousands of South Korean cultural figures who were seen as critical of her administration. They alleged the president’s former culture minister, Cho Yoon-sun, and her onetime chief of staff, Kim Ki-choon, joined in the effort, which prompted a recent lawsuit against the president and others allegedly involved by hundreds of artists.

The president has declined to speak with prosecutors, unlike others involved in the investigation. She could face criminal charges upon leaving office, and her lawyer this week called the investigation unfair and politically motivated.

The court’s looming decision on Park has sparked some speculation that the president, in an effort to preserve her legacy and avoid an impeachment verdict, might resign beforehand.

“There are different stories going around, with some people saying she’s going to resign,” said Kim, the Asan researcher. “There’s a whole new set of drama that could come after the announcement.”

Stiles is a special correspondent.

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newstwitter-blog · 7 years

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New Post has been published on News Twitter

New Post has been published on http://www.news-twitter.com/2017/03/09/la-times-will-south-koreas-impeached-president-be-removed-from-office-court-to-announce-verdict-friday-8/