#white people: overthrow a country’s government

[saharathorn]

Whenever white people post photos of Iran and Afghanistan in like the fifties and sixties next to photos from today and are like “Muslim countries are so backwards!!!” As if western intervention wasn’t the cause of it.

#white people: overthrow a country’s government #said country: becomes unstable #white people: see!!! they’re so barbaric and uncivilized!

[eowyntheavenger]

Palestine and the US election

I’m done with Twitter soundbite takes that voting blue = supporting genocide. I see a lot of people making an argument that goes like this: "Biden has sent arms to Israel, helping its government commit genocide against Palestine. Therefore, voting for him in the 2024 US election, if he is the Democratic nominee, is supporting genocide, and NOT voting for him helps Palestine." There's a lot wrong with this view, so let's break it down.

It's true that Biden has sent a lot of arms to Israel and bypassed Congress multiple times to do it, and it's indefensible. I'm ashamed that any US politician would help Israel wage its brutal, genocidal war against the Palestinian people. As one of Israel's closest partners, the US could actually be using its leverage right now to put pressure on Israel’s government—I’m thinking about how apartheid in South Africa fell, in part, because of international pressure. That's what should be happening, but instead the US government is literally just helping Israel kill Palestinians.

I wish there were a strong pro-Palestine candidate in the upcoming election. The best bet in that regard would probably be Bernie Sanders, since he's prominent enough, well-liked enough, and has good ideas, not just on this issue but on many things (and yeah, he's way too old, but so are the current frontrunners). But he's already ruled out another run. Unless an amazing candidate materializes and wins the Democratic nomination (please vote in the primaries where you live), it will probably be Biden running against Trump. It’s not guaranteed, but it’s likely.

Here's what people need to understand: the election will not be "genocide Joe" vs. "pro-Palestine candidate." It will most likely be a choice between these two candidates:

On the one hand, Biden, who has armed Israel, but can be pressured to change his policies because he can be pushed left; who is not a wannabe dictator; who will not destroy what's left of the country's democratic norms; who will not encourage coups, political assassinations, or jail his political opponents; who will not utterly stifle dissent.

Or on the other hand, Trump, who is beholden to a fanatical evangelical base that backs Israel no matter what, that actually wants more conflict because they are part of a death cult. Trump, who is not susceptible in any way to pressure from the left, but is susceptible to pressure from the right and the far right. Trump, who has been clear all along about his desire to be a dictator; who will destroy what's left of democratic norms; who has already encouraged a coup to overthrow a democratic election, encouraged the assassination of his own vice president, and is openly planning to jail his political opponents if he returns to the White House.

(This isn't even touching on Trump's positions on trans rights, gay rights, women's rights, the environment, policing, immigration, or his racism against every group he could be racist against, or his liability for sexual assault, or a whole bunch of other issues).

There's a very convincing argument that Netanyahu actually wants Biden to lose the US election and Trump to win. That's because Netanyahu knows that Biden has in the past responded to pressure from his own party and the public. If there are a lot of people criticizing his policies, it gives him pause. Trump doesn't operate like that. If millions of Americans criticize his policies as inhumane he just lashes out at them. In short, Biden views criticism from the left as a liability that he has to act on. Trump views criticism from the left as an incentive to be even worse.

Biden is not the candidate I want. But you need to understand that if Trump wins the election, he won't just arm Israel like Biden is doing now: he will do that and more. Not only will he help Israel escalate its war, your very freedom of speech to support Palestine will be under attack. Trump might even decide that financial support for Palestinians or charities that help Palestine = financially supporting terrorism, and use that as a pretext to arrest and jail people. You think he and his far right goons wouldn't go that far? If Trump wins this election, you shouldn't be surprised if this kind of thing happens, and much worse.

Do you want the US to accept Palestinian refugees? Because it won't accept them under a Trump presidency. A key Republican talking point in this election is "the US shouldn't take Palestinian refugees because they're probably all terrorists." This isn't just a Trump thing, it's something other Republicans are saying, but obviously you can imagine where Trump would fall on this issue given his infamous Muslim ban and conflating refugees with terrorists. These are just a few examples of how Trump would actually be even worse for Palestine than Biden—which is saying something.

In this upcoming election there is no neutral option. There is no morally pure option. There just isn't, I'm sorry. Refusing to vote will not help Palestine. Refusing to vote will only help Trump win, and will give every single person in the United States who is fighting for a better world a significantly harder battle to fight.

It goes without saying that there are things everyone should do to help Palestine besides voting in an election. But I'm writing this post that is about voting because I'm genuinely worried by how many so-called leftists want to give up their right to vote—a right that older generations had to fight tooth and nail for—because they think it won't achieve anything. If voting didn't achieve anything, Republicans wouldn't be trying so hard to suppress your vote.

I'll conclude by saying that nuance is not this site's specialty, but please try to understand what I'm actually saying here before attacking me in the notes. Finally, people being antisemitic or islamophobic on this post will be blocked. People denying that Israel is committing genocide against Palestine will be blocked. Trump supporters, tankies, and people who say that Biden and Trump are the same will be blocked. So will people who say "voting is pointless" or "but Biden did this bad thing—" Biden fucking sucks, I know that very well, so if you're going to try to make that argument to me then stop right now and read the post again.

#US politics #my post

[probablyasocialecologist]

An innovation that propelled Britain to become the world’s leading iron exporter during the Industrial Revolution was appropriated from an 18th-century Jamaican foundry, historical records suggest. The Cort process, which allowed wrought iron to be mass-produced from scrap iron for the first time, has long been attributed to the British financier turned ironmaster Henry Cort. It helped launch Britain as an economic superpower and transformed the face of the country with “iron palaces”, including Crystal Palace, Kew Gardens’ Temperate House and the arches at St Pancras train station. Now, an analysis of correspondence, shipping records and contemporary newspaper reports reveals the innovation was first developed by 76 black Jamaican metallurgists at an ironworks near Morant Bay, Jamaica. Many of these metalworkers were enslaved people trafficked from west and central Africa, which had thriving iron-working industries at the time. Dr Jenny Bulstrode, a lecturer in history of science and technology at University College London (UCL) and author of the paper, said: “This innovation kicks off Britain as a major iron producer and … was one of the most important innovations in the making of the modern world.” The technique was patented by Cort in the 1780s and he is widely credited as the inventor, with the Times lauding him as “father of the iron trade” after his death. The latest research presents a different narrative, suggesting Cort shipped his machinery – and the fully fledged innovation – to Portsmouth from a Jamaican foundry that was forcibly shut down.

[...]

The paper, published in the journal History and Technology, traces how Cort learned of the Jamaican ironworks from a visiting cousin, a West Indies ship’s master who regularly transported “prizes” – vessels, cargo and equipment seized through military action – from Jamaica to England. Just months later, the British government placed Jamaica under military law and ordered the ironworks to be destroyed, claiming it could be used by rebels to convert scrap metal into weapons to overthrow colonial rule. “The story here is Britain closing down, through military force, competition,” said Bulstrode. The machinery was acquired by Cort and shipped to Portsmouth, where he patented the innovation. Five years later, Cort was discovered to have embezzled vast sums from navy wages and the patents were confiscated and made public, allowing widespread adoption in British ironworks. Bulstrode hopes to challenge existing narratives of innovation. “If you ask people about the model of an innovator, they think of Elon Musk or some old white guy in a lab coat,” she said. “They don’t think of black people, enslaved, in Jamaica in the 18th century.”

#industrial revolution #colonialism #british empire #Jamaica #Cort process

[angstics]

on my chemical romance's history of racism:

(edit: i wont rewrite anything since that will create discrepancies in reblogs. however, i will include these important additions: post 1 and post 2)

cultural appropriation is a neutral term that turns negative when people co-opt a culture without consideration to its people and history, or their prejudices and privileges. the rising sun japanese flag is an imperialist symbol used during japan's occupation of other countries from 1870 to 1945 (the guardian 2019). unlike other symbols of terror, the rising sun is normalized because of the japanese government's refusal to acknowledge its history. the symbol's meaning was popularized a few years ago when people from south korea protested its legality in the 2020 tokyo olympics (bbc 2020). aware or unaware of its history, americans have long appropriated the rising sun. in part because of their fascination with japanese art, in part because of orientalism -- a fixation on asian cultures that centers "exoticism".

my chemical romance has been associated with the rising sun symbol a couple of times. frank iero used to have a tattoo of it. gerard way designed frank's killjoys outfit to include it (seen in concept art and music videos). it is often used in mcr fanart.

tokenism is when something contains limited diversity to divert criticisms for the lack of it. my chemical romance has had a very white cast of characters in their music videos and stories. in the "i dont love you" music video, a main character is in black body paint. in the casting call, they specifically asked for a white man (there is 100% an online source -- please let me know if you have it). even casting a black person for this role would place him in a video that appropriated his skin color to mark his "difference" from the light-skin female character.

the female character points to the band's main problem with tokenism. if they arent casting a white woman, theyre casting a light-skin asian woman. the woman in the "i dont love you" mv is fetishized for physical traits stereotypically attributed to east asian women: big eyes, daintiness. east asian women feature most prominently aside from the band and main characters in the "welcome to the black parade" music video and photo shoot. the photoshoot is the only place where an ashy-faced black man and ambiguously tribal? brown man are seen (brought in by photographer chris anthony per the "making of the black parade" book). the director antagonist of the danger days music videos (shown in "sing") is a japanese woman. she is the only main character of color in the music videos and the killjoys: california comics. the focus of this post is on my chemical romance, but the comics are important to showcase that the reality is never "color-blind casting" or "limited roles". it's mostly white creatives (band members and directors and artists) who ignore non-white people when they cant use them, reflected as much by gerard way years later (nyt 2019).

"japan takes over the world" is a media trope that is built on the late 20th century fear of the return of imperial japan. this trope frames japanese people as unique aggressors, feeding into "yellow peril" fears of asian people "taking over" the white race. this trope is suggested all over the danger days universe, where the corporation BL/ind overthrows the US government. the appropriation of the japanese modern flag and lettering on the killjoys outfits, the primary BL/ind villain being a japanese person who only speaks japanese in videos, the official BL/ind website having a ".jp" domain and english-japanese translations. japanese people and culture only exist in this universe to decorate and threaten.

the point of this post is not to punish my chemical romance. in the decade+ since, they have made meaningful changes -- the sing it for japan project to aid japan during the 2011 earthquake-tsunami, developing diversity in gerard's comics / tv show, a mexican-american main character in the 2020 summoning video. people of color treated as real goddamn people.

however. all these faults exist in frozen time. there is no discussion attached to the work. so anyone, fan or casual, may come across it and not notice or care for these important issues. i know all this shit and i still fail to see instances of what i highlighted. it's difficult locating not only your own prejudices but those of others. those you look up to.

"my chemical romance" is the product of many people from 2001 to 2013. many of these people were male, white, american, and/or, most radically, liberal. clearly laying out what they did wrong is important. being careful with history and culture and personhood is important. prioritizing growth is important. constantly. forever.

#mcr #this has been weighing on me for a long time. i just didnt know how to say it. why i should say it if someone else already has #and well. thru writing this i figured everyone should say it to really understand it #qessay

[lilithism1848]

Atrocities US committed against AFRICA

In early 2017, the US began conducting drone strikes in Somalia against Al Shabab militants. An attack on July 16th killed 8 people.

In 1998, the US bombed the Al Shifa pharmaceutical factory in Sudan, killing one employee and wounding 11. It was the largest pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum, producing medicine both for human and veterinary use. The US had acted on false evidence of a VX nerve agent from a single soil sample, and later used a false witness to cover for the attack. It was the only pharmaceutical factory in Africa not under US control.

In June 1982, with the help of CIA money and arms, Hissene Habre , dubbed Africa’s Pinochet, takes power in Chad. His secret police, use methods of torture including the burning the body of the detainee with incandescent objects, spraying gas into their eyes, ears and nose, forced swallowing of water, and forcing the mouths of detainees around the exhaust pipes of running cars. Habré’s government also periodically engaged in ethnic cleansing against groups such as the Sara, Hadjerai and the Zaghawa, killing and arresting group members en masse when it was perceived that their leaders posed a threat to the regime. Human Rights Watch claimed that Habre was responsible for thousands of killings. In 2001, while living in Senegal, he was almost tried for crimes committed by him in Chad. However, a court there blocked these proceedings. Then human rights people decided to pursue the case in Belgium, because some of Habre’s torture victims lived there. The U.S., in June 2003, told Belgium that it risked losing its status as host to NATO’s headquarters if it allowed such a legal proceeding to happen. So the result was that the law that allowed victims to file complaints in Belgium for atrocities committed abroad was repealed. However, two months later a new law was passed which made special provision for the continuation of the case against Habre. In May 2016 he was found guilty of human-rights abuses, including rape, sexual slavery and ordering the killing of 40,000 people, and sentenced to life in prison.

In the 1980s, Reagan maintains a close relationship with the Apartheid South african government, called constructive engagement, while secretly funding it in the hopes of creating a bulwark of anti-communism and preventing a marxist party from taking power, as happened in angola. Later on, in the wars against Apartheid in South Africa and Angola, in which cuban and anti-apartheid forces fought the white south african government, the US supplied south africa with nuclear weapons via Israel.

In 1975, Henry Kissinger launches a CIA-backed war in Angola, backing the brutal anti-communist leader of UNITAS, Jonas Savimbi, against Agostinho Neto and his Marxist-Leninst MPLA party, creating a civil war lasting for 30 years. The CIA financed a covert invasion via neighboring Zaire and a drive on the Angolan capital by the U.S. ally, South Africa. Congress continues to fund UNITAS, and their south-african apartheid allies until the late 1980s. By the end of the war, more than 500,000 people had died and over one million had been internally displaced.

In 1966, a CIA-backed military coup overthrows he widely popular Pan-Africanist and Marxist leader Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana, inviting the International Monetary Fund and World Bank to take a lead role in managing the economy. With this reversal, accentuated by the expulsion of immigrants and a new willingness to negotiate with apartheid South Africa, Ghana lost a good deal of its stature in the eyes of African nationalists.

In 1965, a CIA-backed military coup installs Mobutu Sese Seko, described as the “archetypal African dictator” in Congo. The hated and repressive Mobutu exploits his desperately poor country for billions.

In 1962, a tip from a CIA spy in South Africa lead to the imprisonment of Nelson Mandela, due to his pro-USSR leanings. This began his 27-year-long imprisonment.

In 1961, the CIA assists in the assassination of the democratically elected congolese leader Patrice Lumumba, throwing the country into years of turmoil. Before his assassination the CIA sent one of its scientists, Dr. Sidney Gottlieb, to the Congo carrying “lethal biological material” intended for use in Lumumba’s assassination. This virus would have been able to produce a fatal disease indigenous to the Congo area of Africa and was transported in a diplomatic pouch.

In 1801, and again in 1815, the US aided Sweden in subjugating a series of coastal towns in North Africa, in the Barbary Wars. The stated reason was to crack down on pirates, but the wars destroyed the navies of Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco, and secured European and US shipping routes for goods and slaves in North Africa. US Representatives stated: “When we can appear in the Ports of the various Powers, or on the Coast, of Barbary, with Ships of such force as to convince those nations that We are able to protect our trade, and to compel them if necessary to keep faith with Us, then, and not before, We may probably secure a large share of the Meditn trade, which would largely and speedily compensate the U. S. for the Cost of a maritime force amply sufficient to keep all those Pirates in Awe, and also make it their interest to keep faith.” Thomas Jefferson echoed and carried out the war, saying that war was essential to securing markets along the Barbary Coast.

#late stage capitalism #capitalism #socialism #anarchy #communism #twitter post #rip twitter #leftism #anti capitalism #economics #classism #current events #inequality #liberal #liberal hypocrisy #liberal feminism #tweet #liberalism #woke liberal madness #conservative #republican #democrat #conservatism #africa #unesco #migration #ethiopia #south africa

[koroktree]

Antisemitism Education

What does dogwhistle mean?

A dog whistle is the use of coded or suggestive language in political messaging to garner support from a particular group without provoking opposition. The concept is named after dog whistles, which are audible to dogs but not humans

Antisemitism or “anti-semitism”?

The word, “anti-semitism” was coined on the premise of pseudo-scientific race theory, alleging that “Semites” are a race of people, in order to give the hatred of Jews a scientific, rationalistic veneer.

Numerical dogwhistles

1-11

One representing the letter “A” and eleven representing the letter “K”, this is a numerical dog whistle made to refer to the Aryan Knights (AK) which is an Idaho based white supremacist group.

109

May be written as 109/110. This refers to the idea of Jews being exiled from 109 countries. The “110” is typically a direct threat, stating that there is about to be 110 countries.

12

One representing the letter A and two representing the letter B, these two letters represent the Aryan Brotherhood (AB).

100%

While there are many variations, 100% generally refers to “100% white”, feeding into the “pure white race” belief.

14 (14 words)

Fourteen words refers to a white supremacist slogan coined by the deceased leader of the group “The Order”, David Lane

1488

A numerical dog whistle that joins the “14 words” used by white supremacists in conjunction with “88” which refers to the eighth letter in the alphabet, “H”. “88” - “HH”, meaning Heil Hitler. 1483 may also appear which would instead mean Heil Christ.

6 million/6 gorillion

6 million refers to the number of Jews murdered in the Holocaust. Antisemites will use terms like “gorillion” and other variations to avoid detection as well as to denote exaggeration in reference to their belief that Jews exaggerate the Holocaust.

6MWE

An acronym standing for “Six Million Wasn’t Enough”, signifying that 6 million Jews being murdered in the Holocaust wasn’t enough.

Dogwhistles and Conspiracy Theories

AKIA

Standing for “A Klansman I Am” this allows members to greet each other covertly.

Anglo-Saxon

A term what once was, and still is, used by white supremacists.

In the 1920s, the Anglo-Saxon Clubs of America lobbied in favor of segregation and argued for the exclusion of those with even a drop “of any blood other than Caucasian.”

Arbeit Macht Frei

Translating to, “Work will set you free” in English, this phrase was put on the gates of Aushwitz as well as other Nazi concentration camps.

Ashki-nazi

The intentional mispronunciation of Ashkenazi (Correct: Ash-ki-nah-zee. Incorrect: Ash-ki-Natzi) to accuse Ashkenazi Jews of being Nazis.

Ballpoint pen

A form of Holocaust denial in which Neo-Nazi’s claim that Anne Frank’s diary is a falsified or entirely fake document because “ballpoint pens didn’t exist at that time”.

Blood libel

Perpetuated accusation that Jews have murdered non-Jews

(such as Christian children) in order to use their blood in rituals

Cabal

Jews have long been accused of being part of a secret group that controls the economic and political world order. The term cabal originates from the word kabbalah, the Jewish mystical interpretation of the Hebrew Bible.

Cultural marxism

Sometimes also appearing as Cultural Bolshevism, this antisemitic theory believes Jews are trying to overthrow “Western culture” and destroy “White America”.

Delousing

A method of denying the Holocaust by suggesting that the gas chambers used to murder people were actually merely “delousing” facilities.

Dual Loyalty

Alleging that Jewish people are more loyal or only loyal to Israel rather than their own country.

Khazars or Khazar Theory

An antisemitic conspiracy theory that the Ashkenazi Jewish people today come from ancient Khazars and are “not real Jews”.

Khazar Milkers

A term used for sexual harassment towards Jewish women. Alternatively “milkies”.

Lizard people

The conspiracy theory that reptilian humanoids are trying to take over the government and can be government officials or large corporate figureheads.

Oven Dodger

A term for a Jew who antisemites believe should have been murdered in the Holocaust.

Pepe The Frog

While not originating in Nazism or White supremacy, the meme was co-opted by the alt-right along Reddit, 4-Chan, and 8chan.

Protocol of the Elders of Zion

An antisemitic text that spreads the paranoid theory that Jews are planning to dominate the globe.

Swimming Pool

An antisemitic conspiracy that the Holocaust didn’t happen because of the existence of a “swimming pool” at Aushwitz and was instead a “resort”. In actuality, it was an aquifer turned into a swimming pool for SS soldiers and their families.

The Jewish Question/Problem

The problem is the existence of Jews. The “question” being how to deal with the “problem” of Jews. This results in Nazism, for example, with the Final Solution. The full phrase is, “The Final Solution to the Jewish Question”.

WPWW

White Pride/Power World Wide.

You Will Not Replace Us

A phrase popularized in 2017 after the Charlottesville Nazi Riot. Sometimes appearing as Jews will not replace us or YWNRU, this antisemitic theory believes Jews are trying to “over-run the white race”.

ZOG

Meaning “Zionist Occupied Government”, white supremacists curated this phrase to signal a “Jewish controlled government”, most commonly the United States.

(((echo)))

an antisemitic symbol used to highlight the names of Jewish individuals or organizations owned by Jews

#witchblr #jewish #witch #jewitch #jewitches #antisemitism #education #witch community #witchcraft

[1americanconservative]

@TiffMoodNukes

BELIEVE IT OR NOT…

Tower 7 didn’t fall on its own on 9/11

Bill Clinton raped Juanita Broaddrick and others

Obama knew Hillary had an illegal server

Obama is gay. He is Kenyan, and an Islamic extremist whose running this country

Biden did not get 81M votes Hollywood knew Harvey Weinstein was a rapist and a pedophile.

Epstein didn’t kill himself

Plandemic was a test run

Big pharma/CDC/WHO lied about the vaccine.

It’s a bio weapon, just like covid

J6 was a set up; not an insurrection

Biden knew about Hunter’s illegal business dealings and took millions in bribes

Trump can be polarizing, say some controversial shit but he’s the GOAT, is no racist, and the charges against him are manufactured

Letitia James is a corrupt, DNC maze running rat

E Jean Carroll has an unbangable cobwebbed rancid meat pit.

This disturbed pathological liar, fantasizes about rape

Obama’s chef didn’t drown

(Bruthaz don’t SUP naked)

CIA is a corrupt weaponized organization against society, responsible for starting all the wars

Ukraine is a hub for corruption and child trafficking rings

Media hates you.

The government hates you more

All Blacks are not ghetto thugs

All White people are not racist

Leftists are soft brained idiots, the easiest to manipulate, and control

One man CANNOT save this country.

It’s up to We The People to overthrow corruption

[mariacallous]

SONNEBERG, GERMANY—First, in true German fashion, the rules were outlined: no alcohol on site, flagpoles capped at three meters, no protesting past 8 p.m. The demonstration followed, with hundreds congregated in the town square shouting insults at the incumbent government; cracking jokes at the expense of refugees, the LGBTQ+ community, and the media; and waving a sea of German flags, with a few Russian ones dotted among them.

“Anyone who dares call us Nazis will be reported to the police,” one of the protesters shouted from a makeshift stage propped up outside Sonneberg’s City Hall, a white mansion built between the world wars. “Germany first,” the protester continued, beckoning the crowds to join in singing the national anthem under a rainy, dark sky.

At 8 p.m. sharp, the crowd quickly dispersed—but they’ll be back next Monday, as they are every week. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they rallied against lockdowns. Now, they call for the overthrow of the current government coalition, and in recent months, the numbers of agitators have started to swell. Many are affiliated with the right-wing party Alternative for Germany (AfD), and although members say they strongly reject what Nazi Germany stood for, a regional chair of the party, Björn Höcke, is on trial for concluding a 2021 speech with the phrase “Everything for Germany”—a slogan widely used by the Nazis. (Under German law, the use of speech, propaganda, and symbolism associated with the Nazi Party and other terrorist groups is prohibited.)

Sonneberg district, home to 56,000 people, is where AfD has celebrated its biggest success to date: Last year, Robert Sesselmann, 51, was elected as the district administrator in a runoff with 52.8 percent of the vote, making Sonneberg the first county in Germany to elect a far-right candidate since the Nazi era. But Thuringia’s AfD branch—where Sonneberg is located—has already been questioning the legitimacy of state institutions and asserted that the Federal Republic of Germany is not a sovereign state, but rather controlled by external powers.

The Thuringia branch of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution has legally classified the AfD’s Thuringia branch as “right-wing extremist,” and the federal office is now deciding whether the party may be classified as a suspected case of right-wing extremism on the national level.

The question is pertinent, since the AfD is gaining in popularity not just in Thuringia, but nationwide. This trend picked up around the time of Germany’s last federal elections in 2021. Nationally, the AfD’s support base has grown to 22 percent, compared to 10.4 percent in 2021. Three states in the east—Thuringia, as well as Brandenburg and Saxony—head to the polls this fall, and a win for the AfD looks likely, as it’s polling around 30 percent in all three states.

“This is a stress test for Germany, and 2024 is a defining year,” said Olaf Sundermeyer, an editor at the Berlin-Brandenburg Broadcast (RBB) and longtime expert on right-wing extremism in Germany. Sundermeyer said that since the AfD was founded in 2013, “the party has continuously radicalized.”

Initially starting out as a euroskeptic party that primarily criticized the European Union’s handling of the eurozone crisis, the party—and its leadership—have continuously shifted toward more nationalist and populist positions, especially since 2015, when former Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed around 1 million refugees into the country.

The legacy and shame of Nazi Germany continue to influence the nation’s politics, and until the AfD’s rise, German society strongly rejected far-right ideologies. But the economic impact of both the 2008 financial crisis and the 2015 refugee crisis have—at least partially—resulted in shifting public perceptions.

“The AfD has successfully managed to alter people’s perception of right-wing extremism, moving it away from its historically charged stigma of Nazism and thus effectively rendering it socially acceptable,” Sundermeyer told Foreign Policy. This, he said, is exactly what has happened in Sonneberg.

The AfD’s new heartland, a remote part of the countryside, was part of the communist German Democratic Republic until reunification in 1990. Surrounded by hills in the Thuringian Forest, Sonneberg’s cobblestone main street and stately houses date back to the Wilhelminian era before the First World War. The nearest major highway is about a half-hour’s drive.

Since reunification, scores of people have migrated westward, leaving many homes empty. Residents say that young people here struggle with drug abuse; that there are few places for them to hang out; and that public transport isn’t adequately connecting the district’s farther, remote villages, making it more difficult to access educational and job opportunities. Since reunification, the country’s east has been catching up to the former West Germany in terms of economic opportunities, but in Sonneberg—and throughout former East Germany—many people continue to feel acutely disadvantaged.

A group of young men lingering after the demonstration echoed these complaints as they chain-smoked Marlboros and packed up whistles and flags. They had opted to move into practical professions—such as construction work, plumbing, and roofing—one explained, to help “build Sonneberg, and Germany overall.”

Attending the demonstration wearing their company uniforms—grey overalls and work pants—the men were initially hesitant to speak to the Lügenpresse, or “lying, mainstream press,” as they described it. “No names please,” they asked politely after agreeing to talk. (“Lügenpresse,” a term used by the Nazis, has resurfaced in Germany’s right-wing circles, as well as among allies of former U.S. President Donald Trump.)

“People call us ‘rats,’ just because we support the AfD,” one of the men said. “There’s no freedom of speech here, no freedom of thoughts. Our country gets involved in wars we don’t want to be part of. The government manipulates the press, our German culture, and our traditions are vanishing due to mass immigration—food and energy prices have skyrocketed. It’s worse than during the German Democratic Republic, and we desperately need change—we need an alternative.” He paused to take a long drag on his cigarette, then added: “Germany is for Germans first—we can’t help others if we’re not helping ourselves.”

“It’s a possibility that the party drifts too far to the right,” he said, “and that’s certainly not what we want. We don’t want a return of Nazi times, but we need change.”

The party’s policy platform is unabashedly far right. For instance, AfD’s stance on immigration is that “the ideology of multiculturalism is a serious threat to peace and to the continued existence of the nation as a cultural unit.” The party advocates for a “German dominant culture” based on the values of Christianity instead of multiculturalism. Africa, the party’s website states, is a “house of poverty,” arguing that migration from the continent needs to be capped.

During a covert meeting last November, uncovered by independent German investigative outlet Correctiv, AfD politicians, together with neo-Nazis and several wealthy business owners, discussed the “remigration” of millions of people—including German citizen—on the basis of racial and religious criteria.

The group of young men in Sonneberg who spoke with Foreign Policy talked about the need for the “remigration” of immigrants, too, and some even had written it on signs. After the rally, though, they headed to dinner at the only restaurant still open: a kebab house owned by an Iraqi Kurd. Their waiter was a Syrian man who arrived in Germany three years ago.

According to the Federal Statistical Office, at least 28.7 percent of Germany’s population—more than 1 in 4 people—have a migration background, meaning that they immigrated to Germany themselves or were born into families with a history of migration. Migration is on the up, with 2.1 million people arriving in Germany in 2015, and 2.6 million in 2022. Germany’s coalition government has said it aims to attract 400,000 qualified workers from abroad annually to tackle labor shortages and demographic imbalances.

The desire for strong leadership is also on the rise in Germany as Russia’s war in Ukraine continues. Several of the AfD’s members have called for a separation from NATO and even the EU; many have turned to Russia, at least rhetorically, arguing that Germany needs to work with its neighbors. Sundermeyer told Foreign Policy that “the AfD is deeply anti-American but pro- Russian; anti-NATO and -EU, but in favor of turning toward alternative government structures such as authoritarianism.”

Meanwhile, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser continuously calls right-wing extremism the “greatest extremist threat to Germany’s democracy.”

Still, for all the Sonneberg residents who voted for the AfD’s candidate, Sesselmann—who did not respond to interview requests by Foreign Policy—there are almost as many people who did not. And unless it’s during the weekly Monday demonstrations, people don’t usually flaunt their political opinions. The day after the weekly protest, at a food stall selling bratwursts during the lunch hour, conversations revolved around work, the weather, increased food and energy prices, and even Germany’s reunification—“before it, everything was better,” several people agreed.

“In Sonneberg, many voted AfD out of spite, while others don’t take an interest in politics but cast their votes for the AfD regardless,” said Regina Müller, a 61-year-old Green Party voter who owns an organic store decorated with anti-war slogans.

But, she added, “what many here don’t see is that [the AfD] are wolves in sheep’s clothing.”

[allthecanadianpolitics]

[...] The infamous bow-tied right-wing pundit raised eyebrows during Fox Nation's "Tucker Carlson Today" on Thursday, openly calling for a U.S. military invasion to overthrow Justin Trudeau's Liberal government, an administration Carlson accuses of being "authoritarian." [...]

Carlson tells his guest that he is "completely in favour of a Bay of Pigs operation to liberate that country," referencing a failed 1961 U.S.-backed invasion to overthrow Fidel Castro by Cuban exiles.

"Why should we stand back and let our biggest trading partner, the country with which we share the longest border — and actually, I should just say, I love Canada, I've always loved Canada, it's a great country for its natural beauty — why should we let it become Cuba? Why don't we liberate it."

Wait, what the f***? I know I shouldn't be surprised by something Tucker Carlson says at this point, but still, WTF.

Well Tucker Carson wants to invade Canada to rescue us from Trudeau (no thanks), remember this...his followers believe everything he says and they have elected people just like them. [...]

War Plan Red was devised in the event of war with the British Empire, and the long-declassified plans offer a remarkably detailed breakdown of how an invasion of the Great White North may have played out.

The war would have kicked off with a joint strike by the U.S. army and naval forces on Halifax, cutting off Canada from the naval power of the British Empire.

Canadian power plants, specifically the infrastructure at Niagara Falls, would have been the next target, crippling the most populous area of the country and paving the way for an all-out invasion by ground forces on three fronts, capturing Montreal and Quebec City, railheads in Winnipeg, and nickel mines in Ontario. [...]

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @politicsofcanada, @vague-humanoid

#cdnpoli #american politics #american imperialism #war

[trans-girl-nausicaa]

Radicalization and Deradicalization

Prelude:

The New York Times, Sunday, December 21, 1924:

BERLIN, Dec. 20 — Adolph Hitler, once the demi-god of the reactionary extremists, was released on parole from imprisonment at Fortress Landsberg, Bavaria, today and immediately left in an auto for Munich. He looked a much sadder and wiser man today than last Spring when he, with Ludendorff and other radical extremists, appeared before a Munich court charged with conspiracy to overthrow the Government. 

His behavior during imprisonment convinced the authorities that, like his political organization, known as the Völkischer, was no longer to be feared. It is believed he will retire to private life, and return to Austria, the country of his birth.

The United States of America is a cannibalistic nation. 

Its businesses consume their workers, its extractive industries consume its natural resources, its prisons consume their prisoners, its “law” enforcement agencies consume their jurisdictions, its military-industrial complex consumes the available budget of its nation, its borders consume prospective refugees & immigrants, its occupying forces consume their protectorates. Its economic policies are eating up civil society’s ability to reproduce itself. Food, housing, education, medical care, bodily autonomy: The share of the US population who can access these basic necessities is shrinking.

As an empire it is running out of frontiers. Its ability to wield power on the world-stage to consume other countries’ economies through economic-imperialism seems to be rapidly coming to an end.

When the current political-economic order loses legitimacy in the eyes of civil society, or rather, loses its material ability to reproduce civil society, alternate forms of power rush to mind, and counter-establishment groups rush to grab power. When a dynasty loses the Mandate of Heaven, peasants revolt and warlords rise up.

In the USA, the prospective warlords already have established subcultures and power structures and many of them are eagerly awaiting “their day.” They have many names for it, including The Day of the Rope, when Shit Hits The Fan (SHTF), Civil War 2: Electric Boogaloo, Racial Holy War (RAHOWA). But even before “their day,” and even if “their day” never comes, and even outside of formal groups, some people become “radicalized” and adopt a white supremacist “extremist” ideology that results in violence against innocent people. 

Definitions within this text:

Legal: According to the de jure, or by the letter, laws of the United States of America, even where they contradict international laws.

Terrorism: The use of violence or the threat of violence against a population to instill fear, especially for ideological or political purposes.

Extremism: Any ideology where extralegal violence or terrorism against one’s political enemies is acceptable. This includes cases where one wishes to legalize violence or terrorism against certain people. 

Radicalization: The process by which someone adopts an extremist ideology.

Deradicalization: The process by which someone rejects an extremist ideology.

Desistance: The process by which a person ceases extremist activities, regardless of whether they have an extremist ideology or not.

Former: A former member of an extremist group.

Left-wing extremism will not be addressed by this essay. The author is a Communist and opposes all false equivalences drawn between right-wing violence and left-wing violence. Violence can be used to terrorize and oppress, but it can also be used to defend and liberate.

Fundamentalist Islamic extremism (Salafism et al.) will largely not be addressed as it is beyond the scope of this essay. In the US, post-2001 it has been associated in far fewer acts of violence than white supremacists, hence it is considered to be less of a threat domestically.

Further uses of the word “extremism” and “radicalization” should be assumed to apply to white supremacist groups and ideologies unless otherwise specified.

Part 1: Radicalization

When Americans commit acts of extralegal terrorism, it is not because of a particular mental illness. There is no mental illness described in the DSM-V where becoming a Nazi and murdering people is a symptom. Certain mental illnesses can be one of many possible risk factors for radicalization, but it is radicalization itself that is required for acts of terrorism.

Radicalization is a process based on material circumstances. 

Some of these circumstances can be understood through studies on former members of extremist organizations.

Brown, Ryan Andrew, Todd C. Helmus, Rajeev Ramchand, Alina I. Palimaru, Sarah Weilant, Ashley L. Rhoades, and Liisa Hiatt, What Do Former Extremists and Their Families Say About Radicalization and Deradicalization in America? Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2021:

Who Is at Risk of Joining Violent Extremist Organizations?

The interviews suggest that there is ultimately a wide range of factors, such as family dynamics and social backgrounds, that put some people at risk of radicalization. Three factors were mentioned most frequently.

Financial instability (noted in 22 of the 32 cases) Seven individuals noted that financial challenges pushed them into extremist beliefs. Interviewees also mentioned that they faced financial challenges when they participated in extremist organizations, which prompted some to work in jobs tied to the organization itself. This involvement led to delays in leaving the organization. Mental health (noted in 17 of the 32 cases) Mental health challenges were cited as obstacles that individuals had to cope with throughout their lives. Some interviewees identified overwhelming anger and other symptoms as drivers of joining an extremist organization. Trauma or posttraumatic stress disorder, substance use, and physical health issues were also mentioned, but less frequently. Victimization, stigmatization, marginalization (noted in 16 of the 32 cases) Many interviewees described how they felt one or more of these when growing up and that those experiences contributed to their radicalization. Most often, individuals mentioned feeling isolated and lonely in institutions (e.g., schools) or communities in which they were the minority race. Former white supremacists cited this factor, as did one former Islamic extremist. Only a few interviewees noted that their families held radical beliefs.

Pauline G. M. Aarten, Eva Mulder & Antony Pemberton (2018) The Narrative of Victimization and Deradicalization: An Expert View, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 41:7,557-572, DOI: 10.1080/1057610X.2017.1311111:

…experiences, perceptions, and narratives of victimization frequently inspire perpetrators’ behavior. Retaliation for past victimization often underlies violence, where a sense of entitlement caused by victimization can provide adequate justification for one’s own acts. This seems particularly true of group-based violence, such as in political violence and terrorism: narratives of victimization ranging back through the years can still provide motive and cover for violence and bloodshed in the present. As Volkan shows in his book Bloodlines, these so-called chosen traumas form a moral nucleus for politically motivated action, including violence. The experience of being righteously aggrieved is a particular strong motivation for morally motivated violence, particularly if this sense of historical victimization can be connected to a present-day threat. The link between victimization experiences and radicalization can be direct, with victimization experiences serving as a causal factor in the development and extremity of religious and political views that may motivate political violence and terrorism. For example, McCauley and Moskalenko describe how personal victimization is one of the pathways, and one of main explanations given by suicide terrorists, to individual radicalization.

These risk factors must combine with another ingredient to radicalize people: Ideology.

From The Narrative of Victimization and Deradicalization: An Expert View:

Ideology as Meaning-Making Ideology is a way of making meaning: it is a way of explaining the causes of the event, the consequences on him or herself and the further development of their story. In other words, ideology is the narrative attention that is needed in certain events—such as victimization—to help construct the radical’s life story. Indeed, the way that a person responds to these key personal event memories is important to the way the person subsequently defines his or herself. An ideology becomes part of someone’s identity, but is also a means to incorporate victimization experiences in a manner that does not denote passivity and helplessness. In other words, victimization as such is often rejected as being part of the radical’s narrative identity. Instead, the victimization experience itself is transformed through embracing ideology as a way to give meaning to and deal with such negative events.

Ideology is introduced to potential extremists through various means. In some cases, they are radicalized before joining an extremist group, and in other cases they directly recruited and are radicalized via their membership in such a group.

From What Do Former Extremists and Their Families Say About Radicalization and Deradicalization in America?:

How Are Individuals Recruited into Extremist Groups? Research shows that online propaganda and recruitment are key pathways to joining extremist groups. Interviewees participating in this project cited these and other paths that led them in. "Reorienting" event (noted in 17 of the 32 cases) Most interviewees described a dramatic or traumatic event that prompted them into reconsidering previously held views and considering alternative perspectives. These included a gun possession charge, rejection by the military, a friend's suicide, and an extended period of unemployment. Some white supremacists discussed events involving black individuals. Direct and indirect recruitment (noted in 25 of the 32 cases) The cases of four white supremacists and three Islamic extremists involved top-down recruitment—that is, recruiters from extremist organizations formally and proactively recruited them. The cases of 15 white supremacists and three Islamic extremists involved bottom-up entry, in which the individuals radicalized on their own and then sought membership in an extremist group. Propaganda (noted in 22 of the 32 cases) Individuals described consuming online materials, as well as music and books, during the time of their radicalization. Social bonds (noted in 14 of the 32 cases) Interviewees described how they were motivated to join a group by the social bonds they experienced with the group. Most noted feelings of family and friendship among group members, and some discussed how they felt a new sense of power as a member of a group. Some noted how they felt rewarded for contributions to the cause and group. Several cases were identified in which individuals "graduated" from one organization to a more extreme organization.

There is no mystery of where people are being directed in their path of radicalization. 

A list of some of these groups has been collected by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Part 2: The Failure of The Conventional Response

In a liberal democracy a governed population expects the State to maintain “order” as the State necessarily maintains a monopoly on the use of force and violence. 

The history of US foreign policy yields many cases of support for extremism abroad. One can refer, for example, to Operation Gladio, Iran-Contra, Operation Condor, Operation Cyclone, the 1953 coup in Iran, and US support for General Suharto. 

The U.S. government continues to grapple with this issue today.

James Carden, The Nation, January 14, 2016:

Congressmen John Conyers of Michigan and Ted Yoho of Florida drew up an amendment to the House Defense Appropriations bill (HR 2685) that “limits arms, training, and other assistance to the neo-Nazi Ukrainian militia, the Azov Battalion.” It passed by a unanimous vote in the House.

And yet by the time November came around and the conference debate over the year-end appropriations bill was underway, the Conyers-Yoho measure appeared to be in jeopardy. And indeed it was. An official familiar with the debate told The Nation that the House Defense Appropriations Committee came under pressure from the Pentagon to remove the Conyers-Yoho amendment from the text of the bill.

Fortunately, Congress was able to ban sending arms to the Azov Battalion in 2018. 

However, the fact that the Pentagon was opposed to such a restriction raises serious questions. Why was the Pentagon opposed to such a restriction? Did the US military provide arms or training to the Azov Battalion before 2018? Given the fact that the US has sent billions of dollars worth of weapons to Ukraine, has the Azov Battalion acquired any American weapons? What will the consequences of a well-armed Azov Movement be for postwar Ukraine?

Only time will tell. 

The U.S. government itself has apparently done an abysmal job of preventing extremist ideology among its own personnel as well.

Meghann Myers and Leo Shane III, The military knows it has a problem with domestic extremists, white supremacists, Jan 14, 2021

…a Military Times poll found that about one-third of all active-duty respondents said they saw signs of white supremacist or racist ideology in the ranks.

This tendency applies not only to ideology, but also to acts of terrorism.

Olivia Rubin, Number of Capitol riot arrests of military, law enforcement and government personnel rises to 52, April 23, 2021

At least 52 active or retired military, law enforcement, or government service employees are among the over 400 suspects arrested for their alleged actions at the Capitol, according to an ABC News investigation based on military records, court records, interviews, and publicly available news reports. The arrests include over half a dozen ex-police officers and multiple former elected officials -- and represent some of the most significant and violent charges brought in connection with the deadly insurrection.

Former military and law enforcement are valuable recruits for extremist groups, as they can provide combat training to the rest of the group. 

From White Supremacists Speak:

As was also shown in the Capitol Hill riots, some white supremacist groups recruit from both active duty and retired members of the military and police hoping to benefit from their weaponry knowledge and skills which can be imparted to the group, possible access to weapons and for their already developed sense of discipline. 

Similarly, both active duty and retired military and police recruits serve to lend an air of prestige and legitimacy to such groups, reinforce the idea that the groups are patriotic in nature and these members are also good recruiters as a result.

The police and military are dismal at preventing extremism, and the FBI is also dismal at investigating extremism. 

The FBI has a trend of engaging in entrapment, particularly against vulnerable individuals.

The practice can be seen in this especially egregious case:

Murtaza Hussain, THE FBI GROOMED A 16-YEAR-OLD WITH “BRAIN DEVELOPMENT ISSUES” TO BECOME A TERRORIST, June 15, 2023

…according to the government’s own criminal complaint, Ventura had never actually funded any terrorist group. The only “terrorist” he is accused of ever being in contact with was an undercover FBI agent who befriended him online as a 16-year-old, solicited small cash donations in the form of gift cards, and directed him not to tell anyone else about their intimate online relationship, including his family.

The arrest has shaken his family, who denied allegations that their son was a terrorist and said that he had been manipulated by the FBI. Ventura’s father, Paul Ventura, told The Intercept that Mateo suffered from childhood developmental issues and had been forced to leave his school due to bullying from other students.

“He was born prematurely, he had brain development issues. I had the school do a neurosurgery evaluation on him and they said his brain was underdeveloped,” [Paul] Ventura said. “He was suffering endless bullying at school with other kids taking food off his plate, tripping him in the hallway, humiliating him, laughing at him.”

Other than baiting innocent people into terrorism, the FBI also engages in domestic spying programs so incompetently that their own informant was reported for being suspicious.

Nina Totenberg, Supreme Court to hear arguments on FBI's surveillance of mosques, November 8 2021

It all started in 2006, in Orange Country, Calif. A home-grown terrorist on the FBI's most-wanted list had come out of a mosque there, and relations between the faithful and the FBI had become so fraught that the head of the Los Angeles FBI office, Stephen Tidwell, decided he should do a town hall at one of the Orange County mosques.

He picked the Islamic Center of Irvine, and repeatedly sought at the meeting to assure the audience that the FBI was not monitoring them. If the bureau is going to come to the mosque, he told them, "We will tell you we're coming for the very reason we don't want you to think you're being monitored."

But even as he was saying that, the FBI was recruiting an undercover informant to infiltrate the mosque and catch anyone who might be recruiting and training terrorists. The informant was named Craig Monteilh, a trainer at a local gym who had a checkered past. He posed as a Muslim convert at the Irvine mosque, one of the largest in southern California.

As Sam Black reported for This American Life, "The FBI later confirmed in court that Craig was an undercover informant. A district attorney also stated in court that Craig did work with Agent Kevin Armstrong and that Craig had given the FBI 'very very valuable information.'"

The bureau also has confirmed that Monteilh secretly recorded tons of audio and video of the people he was making friends with at the mosque.

'You're doing the right thing'

Soon he started pummeling his new friends with questions about jihad, Black reported, to the point that some people from the mosque started to hear complaints about it.

Monteilh would subsequently confirm that he eventually did much more than ask questions about jihad.

"I said we should carry out a terrorist attack in this country," he told This American Life. "We should bomb something."

Monteilh said that to two of the men he'd been hanging out with, and they freaked out. They wanted to report what they had heard, but they didn't know how to go about it. So they contacted Hassam Ayloush, director of the Council on American Islamic Relations in Southern California.

"I told them, 'Calm down...you're doing the right thing. You're calling authorities. So even if the guy is planning on anything, you have nothing to worry about. You're not accomplice,'" Ayloush recalled.

Now, Ayloush was the person who had arranged that earlier town hall with Los Angeles FBI chief Tidwell, so he called Tidwell to report Monteilh's threats. But oddly, Tidwell, after thanking him for the tip, didn't even ask for the alleged terrorist's name.

In case you didn’t catch that, Tidwell didn’t ask for the alleged terrorist’s name because he already knew that it was his own informant who was being reported. 

It is obvious that white supremacist extremists should not receive leniency in investigation or sentencing for acts of violence and terrorism, but suffering state violence can also serve as re-radicalizing experiences for them.

Incarceration of those at risk of recruitment by white supremacist extremists feeds into another huge problem: white supremacist prison gangs.

Anti-Defamation League, White Supremacist Prison Gangs: 2022 Assessment, October 24 2022:

There are currently more than 75 different white supremacist prison gangs in at least 38 states and the Federal Bureau of Prisons, as well as in major county jails. They range from relatively small local gangs all the way to multi-state gangs with a thousand or more members.

Today, white supremacist prison gangs are one of the most active and violent segments of the white supremacist movement in the United States. Most states have at least one organized white supremacist prison gang; many have more. Such prison gangs are typically larger than other types of white supremacist groups, with memberships that often are in the hundreds, with a few, like the Aryan Circle and Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, reaching 1,500 or more members. Moreover, most prison gangs have substantial numbers of associates (including women) and hangers-on in addition to formally admitted members.

White supremacists are responsible for the majority of extremist-related murders in the United States almost every year—and members of white supremacist prison gangs commit a substantial number of them.  In the last decade alone, as noted in the COE report Murder and Extremism in the United States in 2021, white supremacist prison gang members were responsible for nearly a third (76) of white supremacist-related killings. Moreover, because murders behind prison walls are not always well reported, the true number is likely higher still.

Over the years, prison officials have tried breaking gang members up across different prisons—or even different prison systems—only to see such tactics result in gang spread. Other officials have tried to segregate gang members in a particular facility or to put documented gang members in administrative segregation—i.e., solitary. These tactics have had some success but are less feasible now due to lawsuits and administrative decisions limiting solitary confinement. More progressively, some prison systems have instituted gang exit programs, but though they may benefit individuals, they do little to hinder the overall operations of such gangs. 

The original Aryan Brotherhood, based primarily in the California and federal penal systems, has illustrated the extreme resiliency of such groups, surviving despite every tactic used against it, from racketeering indictments to solitary confinements. Members still found ways to communicate and, using proxy gangs, to continue their operations. Authorities have not yet figured out the best ways to combat white supremacist prison gangs.

From White Supremacists Speak:

Gang and prison-based white extremist groups were the most violent and, in some cases, follow a “blood in, blood out” recruitment strategy meaning one can expect to only exit the group by dying.

The US Government’s efforts at reducing white supremacist (and Islamic fundamentalist) extremism have been inadequate at best and counterproductive at worst.

Part 3: The Endgame

There are various methods by which extremist groups maintain their hold on their members. 

Anne Speckhard & Molly Ellenberg, White Supremacists Speak: Recruitment, Radicalization & Experiences of Engaging and Disengaging from Hate Groups, May 17, 2021

Tattooing permanent markers of white supremacy on one’s body is common and makes it more difficult to re-enter society as these marks of hatred are feared and reviled by others.  Hence tattoo removal may be an integral part of rehabilitation and reentry.

Of those white supremacists who turned to psychotherapy for help exiting and rehabilitating from white supremacy groups, some found their therapists afraid of them and lacking relevant knowledge. Others deeply benefitted from addressing both the adverse traumatic experiences that had led them to being vulnerable to join in the first place as well as those they encountered in the group.

Reciprocal radicalization plays an important role in further radicalizing white supremacists and keeping them involved in their groups. Many referenced violent interactions with Antifa as further radicalizing events that influenced them.

Doxxing has a serious effect on white supremacists causing some to leave their groups for fear of losing jobs, being arrested, etc. Likewise, the effect of significant others threatening to or actually leaving their white supremacists partners caused some to reevaluate the worth of staying with their group.

White supremacist extremists have to maintain psychological investment in the group, a sense of belonging, a sense of unity against perceived persecution. Getting in fights with antifa reinforces their ingroup-outgroup dynamic and allows them to bond through shared trauma. 

Clearly, getting beaten, however badly, does not cure someone of their extremism. The “Fourth Degree” rank for members of the Proud Boys is earned by “get[ting] arrested or get[ting] in a serious violent fight for the cause.” 

From White Supremacists Speak:

Lukas Bals, a former member of the German group Die Rechte, similarly articulates,

The reason why I stayed so long in [the] far right after it, they give me a reason, an identity. I know where I belong. If you have an enemy, you know who are your friends. My comrades are my friends, we have the same enemy. From one day to another, you have so many friends, I like it […] Being told I have worth, Lukas, you are worthy, you are worthy by birth. I didn’t have to do something first, I’m just German.

Killing a member of an extremist group could potentially make the rest of the group tighter-knit through shared trauma. Furthermore, it is natural for an escalation of violence to be reciprocated. 

However, I am not advocating for pacifism. Certain people, such as members of certain religious orders, are strict pacifists, but these people should be considered especially vulnerable and in need of protection from extremists. 

Rather, certain social dynamics are inevitable. Just as a white person with a certain background, with childhood trauma, with substance abuse issues, or other risk factors may be more likely to join a white supremacist group if recruited, being a white supremacist is a risk factor for getting attacked. Engaging in a white supremacist gathering is a direct provocation to violence. It’s the principle of “talk shit, get hit.” 

White supremacist marches and gatherings are preludes to violence in and of themselves. Certain extremists, and groups of extremists, attack peaceful counter-protesters and innocent bystanders, particularly persons who are part of marginalized demographics. Therefore it is advantageous for extremist gatherings to be prevented, such as through doxxing and information leaks, or dispersed as quickly as possible, such as through overwhelming force. 

Acts of violence and subterfuge against white supremacist extremists are only one aspect of a necessary socio-political struggle that must be undertaken against them.

Beyond the fact that apparatuses such as law enforcement agencies, the prison-industrial complex, and US border security are functionally white supremacist, a growing number of government officials explicitly espouse white supremacist extremist ideologies.

Part 4: Desistance and Deradicalization

The ideal outcome in any case of an individual white supremacist is that they can be deradicalized, that is, that their mind is changed and they reject white supremacist ideals. Failing that, the minimum positive outcome is desistance, that is, that they cease all white supremacist activities and separate themselves from any white supremacist groups they are a part of.

But how is this accomplished?

From What Do Former Extremists and Their Families Say About Radicalization and Deradicalization in America?

Why and How Do People Deradicalize and Leave Extremist Organizations?

To date, there is no standard model of how people turn away from or reject previously held extremist views or why they leave extremist groups. Interviewees cited many reasons and ways they turned away, but two in particular stood out in the study.

Disillusionment and burnout (noted in 14 of the 32 cases) These feelings were noted in cases concerning 13 white supremacists and one Islamic extremist. All interviewees expressed that former members felt disappointment. Hypocrisy or other negative behaviors were cited as reasons for these feelings and, ultimately, for leaving. Individual or group intervention (noted in 22 of the 32 cases) Interventions were typically conducted intentionally in the study sample. Individuals who helped people exit extremist groups were acquaintances, life partners, other former radicals, friends, journalists, children, other family members, religious authorities, current radicals, therapists, and school officials. The interventions consisted of diverse cultural and demographic exposures, emotional support, and financial or domestic stability. Some cases highlighted noxious or negative impact from radical individuals, which could be described as an inadvertent intervention. In 11 cases, the intervention was orchestrated and conducted by an institution, such as religious groups, law enforcement, and secular nonprofits. Twenty-two of the 32 cases also described processes of self-driven exiting from extremism. Deradicalization processes (noted in 20 of the 32 cases) Interviewees discussed how they or their family members or friends had undergone psychological or social processes of deradicalization. Twelve of these 20 cases were activists, currently engaged in helping others deradicalize. Six cases concerned individuals who had formally exited a radical organization but were still undergoing cognitive and emotional deradicalization. Failed interventions (noted in 19 of the 32 cases) When interviewees indicated that some interventions had failed, these cases most often involved family members who tried to intervene. Punitive interventions by law enforcement also often led to increased extremism. Upon leaving extremist organizations, six cases described feeling drawn back to organizations or ideologies. These interviewees discussed how they or their family members and friends missed the thrill and feelings of belonging, as well as other psychological benefits experienced by being part of an extremist group.

There are many activists, especially former white supremacists, who are engaged in deradicalization efforts, focusing on one individual at a time. However noble, these efforts are dwarfed in scale by the problem they are facing. I do not know of any existing program focusing on desistance or deradicalization that could be scaled up to meet the challenge. Even if they had infinite funding, there are a comparatively small number of formers and other activists who are able and willing to engage in such efforts. We must keep in mind that these processes can be long and painful, and each white supremacist who has the potential to be deradicalized is different, with their own unique history and needs. On that note, what percent of white supremacists even have the potential to be deradicalized? That number is unknown, and may be impossible to determine. 

Christian Picciolini, a former neo-Nazi and cofounder of the deradicalization organization Life After Hate, offers a different view.

The process of deradicalizing youth needs an overhaul. A former white supremacist explains how, Callum Borchers and Allison Hagan, December 6, 2021:

After 20 years of working one on one with hundreds of people trying to leave hate movements, Picciolini is calling for a shift in focus.

“If we don't switch focus to focus on prevention, the process of radicalization is quickly overcoming us,” he says. “And we're seeing too many people line up at our door for help disengaging when we really should be focusing much more heavily on prevention so future generations aren't moved toward that movement.”

Young people are most at risk for radicalization because they’re searching for “a sense of identity, community and purpose” — but older generations need help too, he says.

People in the U.S. need to get to the source of what’s pushing people toward extremism and shut off what he calls the “bigot spigot,” he says.

“Until we fix that,” he says, “there's no amount of de-radicalization or disengagement work that can put a dent in the number of people that are becoming radicalized.”

Trauma — which Picciolini refers to as life’s “potholes” during speaking engagements — leads people to find toxic identities and communities, he says.

Social media campaigns won’t fix this deeply ingrained cycle, he says: People need resources like access to mental health care, education and job security to fill these voids instead of finding harmful alternatives.

When people deeply immersed in hate groups approach Picciolini for help, he connects with professionals in the communities such as therapists, counselors, life coaches, teachers or even parents, he says.

“We have to learn to utilize the professionals that already exist in our communities,” he says.

Since announcing the end of the Free Radicals Project, Picciolini says he’s received support because people understand the need for a shift toward prevention to cut off the pipeline to radicalization.

“But also, people recognize that doing this work is traumatic,” he says. “Sitting in front of people to discuss their traumas, the things that happen to them in life, can also be a traumatizing effect on the people who listen.”

Poverty, mental health treatment, child welfare, social alienation, substance abuse issues, mass incarceration, far-right propaganda in mass media & social media, underlying structural white supremacy, environments saturated with casual racism and bigotry… All of these issues and more not only raise the risk of far-right radicalization in certain individuals, but they are also general social ills that harm all of us. 

It is possible that one of the most effective things we could do to combat radicalization would be good for all of us: Focusing on reducing these risk factors.

But reducing these risk factors relies on broad social, political, economic, and even religious change.

Do you believe that the prevalence of these risk factors is going to decrease or increase in the near future?

If they increase, then the general rate of far-right radicalization should be expected to increase as well. 

I'm not going to take the liberal stance and merely state policy recommendations that will never be adopted by the aged capitalists in our government while the culture war threatens to transition into a civil war.

If a civil war is imminent, then we should become ready to defend ourselves from white supremacist extremists with lethal force.

Even if you don't think a civil war is imminent, then you should at least have a plan for what you're going to do in the case that you're present at the scene of a hate crime or an act of stochastic terrorism from a white supremacist extremist.

#long post #radicalization #deradicalization

[empirearchives]

Arrests made during the pro-Napoleon riot in Montpellier

Context: After the defeat and abdication of Napoleon in 1815, the new government made favor of “Bonapartism” a crime and made a series of arrests across the country known as the “White Terror”.

From Napoleon: A Symbol for an Age: A Brief History with Documents, Rafe Blaufarb

———

Charge Sheet against Suspected Bonapartists (January 3, 1816):

Roquier (soldier): said of His Royal Highness the Duke d'Angoulême: “Is that monkey coming? I don't give a damn about our rulers....”

Roche (merchant): repeatedly stated that Bonaparte would soon return....

Etienne (no profession given): wore a blue and white cockade with red thread.

Balp (landowner): said the government is like a bucket going up and down, that having changed 10 times in 19 years, it might well change a dozen more times....

Barban (deserter): cried “Long Live the Emperor” in a billiard hall and insulted the King.

Dejean (ex-soldier): said the triumphal arch erected at Meze for the visit of His Royal Highness the Duke d'Angoulême should be his gallows.

The Quatrefages brothers (court record-keeper): illicit nocturnal meetings at odd hours in their house....

Bertrand (surgeon, intern at the hospital): [found in possession of] a mysterious letter full of effervescences and four other documents, all contrary to Bourbon government and favorable to the usurper.

Carra (wife of Cavanon) and her brother: said the mail of November 26 had not arrived because the Parisians were revolting against the Bourbons....

Bouchoni (no profession): limitless attachment to the usurper's government; participated actively in the unfortunate events that occurred in Montpellier on June 27 and July 2, and signed an innkeeper's register under a false name.

Pau: under an arrest warrant for the disastrous events of Montpellier....

Campan (special commissioner of the usurper): held secret nocturnal meetings, criminal correspondence, and attempts or plots to overthrow the royal government....

Vivier (ex-mayor of Pignans) and son: abuse of power and embezzlement... during the interregnum; moreover, denounced by public rumor.

Favier (second-lieutenant in the Sete customs house) and Fleuran (sergeant in the Angoulême regiment): seditious speech against the government....

Guruoalsac (half-pay officer): peddling seditious writings in suspicious meetings, abuse, vexation, and excesses against citizens.

Fleuri (wife of Clos): cried “Long Live the Emperor” and “To the Devil with all royalists, may the King burn in hell with them.”

Context about the arrest sheet by the author:

‘In late 1815 they rioted in Montpellier to protest the visit of the Duke d'Angoulême (1775-1844), who had led resistance to Napoleon’s return in the south of the country and had encouraged the White Terror. The rising failed, but it induced Bourbon police to arrest hundreds of people on political charges. The following document, a charge sheet drawn up on January 3, 1816, just days after the riot, gives a sense of how the Bourbon authorities construed the crime of “Bonapartism.”’

Charge sheet at Archives Départementales de I'Hérault, 1 M 875.

#napoleon #napoleonic era #napoleonic #Rafe Blaufarb #Blaufarb #napoleon bonaparte #first french empire #french empire #19th century #france #history #Napoleon: A Symbol for an Age: A Brief History with Documents #Napoleon: A Symbol for an Age #sources #archives #ref #references #reference #Duke d'Angoulême

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Theory on World Dynamic & Blot Pt. 1 (No Beta, apologies in advance for any and all confusion you may have when reading this. Please delete this is you don't feel comfortable with this):

One of the things I didn't get at first was why the Seven were considered role-models in TWST---I couldn't pinpoint how society would openly idolize people for actions that are openly admitted as wrong in a unanimous sense yet not have someone openly question/challenge this. The Seven are historical figures. Some of the dialogue we do get hints at imperfection that are more close to D!Villains the audience is more familiar with. Assuming Earth is meant to be referring to our Earth (in which it is taken in it's entirety without altercations), I think TWST is meant to have similar core parts that reflect our real-world. History-context-wise, it would make more sense that royal/governing figures(Queen of Hearts, Scar, & Jafar) would be recorded---even considered an example to TWST's present day royalty/governing system on do's and don'ts---and respected as seen by the description on the statues (being able to govern over (what I will assume is) a massive population and having the nation surviving---even thriving---are (objectively) ideal feats to be remembered by and put as positive example in the grand scheme of things). If this is true, then it would also make sense for the Seven to coexist with their respective protagonist(s), making RSA possible but also making the dynamic not as black-and-white as simplification will allow. . .Yana didn't need to write an explanation w/worldbuilding cuz she played it smart and just used what she already had---existing reference called real life.

(Note: I know that this ask opens with “part 1”, but I never received any part 2s or other follow-ups after that DX)

I think I get what you’re trying to communicate? (Correct me if I’m wrong!) So I believe this Anon is saying that 1) both the Disney villains and heroes exist in Twisted Wonderland as historical figures, 2) the alternate tellings of their histories can coexist, and 3) like in real life, history can be twisted depending on the narrative/teller and, in hindsight, actions that are considered dubious can be viewed by future generations as morally correct or righteous. (If that’s the case, I expressed similar thoughts in this post.)

There instances in which the original stories they come from diverge or coexist with other versions which are also treated as true. For example, Kalim tells a tale about a princess (Jasmine) who happily married a thief (Aladdin), transcending the social norms of their time. There is also another tale that the Sorcerer of the Sands (Jafar) revealed that someone (Aladdin) had deceived a princess (Jasmine) about their social status, and that he saved the kingdom by revealing the lie. Somehow, the original story became multiple stories, all of which stand on their own.

We must recall that there are often positive spins put on the tales we know of to be the truth; suddenly Jafar is no longer plotting to overthrow the Sultan, but is a loyal advisor who dutifully served his country, Ursula’s deals are justified because the fault lied with her clients for not paying up, etc. This is also true of real life, where, depending on the person you ask or the history textbook you reference, certain events and details may be glossed over or even completely rewritten. This may be due to censorship or a deliberate attempt to control the narrative and what information is taught to and carried over to students (and into the future). Lilia even makes a passing comment about this in episode 7, saying that history can be “changed” over time.

This is likely how and why the Great Seven are worshipped as they are; history has been “twisted” from the (presumably what Yuu views in their dreams), which just goes to show that good is closer to evil (and vice versa) than expected, thus blurring the lines between the two and creating a grey area. This is very much in line with TWST’s philosophy—that there is more to something than meets the eye, and that being truly “evil” or truly “good” doesn’t exist.

#Lilia Vanrouge #twst #twisted wonderland #disney twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland theory #twisted wonderland theories #twst theories #notes from the writing raven #twst theory

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Christopher Weyan :: @ChristophWeyant

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

December 17, 2023

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

DEC 17, 2023

It seems that former president Donald Trump is aligning his supporters with a global far-right movement to destroy democracy. 

On Saturday, in Durham, New Hampshire, Trump echoed Nazi leader Adolf Hitler’s attacks on immigrants, saying they are “poisoning the blood of our country”—although two of his three wives were immigrants—and quoted Russian president Vladimir Putin’s attacks on American democracy. Trump went on to praise North Korean autocratic leader Kim Jong Un and align himself with Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán, the darling of the American right wing, who has destroyed Hungary’s democracy and replaced it with a dictatorship. 

Trump called Orbán “the man who can save the Western world.” 

Dr. Sarah Riccardi-Swartz, a professor of religion and anthropology at Northeastern University, explained in The Conversation what Trump is talking about. Autocrats like Orbán and Putin—and budding autocrats like Trump—are building a global movement by fighting back against the expansion of rights to women, minorities, and LGBTQ+ people. 

Russian leaders have been cracking down on LGBTQ+ rights for a decade with the help of the Russian Orthodox Church, claiming that they are protecting “traditional values.” This vision of heteronormativity rewrites the real history of human sexuality, but it is powerful in this moment. Orbán insists that immigrants ruin the purity of a country, and has undermined women’s rights.

Riccardi-Swartz explains that this rhetoric appeals to those in far-right movements around the world. In the United States, “family values” became tied to patriotism after World War II, when Chinese and Soviet communists appeared to be erasing traditional gender roles. Those people defined as anti-family—LGBTQ+ people and women who challenged patriarchy—seemed to be undermining society. Now, as dictators like Putin and Orbán promise to take away LGBTQ+ rights, hurt immigrants, and return power to white men, they seem to many to be protecting traditional society.

In the United States, that undercurrent has created a movement of people who are willing to overthrow democracy if it means reinforcing their traditional vision. Christian nationalists believe that the secular values of democracy are destroying Christianity and traditional values. They want to get rid of LGBTQ+ rights, feminism, immigration, and the public schools they believe teach such values. And if that means handing power to a dictator who promises to restore their vision of a traditional society, they’re in. 

It is an astonishing rejection of everything the United States has always stood for.

The White House today responded to Trump’s speech. White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said: “Echoing the grotesque rhetoric of fascists and violent white supremacists and threatening to oppress those who disagree with the government are dangerous attacks on the dignity and rights of all Americans, on our democracy, and on public safety…. It’s the opposite of everything we stand for as Americans.”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

#Authoritarianism #dictators #fascist #Letters From An American #Heather Cox Richardson #white supremicists #TFG

[anonymousaccount1015]

If you’re thinking about sitting out the Presidential election because you’re unsatisfied with the major party options OR because you think you have principled philosophical reasons to not like Biden, please keep in mind what is at stake.

- Trump being in office again and having the power of the executive broadly (this is bad enough, also kind of my catch-all for things unlisted that you might think up)

- Trump seeking revenge, retribution, and repression of political freedoms of those who don’t support him, you can imagine for yourself how this might manifest, including through promoting political violence from his followers, which he hasn’t pledged to not allow

- Trump attacking the opposition party as part of his “revenge,” perhaps in ways that are more substantive than before, possibly through weaponizing the DOJ against political enemies

- Trump actually following through on his promise that in his first day in office that he would be a dictator, but only on day one, you can see him speak about this when he was on Fox News

- Trump attempting and/or succeeding at implementing Project 2025 (the playbook for a fascist takeover which, very oversimplified, looks to centralize political power in the hands of the executive)

- Trump possibly appointing two new Supreme Court justices, assuming the two older justices (Alito and Thomas) leave early to get replaced by ideologically similar judges, the history books will say we allowed him five Supreme Court appointments (three in his first term + two replacements)

- Trump possibly appointing more conservative justices across the lower courts, there are many vacancies at present (including on the U.S. District Courts), Trump appointed many judges on these lower courts in his first term after the Republican Senate prevented Obama from appointing any, arguably these were even worse for the longterm health of the country than the Supreme Court appointments

- Trump probably appoints an even crazier second Presidential cabinet filled with his allies (people who are subservient to his whims and support him fanatically, something like Giuliani as Attorney General or something, Vivek anywhere in his administration is scary)

- Trump pardoning himself from the majority of his crimes (unsure how many he can succeed with pardoning himself from, not a legal expert, IIRC he can’t pardon himself out of Georgia at least)

- Trump procuring 91 criminal charges across four separate cases (the Washington D.C. Jack Smith case, the Georgia election interference case, the classified documents case, the Stormy Daniels case), you can watch a quick recap here, this should immediately make him unqualified for public office

- Trump potentially using the Insurrection Act of 1807 which allows the President with very little oversight to order “U.S military and federalized national guard troops within the United States in particular circumstances, such as to suppress civil disorder, insurrection, or rebellion” (per Wikipedia), something which he may use as soon as his first day in office to support protests

- Trump pardoning some/all of his associates and acolytes that have helped him over the years, assuring that they’ll never face justice (Giuliani comes to mind, others who have been loyal, Gaetz will never face justice for unlawfully trafficking minors)

- Trump possibly working to free the January 6th participants, who he’s repeatedly labeled as “hostages,” as in freeing the people who tried to assist him in overthrowing the government, danced around it as recently as his 03/20 rally

Trump has also on multiple occasions had a “January 6th prison choir” at his rallies that perform live songs as recently as his 03/20 rally, this is ongoing (side note)

- Trump possibly getting full control of the federal government just like the 115th Congress (Trump winning the White House makes it very statistically likely even with an overperformance on our side that he also wins the Senate, the House is still a tossup, anybody’s game)

- Trump possibly trying to sign some sort of federal abortion ban, Trump prided himself on killing Roe vs Wade and then said it was up to the states, though privately, reports have come out that Trump is proposing a federal abortion ban to mirror those in various states

- Trump trying once again to build a border wall/trying to do other horrible things to “illegal” undocumented immigrants (he promised tighter border security + Republicans have been focusing a lot on immigration recently), called migrants “animals” at a 03/20 rally

- Trump promised a mass deportation of “illegal” undocumented immigrants, this is a pretty standard Republican talking point nowadays but still absolutely unacceptable

- Trump potentially using the military against foreign drug cartels in their own sovereign territory, something that was also promoted by fellow Republicans that ran in the primary

- Trump signing KOSA into law (a far right backed bill to “protect kids on the Internet”), which will also likely overturn Section 230 (very oversimplified, the law that states what happens on these platforms, say Tumblr, is not Tumblr’s responsibility, they can’t be sued as if they were a participant, if this was overturned, it would lead to severe content restrictions since now Tumblr, and others, can be sued for everything)

- Trump signing federal age restriction mandates similar to those that have been passed recently in several states (Texas and seven others, with more than a dozen states with similar bills in the legislature), making it so you have to provide identification to access pornographic material

- Trump pulling us out of various international agreements (among them the Paris Climate Accord, which he pulled out of in his first term, for example), the U.S. will never be trusted internationally again

- Trump pulling out of NATO (an important international strategic alliance we’ve had since the 1950s that has safeguarded our spot as the superpower of the world), something he teased repeatedly in his first term

- Trump threatening nuclear war or some similarly large military escalation when he tries to intimidate our perceived enemies about how vast our military capabilities are

- Trump possibly withholding aid from Ukraine/strongarming them to accept a peace deal which will mean they have to cede major territory to Putin (we’ve seen already that Trump is willing to strongarm Ukraine for political purposes, see his first impeachment trial, plus Trump says that he can end the war in less than a day, about the only way this is feasible is Ukraine ceding ground)

- Trump possibly ignoring the Palestine genocide in terms of offering any humanitarian assistance/allowing Israel to have their way unrestricted (you can criticize our President on Israel for very fair reasons but Trump would be significantly worse if your goal is to save Palestine)

- Trump possibly inflaming tensions with Iran (either intentionally by attacking first or indirectly through proxy via involvement vs Hamas or Hezbollah/support of Israel), a war that neither side needs

- Trump provoking tensions with China which may lead to a more substantive lapse in the relationship that won't help either of us (another trade war or unlikely on the ground war), the Republicans have been very rabid about China lately in their efforts to ban TikTok

- Trump potentially encouraging China to try to invade Taiwan like they've been posturing about for over half a century, sensing weakness from Trump or that he won't support Taiwan like the Americans had previously pledged

- Trump promised to reinstate the previous travel bans imposed on several Muslim-majority countries, something which originally happened in his first Presidential term

- Trump promises to promote oil drilling once again (he promised his first day in office when he's a dictator), possibly offshore fracking (judging by the position of the party), setting us behind in switching away from oil + harming the planet

- Trump probably slashes the subsidies for electric vehicles, setting us behind in switching over (optimistic outlooks say 10-15 years for electric vehicles once they've reached their full potential to phase out gas vehicles from the market), recently at a campaign event he spoke very negatively about them (the "bloodbath" speech)

- Trump promised a “100% tariff” on all vehicles that are imported by Chinese run factories that they’re building in Mexico, which is absolutely ludicrous in terms of a policy proposal

- Trump stating there will be a “bloodbath” at an 03/16 rally assuming he’s not elected President once again, when pushed back, Trump suggested he was talking about what will happen to the auto industry, though many think he was making some kind of veiled threat

- Trump promises to use the National Guard in major cities struggling with violent crime and problems with drugs, something that would be a significant overreach and very displacing for their populations

This list will be added to as more becomes available about what Trump plans to/is likely to do.

Though these things seem horrible, and might even make you feel hopeless, through the mobilization of voters, we’re stronger than we think we are, even at the sunset of democracy.

#politics #political analysis #fuck the gop #fuck trump

[healingheartdogs]

Call to Action for all Americans!

This is of extreme importance, so I am begging everyone who sees this post to read it and share this information with everyone you know. Groups of conservative elites are planning to quite literally overthrow our government to replace it with a theocracy if they secure a Republican win in the next election (specifically they want Trump again, the man with RICO charges who attempted to steal an election with voter fraud and by encouraging alt-right violence in an attack on the capitol, but they will take anyone with similar ideology). No, that is not an exaggeration. This plan -- called Project 2025 -- is posted online for everyone to see, so please look it up. This is led by a group called The Heritage Foundation, a rich alt-right think tank with ties to fossil fuel billionaires that wants to walk back civil rights and environmental protections, which they view as actions by "the left" that are ruining our country, as well as outright criminalize being LGBTQ+ and implement conversion therapy as the only form of "treatment" for being LGBTQ+. I am not making this up, it is all detailed in their plan in fanciful distracting wording that tries to paint these things as being done for the sanctity of families and religious freedom.

The policies this group wants to put in place if they secure the next election will harm everyone in this country, even their own conservative and alt-right supporters. It is ONLY to benefit the 1% in this country. Let me state that again in clearer words. YOU ARE NOT SAFE FROM BEING SERIOUSLY HARMED BY PROJECT 2025 EVEN IF YOU ARE CONSERVATIVE, REPUBLICAN, ALT-RIGHT, OR WHITE. This project is by the 1% FOR the 1%. This is not a situation where you should be voting for "small government" or "tax policy" on the right while ignoring the other key points of the Republican platform, this is an effort by Republicans' rich extremist donors to actively overthrow the government and rebuild it from the ground up to only benefit themselves.

You can see the framework of this plan being laid across the country by conservative politicians these elite groups have already paid off -- overturning Roe v. Wade and attacking reproductive rights and medical privacy, conservatives running under progressive platforms and then switching sides after being elected to take political seats from progressives that the people actually want in office and voted for, criminalizing openly LGBTQ+ people in public spaces and labeling them groomers for daring to exist, walking back voter accessibility and putting obstacles in the way of marginalized groups voting to attempt to steal the next election, banning books that teach anything that goes against their fascist white supremacist religious extremist world view (indoctrination), defunding public schooling because they don't want an educated public who can more easily understand them and therefore fight back against them, and walking back protections for children including those preventing child labor and providing free meals and family supports from public institutions like schools (while simultaneously screaming about protecting kids from trans people to distract you from their own blatant attempts to harm kids). Don't just take my word for this, you can see it in action around you with your own eyes by looking up policies Republican politicians have pushed across the country these last few years as well as discussions of Project 2025 in news outlets.

This is, straight up, an attempt at treason by conservative politicians and the elite who are puppeteering them. For the sake of what shreds of democracy this country has remaining DO NOT VOTE REPUBLICAN IN THIS NEXT ELECTION. They are counting on you being uneducated and scared enough of "the left", "communism", and "foreign adversaries" like China and Russia that you will vote against your own best interests and give them all the power to hurt you and everyone else in this country (and the world as a whole, seriously. Take a look at their plans for our military around the world in their mandate if you don't believe me). If you're already liberal, centrist, left, democrat, whatever and you currently don't exercise your voting rights as much as you should PLEASE go vote blue in the next election. You need to be actively voting on both the state and federal level to help fight these threats to our country and our lives. These actions by the rich elites and their politician puppets are trying to lead us to potential civil war and the overthrow of the current US government. Again, THIS IS NOT EXAGGERATION. This is their PUBLIC PLAN for 2025 if they secure a Republican win for president.

Some articles discussing Project 2025 from various news sources:

https://www.damemagazine.com/2023/08/14/the-gop-has-a-master-plan-to-criminalize-being-trans/

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/27/project-2025-dismantle-us-climate-policy-next-republican-president

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/conservatives-aim-to-restructure-u-s-government-and-replace-it-with-trumps-vision

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2023-08-30/conservative-groups-draw-up-plan-to-dismantle-the-u-s-government-and-replace-it-with-trumps-vision

https://www.salon.com/2023/09/05/dark-right-wing-network-recruits-maga-army-to-replace-50k-workers-plans-to-purge/

https://accountable.us/right-wing-network-plots-to-undermine-democracy-with-project-2025/

The official Project 2025 website, which has their plan posted for anyone to read:

https://www.project2025.org/policy/

And the Mandate itself, taken directly from their official website for Project 2025: (Content warning, this mandate is full of anti-vax, anti-healthcare, covid denial conspiracy, systemic racism denial, anti-LGBTQ+, anti-reproductive rights, anti-equality, anti-divorce, anti-environmental protection, climate change denial conspiracy, anti-social support (SSI/SSDI, CEP, WIC, SNAP, etc), anti-public education, anti-higher education accessibility, pro-fossil fuel, pro-military expansion, pro-conversion therapy, pro-religion in government, and pro-government controlled media censorship and propaganda rhetoric as well as many other fascist, alt-right, religious extremist, and white supremacy political points.)

https://thf_media.s3.amazonaws.com/project2025/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf

I have also included some screenshots directly from the Project 2025 mandate in this post for those of you who don't follow links to include a taste of just how evil this mandate actually is. A lot of these things are worded to make it sound like their goal is family protections, increased protections for "democracy" for the right, and to tear down the "corrupt ruling elite" (so they can make themselves the new corrupt ruling elite). DO NOT BE FOOLED, these policies will have wide reaching negative effects for EVERYONE -- including their own voter base. Project 2025 wants to create a government where the president, chosen by groups like The Heritage Foundation specifically for extreme right platforms, and their hand-picked political appointees have power over all other branches to restructure as they see fit and prevent those branches from being able to check the president's powers. This is not for the benefit of the American people, this is for the benefit of the billionaires heading The Heritage Foundation and their elite allies.

Finally, I'd like to make a note about one of the screenshots I included regarding wanting to criminalize pornography and imprison anyone who produces it. This note is for my LGBTQ+ friends and allies. When they are talking about pornography here they are specifically talking about LGBTQ+ rights, not actually porn (as detailed in the article I linked above about their plan to criminalize being trans). They are more likely than not including things like children's books that teach about LGBTQ+ equality and representation and even organizations like the Trevor Project -- a crisis support service for suicide prevention for LGBTQ+ youth -- as pornography to be criminalized. The proof for this is in actions taken by the Republican politicians they have already bought, like the "don't say gay" laws in Florida, which Project 2025 wants to make into federal law. This would also put LGBTQ+ parents and even non-LGBTQ+ parents who support their LGBTQ+ children at risk of being criminalized and imprisoned for exposing their children to "pornography" by being LGBTQ+ themselves or for "sexualizing", "grooming", and making "pornography" of their children by allowing their kids to be LGBTQ+ and seeking affirmative care for them. It would also put educators, librarians, doctors, and therapists who teach about and support LGBTQ+ rights, possess LGBTQ+ positive education materials, or provide affirmative care in the line of fire as criminals, groomers, and pedophiles. Again, this is not exaggeration. A lesbian couple was literally arrested in Houston for kissing in front of a homophobic woman who was with her child in a public space and then called the cops on them, which the arresting officers told the couple was "sexual harassment of a minor" when they asked why they were being arrested. That is the type of law and punishment that this Project plans to pass on the federal level if given the chance.

PLEASE spread the word about this as much as you possibly can. They released this mandate so early because they are trying to gather an "army" of alt-right supporters ahead of time to steal the next election and take over our government immediately starting day one of a new conservative presidency, so we need to be just as proactive in mobilizing against this and making sure their plan is fully exposed to voters across the country so that can't happen.

#us politics #politics #the heritage foundation #democrats #conservatives #leftist #leftism #liberal #republicans #republican party #donald trump #trump indictment #lgbtqia #lgbtqplus #lgbtq rights #queer #trans rights #transphobia #idk what else to tag to get this seen lol #formatting this was a fucking BITCH because tumblr wants to make all links into ugly annoying embeds that break the post #so hopefully this works and doesn't break as soon as I hit post now #project 2025

[xclowniex]

Anyone who denies that South Africa is incredibly biased in bringing Israel to the IJC obviously has never educated themselves of how jews were treated in South Africa. See this article here about it as well as some quotes from it below.

"In 1930, Dr. D. F. Malan introduced the Quota Act, effectively restricting Jewish immigration. The bill, which did not explicitly state to be limiting of Jews, put high restrictions on countries that had majority Jewish immigrants, and did not restrict countries that barely had Jews"

"The 1956 Treason Trial saw Nelson Mandela along with a group of mostly Jewish men and women, arrested for treason. This resulted in accusations of a Jewish conspiracy to overthrow the white government and a plot involving communism"

"The 1980s saw the rise of far-right neo-Nazi groups such as the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging under Eugene Terreblanche. The AWB modeled itself after Hitler's National Socialist Party replete with fascist regalia and an emblem resembling the swastika."

"In May 1998, a Cape community radio station run by a Muslim organisation and aimed at Muslims, Radio 786 broadcast a programme denying the Holocaust. The resulting legal action brought by the South African Jewish Board of Deputies remains unresolved after 14 years. Radio 786 refuses to apologise to the Jewish community and has stood by its version of events."

"In 2009, South Africa's deputy foreign minister Fatima Hajaig claimed that "Jewish money controls America and most Western countries.""

"In 2013, ANC Western Cape leader Marius Fransman claimed ninety-eight percent of land and property owners in Cape Town are "white" and "Jewish". The allegation turned out to be false."

"During the Rhodes Must Fall protests, President of the Students' Representative Council of the University of the Witwatersrand Mcebo Dlamini, who was leader of the protests, stated he "loved" Hitler because Hitler "knew" that Jews "were up to no good", admired Hitler's "charisma" and claimed that "Jews are devils" and were "uncircumcised in heart""

"In 2020, there was an unprecedented conviction for online antisemitism in the country. The Magistrates Court in Randburg found Matome Letsoalo guilty of crimen injuria over incendiary tweets targeting the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD)."

Like is that evidence enough for people to finally realize that South Africa has a history of antisemitism and antisemitic people in power? Like Hamas and South Africa have had diplomatic ties for YEARS. This article from 2015 goes into that.

You cannot deny the incredible bias that South Africa has towards bringing this case to the IJC

#antisemitism