MyBrainHurts

I am Canadian and I still don't know what the right words are.

I will say that as much as I despise Polievre, I don't think he's come close to the authoritarianism of maga.

For us, I personally think we'd do well to emphasise the breathtaking incompetence, consequences and hollowness of these mindless and easy populist slogans.

The court of public opinion just sees fascism as "Jews in ovens", so maybe that court shouldn't be considered.

That's literally the only court that matters when you're trying to warn the populace of something.

Is this fascism? Especially with the benefit of hindsight it feels at least a little like the beginnings of it.

But I think this is exactly the issue.

Folks calling Bush a fascist 20 years ago weren't saying "this is a little like the beginnings" which would be a reasonable statement (not sure how far I agree but I don't think it's lunacy.)

And I think that lack of distinction really hurt us and robbed the word of its meaning, which has cost us now.

I think it's more that people have been using the word fascist as a perjorative for a while so it's kind of lost all meaning. Like, folks were calling George W a fascist which seems to stretch the definition so far so as to be meaningless.

And then we did again in 2016 which seemed kind of more accurate but also a little silly to the point that when actual scary fascist shit happened at the end, people had tuned the word out.

Now, it just feels impotent, which is a very bad thing.

It's sort of like how people kept claiming Israel is run by nazis etc, I get the appeal of the term and dislike what's happening but goddamnit, just makes us look silly in the court of public opinion.

Year to date, stocks are down. 1 calendar year though, most are still up.

I'd say it's a few things:

1. Stock market loves de-regulation. (Fewer rules -> more profit.

2. Stock market loves the promise of corporate tax cuts.

3. Even with tarrifs and nonsense, most American stock indices are heavily skewed to the magnificent 7, all of which besides Tesla are fairly immune to global trade.

I am shamed to say I've only seen Videodrome.

But based on this, I've added the other 2 to my watch list!

What I’ve been pointing out is the mechanism by which extremism manifests differently under different electoral systems.

And that mechanism is leading to moderate parties in FPTP systems like ours and hate groups in PR ones.

You admit that

The rise of the AfD reflects genuine social concerns and tensions

So, why aren't those tensions which are boiling over repeatedly in PR systems boiling over here? Again, simply put, do you think 1/5 Canadians are angry enough to vote for a far right group?

When you gear an entire economy to war, you simultaneously run the risk of economic collapse and conquering. It's what happened to the Soviet Union in '89, the economy was in shambles but militarily they were still a powerhouse.

it’s just hidden until it captures a mainstream party from within. This “stealth extremism” is actually more dangerous because it lacks transparency and accountability. Look at how the Reform Party didn’t vanish – it simply took over the Conservative Party, with Stephen Harper (from Reform) becoming PM

This is exactly the silliness I'm talking about.

Do you literally believe the Canadian conservative party is seriously comparable to the AfD or Brothers of Italy?

Oooof, my bad! Thanks!

Like I said, I take the rise of these parties in Canada as an unacceptable risk to the vulnerable AND that these reflect growing dissatisfaction within the countries you wish for us to emulate.

You may not care about the vulnerable, I do.

I don't know what else to tell you.

If you recommended a bar that had better drinks but every second night, 20% of the bar were alt right extremists, we'd think you had poor taste. The fact you want a similar government here, ain't great look.

You can pretend that the groups you dislike under FPTP are similar to the extremist groups under PR but that's absolute nonsense.

Late 20s. Full head of hair, putting on muscle happened almost accidentally etc.

I'm in better shape now but if I trained then like I have to now...