World News Thread

[yovargas]

You're welcome.

[RoseMorninStar]

[RoseMorninStar]

Oh geez... Yov beat me to it!!

elengil: I find the POSSIBILITIES fascinating.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

The results of the Israeli "do-over" election are in, and once again they are inconclusive. Some may recall that there was an election about five months ago, and Prime Minister Netanyahu was unable to form a majority government. Rather than allowing the opposition to try to form a coalition, he called for a new election, which took place yesterday, and early results suggest that Netanyahu's right-wing Likud Party and main opposition centrist Blue and White Party of his former ally Benny Gantz are tied, or with Blue and White slightly ahead. However, neither is likely to be able to form a majority coalition, raising the possibility of either yet another election, or more likely, some kind of power-sharing unity government. Somehow, right-wing firebrand Avigdor Lieberman has rebranded himself as the champion of national unity, and while his Yisrael Beitenu party is only likely to hold 9 seats (less, for instance, than the Joint List, the coalition of Arab parties, it appears that Lieberman may hold the key to forming a government, and he as said that he will not join either Likud or Blue and White unless the other is also included. Now we wait to see who Israeli President Reuven Rivlin grants an opportunity to try to form a government.

[Frelga]

Apparently they floated the idea of some sort of time share prime ministry.

Netanyahu must be desperate to stay in office, because otherwise he will probably face corruption charges.

Here's a bit more background.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics ... -netanyahu

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Apparently, that idea has been firmly rejected, at least as long as Netanyahu us involved.

Weakened Netanyahu's offer of unity government rebuffed by rival Gantz

They appear to be willing to work with Likud, but only if Likud abandons Netanyahu.

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[Cerin]

After the Hanukkah stabbing attack on Saturday, I googled 'why are black people killing Jews in New York' and this article came up. I don't know how reliable the publication is or if they have a bias, but at least the article explained this strange sounding group the Black Hebrew Israelites, who were linked to an attack three weeks ago.

https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Inconveni ... ork-612420

Then I came upon this article from The Atlantic, which mentions Anti-Semitism on the rise in Europe.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archi ... nd/604219/

A Jewish friend of mine whose Mother was a holocaust survivor got her German citizenship after Trump was elected, saying that if she had to flee the country she would go there. But it sounds as though things might be as bad in Europe or worse. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio obliquely blamed Trump for the attacks in New York, but it seems a stretch to blame Trump for the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe. Does anyone have an idea about why this is happening now?

[Voronwë the Faithful]

The rise of Trump in the U.S. is part of a pattern of the rise of populist nationalists across the globe, including in Europe and in places like Brazil, with the election of Jair Bolsonaro. All of these populist nationalists, including Trump, feed on the fear and hatred of "the other" which in turn has always fueled anti-Semitism.

[yovargas]

The question of why it's happening is a really interesting and important question. I know I've seen suggestions that in Europe a lot of it came from the huge influx of Muslim refugees, and the fear and resistance of those people. But that doesn't explain the global phenomenon. There probably isn't a single answer but I suspect it is in part a reaction to major rise of "pc culture"in the past decade, which I think was fueled by the mass availability of the internet and social media making the voices of previously marginal groups much louder. So when a bunch of people started saying "be nicer to minorities or else", many people did not like the it, got really pissed, and reacted by saying "F U, we're going to be worse to minorities" instead.

That's my theory anyway. It's an escalating series of increasingly angry reactions towards what the "other" side did, which is leading to more extremism on both the left and the right. That's my theory anyway.

tl;dr - the internet may have been a bad idea.

[Inanna]

In other world news, India continues its drag down to a nationalist Hindu state. I can’t even read the news; it is so depressing. Soon, I won’t be able to talk to 50% of my family.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I'm so saddened by the whole situation there. Inanna.

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[RoseMorninStar]

What is wrong with this world? It's really quite sad.

Inanna, I know the feeling.. it's really hard when families are torn apart by such things.

[Inanna]

Arguing on what’s app. I’m exhausted.

[Frelga]

Inanna

I'm afraid the 20s will be the new 30s.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I understand why you say that, Frelga, and I can't fault the logic, but my hope is that the 2020s will be a new dawn of a new positive era. I have no basis for believing that to be case, but I will still send that thought out to the universe.

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[RoseMorninStar]

When I see the embrace of ignorance and derision of learning, the rejection of science, the irrational fear-mongering, etc.. it calls to my mind the receding into a dark age.

The fall of Rome (and the following 6 centuries-a fascinating period of history) brought about a great loss of knowledge, literacy, and progress. The Great civilizations of Europe fell from sophisticated cities with wide-spread literacy, learning, philosophy, great architecture and infrastructure which aided commerce, (and unfortunately slavery) into centuries of a 'dark' age where people must have wondered how the people before them could possibly have created such amazing things as the coliseum. Republics fell to feudalism. The powers that be took advantage of ignorance to stoke fear, superstition, and division (often utilizing religion as a tool to control).. Some blamed the plague on the Jews (who had less problems with the plague due to cleanliness/food laws) and was thought to be a hex or punishment from god by others. Religious flagellants traveled from town to town scourging themselves in repentance, further spreading the disease (makes me think of reactions to the AIDS epidemic or the anti-vax movement).

I also keep hopes for a new positive era to emerge. A period of enlightenment so to speak. Something that would put knowledge, science, and the environment at the forefront.

[yovargas]

Like I said, I see it as a rising reaction to the rise of modern progressive values. (As my Trump supporting sister said during the last election, "I don't like Trump but pc culture has gone to far.") The rise of this brand of leftism led to a rise of the Trump-style of far right values. Which has led to the left getting more far left, which will lead to the right getting more right, which will lead to.....on and on and on.

It is not the rise of the far right that truly scares me. It is that everyone is becoming more and more and more partisan. (Plenty of data is showing this increased partisanship.) If that cycle doesn't stop... well, I certainly don't know what will happen but I can't imagine it will be good.

[elengil]

Except the left hasn't really gone more left, it just looks more left because the right is so far right. The left in the US is barely off-center.

[yovargas]

This is false. Again, a lot of data behind this, showing that the left has indeed become more left, and that partisanship is growing.

But it's not like you need polls and studies to see it. The current field of Democratic candidates are proposing things that are far more leftist than what serious major candidates would have proposed just 8 years ago. Saying you would support decriminalizing border crossings or would support universal basic income would have been a death sentence. A man openly calling himself a socialist is in 2nd place in the Democratic primary.

And that's without mentioning how hardline huge swathes of the left have become on social issues. Not that long ago, Democrats were kinda on the fence about gay marriage. Today, large factions of the left will call for boycotts and loud condemnations if a public figure doesn't support trans-friendly bathroom policies. Black Lives Matter, MeToo, the hugely increased visibility of various trans and gender related issues. All these things have been pushing Democrats more and more to the left for years now.

[elengil]

This is false. Again, a lot of data behind this, showing that the left has indeed become more left, and that partisanship is growing.
.

Specific candidates, yes, not the party as a whole.

[intermission for google]

Okay, I do stand corrected, but it looks as if it has been quite a recent shift
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/201 ... right.html

But the US left is still far, far more center than traditional left parties.

I will say that the partisanship isn't tied to the left being 'more left' - anymore than it is tied to the right being 'more right'. It seems to be more tied to the belief that if you place yourself on one side, you couldn't possibly agree with anything the other side presents, even if you used to agree with it. It's more to do with how you view the other side than with exactly where your own side stands.