(15-02-2025 02:49 )Snooks Wrote: The comments of JD Vance have received criticism from some quarters but equally praise from others.
Those who believe that immigration and loss of border control in Europe represents a so called 'threat from within' have lauded his speech.
Critics of his speech have deemed it as an unhelpful, inaccurate and destabilising vice presidential lecture to Europe on the state of their own democracies. Vance appeared to suggest that non co-operation with rising far right parties was in itself anti democratic and anti free speech.
I am carefully considering and constructing a response to his remarks and will post once done.
To me the root cause of the immigration problem around the world is one that has not been addressed. Democracy is under greater threat than ever before.
Vance along with pretty much everyone needs to answer the following question. Why are so many people willing to take such extraordinary risks to get out of their homeland and escape to a variety of different countries?
The elephant in the room. The simple answer is the pursuit of a better life.
The more detailed answer perhaps is an escape from impingement and restriction on individual and populus freedom.
Restriction due to the rise of non democratic rule, iron fist control over peoples lives and in many cases no say in how society is run.
Basic freedoms like education, benefits, healthcare and even food that the privileged around the world don't have to worry about to the same degree.
The suggestion of send the immigrants back to where they came from on the basis of America first or Britain first or any other country first might seem like the obvious answer to some. But this response is guilty of a complete lack of empathy and basic human compassion. It also fails to recognise that the disrespect of democracy has been growing around the globe for too long even to the point where the President of the most powerful nation in the western world can incite violence and hatred on the back of an election result that he disputed with no credible evidence.
A very same President who deliberately set about gerrymandering the membership of The US Supreme Court for party political gain and even personal gain too. This man is now JD Vance's boss. Hardly any sort of glowing endorsement of democracy or it's true spirit.
Vance claims that the real problem is not Russia or China but the so called 'threat from within' on the basis that European countries are not controlling their borders properly, not defending themselves properly and not spending the money they need to serve the needs of their people's properly.
These allegations may have some truth behind them but the elephant in the room should make it's presence felt once again here.
True Democracy while in principle the fairest and most noble modus operandi is expensive and riddled with tough choices and trade offs.
Those trade offs have become necessary precisely because of the threat to democracy by those nation states that don't believe in it and instead grimly assert a divine right to power and control for personal gain and on the basis of warped isolationist ideology that increases the threat of war and forces nations to feel a need to increase spending on defence to eye watering degrees as Vance now has expressed that Europe should.
By virtue of those aforementioned trade offs managing the costs of running any democratic social system inadvertently yet inevitably widens the gap between rich and poor. This is often down to ill thought out and unsustainable public policy which creates an inherent but relatively unintended attack on democracy where choices, abilities and opportunities are being restricted further and further on an increasing number of ordinary folk.
But an extension of this is to deliberately impinge on people's freedoms, power to choose and even on their ability to live meaningful lives.
A fate far worse and laden with danger with the gap between rich and poor even more harshly felt.
Things that countries like China and Russia have down to a fine art.
State control over peoples lives and the choices they make with harsh penalty for anyone that dares to challenge.
So while China and Russia are not the only problem per se they are prime examples of the wrong approach.
Countries with less power and clout around the world have adopted non democratic rule of their own persuasion and profile albeit not with the same financial wealth. Societal and religious culture in combination forms the way in which dictatorship rule can play out. In relatively poor dictator led countries the effects on so many citizens can be and are more acute. Basic things and rights that many around the world can take at least in part as a given are not afforded to an ever growing persecuted, controlled, diminished, powerless and desperate amount of humans.
It is with some inevitability that some humans will want escape from all of this.
Is it good enough to say "Ah well tough shit, that's the luck of the draw as to who your parents are, what country you are born in and who governs you"?
Put yourself in the shoes of those who are condemned to eternal disadvantage, toil and lack of freedom.
If you were one of them - what would you do?
Pretty much every war that has ever happened has been down to the view that's what's yours is now mine and what's mine is my own.
Battle over territory, assets and ultimately people's.
This has continued in different forms throughout the ages and continues today albeit with different characters on the global scene.
Greed of ruthless dictators has created an unequal world.
Disease riddled with unequal ability to fight it.
Starvation riddled with the inability to stem it.
Environmental damage with a collective shrug of the shoulders and a universal blame and counter blame of each other for it.
This is the real world we live in.
It is not as some might like to claim some sort of woke conspiracy led view that seeks to tell people how to run their lives.
Dictators do that job far better than anyone or anything else.
A state controlled media where the populus is basically told what they are allowed and supposed to think and believe is one of the final nails in the coffin. Russia and China are prime examples of countries where this is such a poison to humanity.
I note an increased social media buy in to endless conspiracy theory presumably based on an accusation of government doing what it can to cover up disaster and incompetence on the part of the state.
Where as this specific accusation may have some credence the buy in to conspiracy theory is generally misguided and feeds into a dangerous narrative where everyone concludes that nobody and nothing can be trusted, the world and his dog are out to get me and I should just retreat into my own little isolationist box and tell everyone to fuck off. Surely not a sensible or constructive view. The culture of cover up for incompetence is nothing compared to the culture of deliberate denial and curtailing of inalienable rights and opportunities as well as the deliberate cover up thereof.
Inequality is the scourge of our planet. Isms exist for a reason.
Racism, sexism, ageism and many others. The fact these isms even exist is another threat to democracy, in fact they are symbols of the very opposite of democracy. They are oppressive forces that marginalise many innocent people through no fault of their own. The oppressed don't feel they have a voice.
Their cause is not helped by right wing parties of any country that are isolationist at best and downright fascist at worst.
So when JD Vance speaks of free speech he needs to be more considerate to those who already feel the burdensome and tiresome weight of oppression.
Denial of equal opportunity and voice and thereby of free speech as well.
Right wing extremists will do nothing to help the disadvantaged.
Nothing to give them a voice. They will continue to exclude them at best and rid themselves of responsibility for them by whatever means at worst.
The isms will remain if the far right wing element are allowed to take over.
Those souls who have craved freedom after generations of oppression do not deserve to once again be presented with yet more signs saying 'access denied' or 'not today or any other day thank you'.
Free speech cuts every which way. Vance wants the power of free speech for his ideological cronies around the world but not for anyone else.
Just like his boss. The degree of self entitlement oozes from his mouth like the most offensive verbal vomit imaginable.
Vance has no right to even mention free speech when part of an administration seemingly hell bent on sucking up to Putin and Netanyahu who are both blatant deniers of free speech. Both leaders have done untold damage to their own countries and their respective populations let alone wreaking havoc in their own geographic regions.
Europe should take no lectures from some up his own arse idiot of a US vice president that merely wishes to maintain the worst of the global status quo, create economic instability all over the place, destroy all international relations and accords and of course exit any agreements on and absolve any responsibility for the effects of climate change.
Ah yes. Climate change. The one thing threatening to wreak more mayhem and carnage than literally anything else while the world sits there and looks at each other as if to say what are YOU going to do about it? Mitigation against climate change has been too slow and wholly insufficient. This will have an increasing effect on current generations but an infinitely more devastating effect on generations that follow.
This will affect the choices people will have the ability to make in so many respects in democracy based nations. But just imagine for a moment the effect on people in disadvantaged dictatorships. Their suffering will only grow further. Their desperation will grow faster. But will anyone care?
Has anyone even bothered to stop and think about it or them.
I would suggest not. A gross humanity failure of potentially disastrous proportions.
I look at this issue from a human perspective and try to do so with care, compassion and reason. I do not deny that democratic states and governments that represent them have their problems.
Lies, cover ups, scandals and disreputable conduct by those in public office of which we in this country have borne witness to countless examples are of course unacceptable. But the main reason they are so damaging is that they too are an assault on true democracy.
Democracy relies on truth, integrity and decency by those who have high office.
Recognition of equal rights and opportunities.
The world has allowed itself to poison the true art of democracy by virtue of selfishness and greed to a point where a conclusion is reached that it should be abandoned in favour of tyranny and merciless control.
This is a disaster for humanity and one that all of us should be fearful for and utterly ashamed of.
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