OT: World Politics
- Thread starter zeke
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MindzEye
Wayward Ditch Pig
Something to keep in mind about Mexico as well is that it has a pretty crippling level of income inequality so despite being a big economy, it's not a very advanced economy. It has a gini coefficient in the bottom tier of nations (.43) so as bad as American income inequality has gotten with a homelessness crisis popping off at the same time it mints 500,000 new millionaires a year (Gini of .41 and also near the bottom internationally now), Mexico is worse.
Combined with the Mexican poor being very poor, a relatively small diversion of funds to the lowest tiers of society can make a huge difference in immediate living standards and imo, that is probably their best bet in dealing with their security issues long term. Cartel soldiers are almost entirely young men from impoverished rural areas with no job/career prospects who get hooked in by the easy money and free drugs.
Combined with the Mexican poor being very poor, a relatively small diversion of funds to the lowest tiers of society can make a huge difference in immediate living standards and imo, that is probably their best bet in dealing with their security issues long term. Cartel soldiers are almost entirely young men from impoverished rural areas with no job/career prospects who get hooked in by the easy money and free drugs.
axlsalinger
Well-known member
WeHaveMoreCupsThanYou
I will get banned again soon, worry not.
I met a woman recently who is in Canada studying but lives in Mexico City. She has been robbed at gunpoint on average about once every 6 months, sometimes as she's riding in the back of a taxi when a guy on a motorcycle will put a gun into the window and demand cash and her phone. She went to the cops to report it once and they basically blamed her for being mugged and just left her there with no money or phone, stranded.
She was originally from Guadalajara and once she and her dad were driving at night and ran into a narcos roadblock. They were relieved of their cash and phones, made to lie in a ditch and were left in the middle of nowhere as their car was stolen.
Its a nice place to visit but even Mexicans don't want to live there.
WeHaveMoreCupsThanYou
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Wayward DP
Well-known member
Nearly half of all people worldwide hold deeply entrenched antisemitic attitudes, according to a survey conducted by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
Some 46 percent of the world’s adult population – an estimated 2.2 billion people – harbor such attitudes, the report says, based on a survey of over 58,000 adults from 103 countries and territories. That’s more than twice as many as a decade ago and the highest level on record since ADL started tracking these trends globally, the organization notes.
The survey also found that 20% of respondents worldwide have not heard about the Holocaust, and that less than half (48%) recognize the Holocaust’s historical accuracy.
Younger respondents under age 35 tended to show a greater prevalence of antisemitic attitudes, the report notes.
“Antisemitism is nothing short of a global emergency, especially in a post-October 7 world. We are seeing these trends play out from the Middle East to Asia, from Europe to North and South America,” says ADL CEO Jonathan A. Greenblatt.
“It’s clear that we need new government interventions, more education, additional safeguards on social media, and new security protocols to prevent antisemitic hate crimes.”
On the positive side, the report notes that 57% of respondents said they recognize that hate toward Jews is a serious problem in the world, and 67% do not want their country to boycott Israeli products and businesses.
The ADL calls on governments and organizations to adopt and implement the Global Guidelines for Countering Antisemitism, a framework launched last July and endorsed by dozens of countries and multilateral organizations.
WeHaveMoreCupsThanYou
I will get banned again soon, worry not.
The first and best move to counter this trend would be for Israel to remove Netanyahu from power and put him in prison. It's difficult for Israel to lecture the world about the evils of antisemitism when the person running Israel is a criminal fascist.
Wayward DP
Well-known member
do you understand how democracy works?
I hate Bibi too, but he won fair and square.
also, it is antisemitic to blame the government of Israel for people hating Jews.
and Bibi is currently standing trial for corruption. are you suggesting he should just be jailed without a trial?
MindzEye
Wayward Ditch Pig
I mean, that's the problem mate. International opinions about Americans are about to take a deep, generational nose dive too and "well, Trump was elected fair and square" isn't really a rebuttal to that, it's a core part of the accusation inherent in their public image taking a fat shit.
Bibi getting elected there is part of the current image problem. It's easily, easily my biggest sticking point regarding Israel and I'm someone who understands the history of the region (history did not begin in 1947 in the middle east...), believes that the jewish people have a right to that land, that it's their historic homeland, they're not a "colonizer" or any such bullshit (other than, you know...the settlements...fml) and even though I have a reflex dislike for any ethnically/religiously motivated "homeland", I kind of get why the Jewish people, considering their history, would want one.
But here we are in 2025 and a criminal, wannabe authoritarian fascist who has committed the majority of his political career to nurturing existential threats so they can be used as justification for territorial expansion remains firmly in democratically elected power. It's tough to separate "the jewish people" from that reality after a while.
WeHaveMoreCupsThanYou
I will get banned again soon, worry not.
And lest we forget that Bibi was well on his way to being ousted by an angry mob as recently as October 6th and then the very thing that Bibi needed to save his own ass magically happened, almost as if he caused it to happen.
Wayward DP
Well-known member
you need to look at and understand both sides of the coin. like the historic protests and rallies that erupted after Bibi's initial 'judicial reform' package.
democracy is under threat all across the world and Israeli democracy has a lot of the same problems that we see in the US, at home, and in Europe. I don't think we should be abandoning the majority of Americans who oppose Trump cause he won again, just like we should not abandon the majority of Israelis who oppose Bibi.
I simply refuse to accept the premise that growing antisemitism is justified cause Bibi is a dick and his government are cronies. two things can be true at once - Bibi is a wannabe authoritarian (and likely criminal); and antisemitism is soaring around the world in ways that should concern everyone. it's a cop out to just blame A for B and carry on.
and, again, it is inherently antisemitic to blame Jews for the actions of the Israeli government.
leafman101
Well-known member
I mean only half of Jews are in Isreal. Not to mention Jews are only 70% of Israel's population.
Israelis get to decide Israel's political fate, not jews.
Israelis get to decide Israel's political fate, not jews.
LeafGm
Well-known member
I don’t feel I’m anti-Semitic, I’m not particularly sympathetic to Palestinians in general (and have zero fucking time of day for Hamas or Hezbollah), I feel that Jews have every right to live in their historical homeland.
And though generally I have a distaste for nations based on ethnic or religious nationalism, the history of every country that’s ever hosted a Jewish minority population clearly demonstrates why the existence of a Jewish state is necessary.
All that said—I’ll admit freely that I have an extremely low opinion of the country of Israel and of its people in general. What else am I supposed to think when the Israeli electorate has been elevating loathsome far-right shitheels to power for basically my entire life? And has kept finding new ways to return Bibi to power for basically the past quarter century?
And though generally I have a distaste for nations based on ethnic or religious nationalism, the history of every country that’s ever hosted a Jewish minority population clearly demonstrates why the existence of a Jewish state is necessary.
All that said—I’ll admit freely that I have an extremely low opinion of the country of Israel and of its people in general. What else am I supposed to think when the Israeli electorate has been elevating loathsome far-right shitheels to power for basically my entire life? And has kept finding new ways to return Bibi to power for basically the past quarter century?
Wayward DP
Well-known member
most average folks don't realize or appreciate the borderline civil war that exists within Jewish and Israeli society between the more secular Jews and the religious nuts.
Jews are extremely divided, internally. Bibi's coalition is made up of the religious fundamentalists and Jewish supremacists. the opposition includes the Arab coalition and the remaining leftist and secular parties.
in terms of raw numbers, support is about 50/50 between the two blocs. in fact, I think the anti-Bibi bloc may have actually gotten more votes in the last election than the pro-Bibi bloc.
but, the kicker is the stupid PR system employed in Israel. there is a threshold - all parties below the threshold get nothing. in the previous election, a bunch of anti-Bibi parties campaigned separately and missed the threshold. their votes counted for nothing, in the end.
the Jewish supremacists, who had never before formed government, were convinced by Bibi to run on a joint ticket to ensure they hit the minimum threshold. they did, and then Bibi put them in his cabinet (which is shameful).
none of this is to try and whitewash any of what the current government has done - I think they're the greatest threat to Israel remaining a Jewish and democratic state since it's founding - but some context as to how the loathesome far-right shitheels have taken power.
and while Bibi has ruled almost continuously for nearly a couple decades, this current government is the first one that has included Jewish supremacists in the government. and it's because no other parties would join Bibi's coalition since no one trusts him since he lies to them all the time about everything.
and of course, Israel is also not immune to the massive right-wing propaganda machine. media freedom has been eroding for some time.
none of this is meant to excuse Bibi from anything. he deserves all the blame he gets. but it's not so simple as, 'well a majority of Israelis support him so, fuck Israel I guess'.
if we think we should try and combat the right-wing propaganda machine for the sake of our futures and democracy's future, that should extend to Israel, too.
WeHaveMoreCupsThanYou
I will get banned again soon, worry not.
The one time that Israel elected an actual progressive he was assassinated by a far right religious nutter, the same kind of people who keep Netanyahu in power.
WeHaveMoreCupsThanYou
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No one is saying that anything "justifies" antisemitism. Nothing does. But at the same time, Israel isn't doing itself any favors by having Bibi running their country.
But this is the thing: conflating Israeli government policy with Jewishness. You can oppose a policy of the Israeli government without also being an antisemite. And I find it both irritating and disingenuous when pro-Israeli fascist types want to dismiss all criticisms of Netanyahu as antisemitism. No, it's actually anti-fascism.
Wayward DP
Well-known member
you literally responded to my post documenting rising antisemitism with antisemitic statements that on their face blame the Israeli government for rising antisemitism.
WeHaveMoreCupsThanYou
I will get banned again soon, worry not.
Calling Bibi a fascist is not antisemitism just because he happens to be Jewish. We need to parse the difference between Israel as a state and Jewishness as a religious or ethnic construct. Being Jewish shouldn't give anyone a free pass to be a fascist who is immune from criticism and Jewishness should never be a good reason to be antisemitic.