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Culture War Roundup for the week of November 20, 2023

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Us ordinary Europeans keep voting for the people who have been doing this for decades. 'Victim blaming' is mostly a fake and gay concept; vote for neolibs, get neolibs. Simple as.

They get the same result even when voting for "fascists" and "far right" populists.

That is the narrative paranoid rightists suggest, because 'they betrayed us' has been their playbook since the Dolchstoßlegende. Where Europeans elect rightists more interested in culture than money, they can in fact work against immigration, they do in fact work against immigration, and people who say it never works out aren't looking very closely. Sometimes the left beats them to the punch to take the wind out of their sails. And sometimes, in 4D chess moves that are entirely too funny to me, even the most pro-immigrant nations will take action against immigrants while insisting it's about antisemitism bro trust me bro we surely don't care about the people sucking up benefits. The French are sick of it and in no way get 'the same result'. Eastern European nations where people move away from more than to do it.

There's plenty of anti-immigration policy in Europe to be found, if you care to look. Did you actually care to?

Wake me up when the effects of the policies you listed make their way to Eurostat.

That is the narrative paranoid rightists suggest, because

...it's undeniably true. The democracy of western countries is about is authentic as American wrestling, and most of the implemented policies are not even debated with the public. I'd consider that par for the course, but European neolibs screaming their head off about the rise of racism, islamophobia, populism, and "paranoid rightists", while simultaneously bragging about how the paranoid rightist policies are dutifully being implemented, is a bit much.

Wake me up when the effects of the policies you listed make their way to Eurostat.

Walk a ten thousand miles, get your goalpost, put it back. That's how far away you've moved it.

The line that people were never asked about X and Y is something of a nonsense argument, too. The vast, vast, vast majority of policy doesn't see much debate, because politicians figured out decades ago that policy doesn't get votes, slogans and one-liners and tribalism does. Vibes-based democracy is a new term, not a new concept. This is, as you say, par for the course, and I have no sympathy for people who vote for pro-immigration neolibs and get pro-immigrant governments. They can and should not do that if they want to make a good case.

Walk a ten thousand miles, get your goalpost, put it back. That's how far away you've moved it.

Nope. I said we get mass immigration no matter what, and we are getting mass immigration no matter what.

Vibes-based democracy is a new term, not a new concept. This is, as you say, par for the course, and I have no sympathy for people who vote for pro-immigration neolibs and get pro-immigrant governments.

So just to make sure I understand where you're coming from: any sympathy for Brits voting for Tories, Poles voting for PiS, or Italians voting for Meloni?

any sympathy for Brits voting for Tories

Of course not, why should I? Why should anyone else? The Brits voting for the same neolibs we keep mentioning instead of more anti-immigrant rightists is exactly why nobody should feel bad for them

Poles voting for PiS

The visa corruption thing was pretty funny, yeah. We are blessed to live in a world where corruption like this makes people well-suited to living in Poland.

Italians voting for Meloni?

I pity the Italian who expects anything of his rulers, scandals excepted.

Less snarkily, Meloni's policies round off to 'fuck illegals/refugees, legal migrants are fine'. This is not a departure from her earlier promises, though I'd still love to see a literal naval blockade of north Africa happen one of these days, just for the fireworks' sake.

Of course not, why should I?

The visa corruption thing was pretty funny, yeah.

I pity the Italian who expects anything of his rulers, scandals excepted.

Ok, so your position actually is "you will get mass immigration, no matter what, and that's a good thing". Just say it with your chest.

No, and fuck you too.

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