cross-posted from: https://aussie.zone/post/29819894
In short:
Police have seized five posters depicting world leaders in Nazi-like uniforms from the window of a Canberra bar.
The bar was declared a crime scene and was forced to close, while the artist says the works are “clearly satirical”.
What’s next?
The bar owner says the images are “demonstrably anti-fascist” and that he has no regrets about displaying them.
WTF Australia?
Are ALL English speaking countries going crazy?
The answer is yes. Britain has some hope in the Greens but that’s about it, Canada only looks good because it’s on top of an actively exploding train wreck, Ireland is sorta halfway sane but corrupt as ever, South Africa is a mess and has been its entire existence, NZ apparently wasn’t happy with how good of a job Jacinda was doing so now they’re back to quietly fucking things up, and everyone else who speaks it secondarily is going off the deep end in their own unique ways (see: India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Egypt, Netherlands, etc).
I mostly agree, but I think the reason Canada is staying saner than most is that they have a big French speaking population too. For some reason Canada is more politically European than even UK, and I think that reason may be the influence from French culture.
Regarding India I think they are doing reasonably well and better than most countries that were 100% colonized for so long. But there is certainly room for improvement.
But it is striking IMO how English speaking countries, where English is the main language, are often tending towards the politically extreme or irresponsible as in doing harm to themselves for no reason, where the better non harmful option is obvious.
In India I’m mostly referring to the ongoing descent into theocratic authoritarianism and hindu-nationalism. Historically I agree, they’ve done pretty well for themselves given where they started, but it’s right this moment that they’re veering in a decidedly unpleasant and less grounded direction.
Idk how much the French cultural influence can really be attributed to the maintenance of relative sanity in Canada, but it seems like a sorta far-fetched theory to me. France is going a pretty questionable direction right now too, with a near majority of the country embracing an ethnonationalist, barely-hiding-the-nazism far right party, and that’s a pretty unsurprising reflection of the same historical factors as influence English speaking nations too. Quebec isn’t exactly a bastion of cultural stability in the last few decades either, but I guess you’re right that it’s not quite on the level of the anglosphere.
OK I’m not that well informed about current politics in India, but I have observed Modi is not exactly stellar, I began to notice because they have completely abstained from denouncing the Russian invasion and war crimes in Ukraine.
It may be far fetched regarding Canada, but we know from many other situations that a mix of culture is better than mono culture, especially from work places, where a mix of men and women generally create a better work environment than 100% men or 100% women.
So I’m not saying that the French are better, just that the fact that there are 2 groups, may help prevent exceptionalism by either group to get out of hand. Like it has done in USA and UK. But of course Canada doesn’t have the megalomaniac mindset of UK from being the former mightiest colonial power, or USA from being the global leading military power and economy for nearly a century.
I think such things may not be good for the national mentality. Too bad that USA didn’t focus on promoting human rights and democracy instead of military power and trying to benefit from it.
Absolute English corrupts absolutely.