Thoughts re Tommy Robinson

Tommy Robinson is an English ‘patriot’/nationalist, and a Zionist - he is not a Nazi.

His claimed agenda - to raise awareness of Islamism in the UK - isn’t entirely irrational: there is clearly a notable problem in his hometown of Luton, (and elsewhere in the UK), with Islamist radicalism.

Tommy likes to blame this problem on a culture of political correctness in the UK, and it may well be true that this has contributed to the radicalism being allowed to fester and spread, but the far greater factors at play here are the policies of western governments, both in terms of imperial wars and alliances abroad (including with Islamist Saudi Arabia), and neoliberal reforms at home.

Although not entirely irrational, Tommy’s oversimplification of a complex issue, and his delivery, reek of Islamophobia and racism, (as does his admiration for the racist regime in Israel). In his rhetoric, he consistently tars Islam as a whole, rather than focussing on the radical sects - Wahhabism/Salafism. He has ostensibly acknowledged that he shouldn’t do this - he has said in interviews that the Salafi ideology is his concern and that he doesn’t seek to condemn all Muslims - so why does he?! Why does he keep generalising and smearing the entire religion?! Surely he must realize that by simply blaming 'Islam', rather than the specific sects, this encourages racism towards the entire Muslim community? He’s either dangerously stupid and insensitive, or he’s a liar and a racist. If we give him the benefit of the doubt and deem that he is the former, in any case he is most definitely not the man for the mission!

To demonstrate that his agenda isn’t racially motivated, he must stop generalizing, and he should start attacking the neoliberal system, which is surely the main cause of the breakdown of communities, as has happened in Luton, (and as said, one of the factors that fuels the radicalism). And he should start condemning western imperialism, which has led to a protracted genocide of Muslims, (undoubtably fueling extremism, and thus - blowback), has enabled Wahhabi Saudi Arabia to spread their ideology throughout the UK and Europe, and is the cause of the mass migration crisis. He should also be doing FAR more to denounce the very blatant racism and Islamophobia of his support base.

Whatever Tommy Robinson is, he’s a product of an endemically racist and rigged system; our governments have destroyed communities for the benefit of corporate power, and their foreign policies have destroyed entire Middle Eastern countries, killing some four million Muslims in recent decades, and causing millions of others to flee to Europe, in desperation. Did any western policy makers think that any of this would lead to global and societal cohesion, and peace? Of course not, because their policies, both domestic and foreign, are about profit for the few - not peace and harmony for the many. Our being divided serves the interests of the policy creators - the oligarchy - perfectly.

Tommy Robinson is just another distraction; a useful idiot diverting attention from the real enemy: the ruling elite.

More Neoliberal Tyranny in Italy

So the president of Italy has installed a fucking ex-IMF economist as Prime Minister, just after having refused to allow an anti-austerity/EU-skeptic government into power. Temporarily, so they say, but it's the first time - since the fall of fascist Mussolini - that the head of state in Italy has wielded such power, and blocked the formation of a government. Is fascism returning in a different form?

Is it actually possible for any EU country to escape neoliberal globalism? Do we live in democracies, or do we live in societies controlled by markets; by corporate/plutocrat power? Right wing nationalism will continue to flourish unless the Left is able to offer real progressive change away from this system.

The anti-democratic nature of the system that we live under continues to reveal itself. The neoliberal elite have Europe under their thumb - was that the whole point of the EU?

Article from 2011:

http://www.counterfire.org/international/15114-italy-and-the-global-neoliberal-assault-on-democracy

Columbia joining NATO?

Columbia is suddenly joining NATO just as a left-winger has emerged as potential leader. 🤔

The re-colonisation of Latin America by the US/capitalist elite continues! 

Never mind all the many human rights abuses by the current right-wing government in Columbia. They’re subservient to US/capitalist interests so who gives a fuck. 

‘Mainstream’ Media generally only cares for alleged abuses of power by left-wing/non-US compliant governments, like that in Venezuela. Why? Because they’re agents of Empire.

Israel wins Eurovision

Well next year’s Eurovision will be interesting!

Netta, the winner (for Israel), is all about celebrating diversity.

As I saw someone say on Twitter - how about we celebrate diversity by using the attention that the Israel/Palestine issue will get as a result of her win, to liberate a marginalised (to put it mildly) people - the Palestinians? 

Given she’s already presumed that next year’s contest will be held in occupied Jerusalem - the rightful capital of Palestine - I guess she’s unlikely to get behind this kind of diversity.

For me, this is so representative of what the fake ‘diversity’ agenda is about: basically mass pink-washing/diversity-washing of the malevolence of the elite, with their corrupt corporatism and imperial projects.

Who's doing the retaliating?

The 'MSM', as ever, are acting as stenographers/propagandists for the Israeli regime, reporting that they have been 'retaliating' to an Iranian attack on the Golan Heights.

Syrian commanders have said that these rockets were not fired by Iran - they were fired by them, in retaliation to Israeli strikes on Damascus.

It is Syria that is doing the retaliating here. Israel is quite blatantly the aggressor. They’ve continuously attacked Syria throughout the Syrian war, have supported the jihadi ‘rebels’, and lets not forget - they have been occupying Syrian territory, THE GOLAN HEIGHTS, for 40 years!

To summarise - Israel has ‘retaliated’ in response to a RETALIATORY attack on a piece of land that they are illegally occupying.

Yet Israel’s loyal servants in the ‘MSM’ somehow manage to frame it so that Iran and Syria are the aggressors.

As ever, Israel is the spoilt brat and the bully. They expect to get what they want and now feel emboldened with Trump’s backing. They want Iran wiped off the map, so will fabricate any nonsense to reach that goal.

Trump - Israel Collusion and the Iran Deal

Trump has announced that the US will be pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal. Netanyahu is delighted.

Yet another sure sign of the adherence of the 'MSM' to the state, on matters of foreign policy, is their refusal to report on the evident collusion between the Trump administration & the Israeli administration. (Having spent 1.5 years doing so re Trump-Russia collusion, despite little evidence). 

But perhaps this is because collusion between Neoconservatism and Zionism is nothing new?

The alliance between these ideologies, as well as Saudi Wahhabism, is responsible for mass human suffering, and is the greatest threat to peace. The regimes of the United States, Israel, and Saudi Arabia are the real 'axis of evil', and little Iran is up against all three. We should all be standing with Iran at this time.

It's always seemed likely to me that the long-term plan was to sign a deal with Iran, then fabricate evidence of non-compliance to justify regime-change - i.e. to prove that Iran is a rogue state that won't comply with anything, thus justifying military intervention as the only option.

Let's hope that European and other normally subservient states remain in solidarity with Iran and supportive of the deal. Iran has just dumped the dollar for the euro in foreign trade transactions, so that might have something to do with their willingness to challenge US power for a change...

Propaganda Worse In Neoliberal Countries?

I think propaganda in the neoliberal 'west' is very possibly more pervasive than in Russia - a crazy notion to most westerners, I realize!

It seems to me that propaganda in the western mass media is largely a result of our extremely un-equal, corporate, plutocratic system, and our not having governments that hold these powerful interests to account - instead, our governments are corrupted into serving their interests, rather than the interests of the electorate. This system is a result of an ideology of privatization and deregulation - neoliberal capitalism.

The plutocrats and corporations can funnel money into NGO's and ‘think tanks’, that are then relied upon by the media. And by our governments - to advise on domestic and foreign policy. Additionally, they can of course funnel money directly to the media, politicians, political parties, and the government. They also gain influence over the media via advertising - for example, arms contractors advertise on TV news networks, creating a conflict of interest in a time of war, when the arms contractors will inevitably favour war over peace, in the pursuit of perpetual profit for the military-industrial complex. This will inevitably have influence over the network's editorial line, as they seek to not displease their clients.

The ruling elite's ability to manipulate the populace has been made even easier in recent decades, as the mass media has monopolized. The corporate media is now owned by just a handful of rich men - all of whom have vested interests that will, obviously, influence the output. (For example, some have direct vested interests in oil digging in the Middle East). So it is not just a case of powerful interests funding and manipulating the media - they also own it.

Journalists down the chain in these media corporations will insist that they have full control over their output, but as per Noam Chomsky's theory - the Manufacturing Of Consent - it is largely only those who are of a certain pro-status-quo mindset who will gain employment and advance their careers in the corporate media. Those who refuse to go along with the prevailing view on any given issue - particularly on matters of war and peace - often end up cast aside, as they upset the sponsors and hinder profit margins. Profit trumps truth and ethics in the corporate media.

Meanwhile, in Russia - a country outside of the globalist neoliberal Empire - they have a centralized, authoritarian leadership, thus are more easily able to keep powerful interests in check, including their ability to own and manipulate media. This doesn’t mean I think Kremlin-funded media can be trusted either, obviously - state funded media will inevitably be biased towards the interest of the state, to varying degrees depending on how genuinely democratic the government is and how genuinely independent the media organization is.

Nor does it mean that I think there isn’t also corruption in Russia, or that Putin is a saint. But I think the evidence suggests that Putin’s government, comparatively to western governments at least, acts vastly more in the interests of his people. He has overseen a huge economic recovery in Russia, following the chaos of the 1990s, when western and Russian corporations/oligarchs, with help from the US government, looted the country, leading to a huge drop in living standards.

It seems to me that the reason the Russian government is able to act more in the interests of the populace, (and indeed the reason for Putin's huge popularity), and the reason that Russian media is perhaps less susceptible to manipulation by powerful interests, is that they have done the opposite of what we in the west have done - they have taken some of the power AWAY from private hands. Whereas neoliberal reforms in the west handed power TO private hands, leading to vast inequality, the siphoning of money (and power) to the top, and thus worker exploitation, wage stagnation, community upheaval etc; all inevitable results of handing over the country to unaccountable power.

I think the best example that clearly shows where the interests of the neoliberal west lie can be seen in US congressional spending - around 55% of the budget goes on the military ($850 billion). Any rational person will surely see that this is beyond crazy. And this is happening whilst problems with poverty and homelessness etc get worse and worse. But what is most alarming is that most Americans don't seem to see this as absolutely crazy - they seem to just accept it. Why is this? I think largely because the powerful interests that benefit from it also own and fund the corporate media, which can seemingly still propagate much of the populace into believing that black is white; into believing that a system which is killing their country - and the world - is actually a system that will benefit them.  

Thankfully, the internet, particularly social media, is helping people to ‘wake up’ to this craziness, (hence the recent anti-establishment movements). And that, it seems quite clear to me, is why western governments are seeking to ‘manage’ the internet, and ‘regulate’ social media – to quell dissent and reverse this awakening, ensuring that the powerful interests don’t completely lose their ability to control the masses.