Russo-Ukrainian War 2014-25

[Tonitrus]

This is a war crime, surely. Right?

Just horrendous - footage of the mall which gives a sense of scale too:
https://twitter.com/DmytroKuleba/status/1541456349862690816?s=20&t=9bJsYt2UBhipIUssEkmP6A

Not sure if NATO has equipment that can help stop that type of attack, but if we do we should start sending it to Ukraine now

The Russians say every attack like that one is done by Ukraine to make them look bad, so it never really matters.

[Jacob]

the west is bigger than the US, and it's not because they don't appear to be that dangerous yet they couldn't become even more dangerous in the future. Communism and it's adherents are as dangerous as their fascist counterparts and they really don't deserve the excuses that are being made for them all the time. Them being 'left' doesn't make them okay.

I've come around to that point of view, that Communism doesn't deserve the excuses.

I still don't see anywhere in the West where there's a danger that Communists will overthrow the state, compared to the clear and present danger of the Jan 6th insurrectionists and the Christian White Nationalist drift of the GOP.

Where do you think Communists and their adherents have a shot at taking control of the government?

[Tonitrus]

For many, alas, it is probably not so much as to whether or not real communists are danger of taking over the government...so much as people who "think" that people that they think are communists are in danger of taking over the government.  Such as...well, or right-wing friends here. 

[Crazy_Ivan80]

Currently, nowhere yet. But that doesn't mean the extreme left hasn't heavily infiltrated European governments yet, making it's perfidious influence felt.

But the two posts above nicely display the double standards regarding the extreme left. It's better to nip those extremists in the bud before they are able to fully take over government, and it's better to do it with as much enthusiasm as you're railing against the extreme right.
That doesn't make one right-wing but makes one concerned about the state of our democracies. A concern I feel is lacking when the topic is left-wing authoritarianism.

[Josquius]

Currently, nowhere yet. But that doesn't mean the extreme left hasn't heavily infiltrated European governments yet, making it's perfidious influence felt.

But the two posts above nicely display the double standards regarding the extreme left. It's better to nip those extremists in the bud before they are able to fully take over government, and it's better to do it with as much enthusiasm as you're railing against the extreme right.
That doesn't make one right-wing but makes one concerned about the state of our democracies. A concern I feel is lacking when the topic is left-wing authoritarianism.

There's double standards sure but they aren't what you think they are.
The far right are actively going about their business, on the cusp of power in several countries, heavy influence in others, in recent history murdering people and launching violent attempted coups.

The far left... Exist in a 5 men in a pub sort of way. Occasionally show up to general left wing protests with one of their flags. Where they've come anywhere near power it's been as junior members of broad left of centre coalitions.

But sure. They're just as much of a threat.

Treating a non issue the same as an actual threat because you don't like their beliefs is a massive case of double standards.

[Solmyr]

Currently, nowhere yet. But that doesn't mean the extreme left hasn't heavily infiltrated European governments yet, making it's perfidious influence felt.

But the two posts above nicely display the double standards regarding the extreme left. It's better to nip those extremists in the bud before they are able to fully take over government, and it's better to do it with as much enthusiasm as you're railing against the extreme right.
That doesn't make one right-wing but makes one concerned about the state of our democracies. A concern I feel is lacking when the topic is left-wing authoritarianism.

That's an interesting imaginary Europe you have in your mind. The rest of us over here live in a different one.

[Sheilbh]

Yeah I mean Denmark is forcing Danish citizens who are not if "Danish origin" to move home because of the cap on residents of "non-western" origin in a neighbourhood - by a centre-left led government. All the reports from Melilla (again a government of the left) and again this morning Greece (admittedly a backsliding right wing government.

But it's the extreme left's ideas that have infiltrated governments?

[Legbiter]

The Ukrainians have blown up around 20 ammo dumps in the Donbas and Luhansk regions using the new Himars MLRS in the last few days.  Hope they can get enough ammo to keep a steady barrage going.

[HVC]

Yeah I mean Denmark is forcing Danish citizens who are not if "Danish origin" to move home because of the cap on residents of "non-western" origin in a neighbourhood - by a centre-left led government. All the reports from Melilla (again a government of the left) and again this morning Greece (admittedly a backsliding right wing government.

But it's the extreme left's ideas that have infiltrated governments?

.

 Public housing, or private homes? I mean public housing doesn't make it right, but private housing makes it down right Orwellian.

[The Larch]

Yeah I mean Denmark is forcing Danish citizens who are not if "Danish origin" to move home because of the cap on residents of "non-western" origin in a neighbourhood - by a centre-left led government. All the reports from Melilla (again a government of the left) and again this morning Greece (admittedly a backsliding right wing government.

But it's the extreme left's ideas that have infiltrated governments?

.

 Public housing, or private homes? I mean public housing doesn't make it right, but private housing makes it down right Orwellian.

What I've read refers to public housing, but it's still super fucked up. There was a story yesterday about it, I considered posting but didn't know where and ended up not doing it.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jun/27/denmark-ghetto-law-eviction-non-western-residents-housing-estates.

Aslam has lived on the estate since 1987. For all that time, his home has been Mjølnerparken, a leafy public housing estate of squat red-brick blocks in the centre of Copenhagen (Aslam is the chairman of its residents association). His children were born and grew up here; one has just finished law school, the other is an engineer. From his balcony, Aslam can hear the sound of children playing in the courtyards below, mixed with the chattering voices of their parents and grandparents. Local nurseries use the estate's green spaces, and every summer, Mjølnerparken hosts a party for teenage residents who have finished school.

More than an estate, this is a community. But the government has classified Mjølnerparken as a "ghetto", and plans to slash its public housing stock to no more than 40% of the total. Last month, Aslam received a letter informing him that he has until September to move out of his home. This all stems from a 2018 law intended to eradicate all ghettoes in Denmark by 2030. And the Danish state decides whether areas are deemed ghettoes not just by their crime, unemployment or education rates, but on the proportion of residents who are deemed "non-western" – meaning recent, first-, or second-generation migrants.

Aslam and most others living in Mjølnerparken are Danish citizens but, as they were not born in western countries, they are treated as foreigners in their own homes. Aslam's children were born in Denmark, attended Danish schools and have Danish university degrees. Because their father was born in Pakistan, they too are deemed "non-western". This is not a story of gentrification or the hidden hand of the market, pricing people out of city centres. It is worse than that. It is, in effect, state-directed population control.

A real estate investor, NREP, has already bought 260 of the flats on the estate. Once people like Aslam have been removed, the company plans to increase the rent on their former homes by more than 50%. Residents will be rehoused, but they will have no control over location or cost. Their children will need to move schools; their communities will be broken up. "What have I and my family done? Why do we have to be removed? My kids and my family have done nothing wrong," Aslam says.

What is playing out on this estate is far from just a local issue. In 2017, the country's parliament expressed concern that people they considered true Danes were becoming a minority in some areas. The ghetto law was passed the following year. By breaking up these communities, the government hopes to confront what it calls "parallel societies". This phrase recurs so often in Denmark that it borders on a collective paranoia: the fear that areas that are home to large numbers of minority and Muslim citizens risk splintering a national culture.

The ghetto law was the invention of Denmark's previous rightwing government. Yet it is now being enforced by the left-leaning Social Democrat government, in an attempt to shore up support among voters it worries will otherwise be lost to the right.

(...)

Few residents of Mjølnerparken would deny the estate has its problems. Unemployment and crime rates are higher than average, and overcrowding is an issue. Scratch the surface, though, and you'll find many stories that defy this picture: Ibrahim Kadoura, an electrician who has lived here since 1992, tells me with pride about his son's place at medical school and his daughter's senior role at a consultancy firm. The government sees the problems on such estates as the product of migrants failing to integrate, but residents know it's more complicated. The job market discriminates against people with Middle Eastern and non-Danish surnames, while many people struggle to find jobs simply because they live on a stigmatised estate like Mjølnerparken. Breaking up the estate would destroy a supportive community and do little to address the discrimination its residents face.

[Sheilbh]

Yeah it is. But as I say I just don't see the incipient Communism - but I do see the impact of the far-right.

[Berkut]

I think that's what's happening DGuller. Fascism and other Reactionary forces are encouraged and brazen both in various domestic policies, and on the international scene.

It was expected, actually, as a reaction to modernity. However the expectation, I think, saw it as a natural transitional phase before modernity and progress carried on. Right now I admit to feeling more than a little worried that this transition is not a simple blip, but potentially a transition to a long, bloody, and miserable phase of reactionary ascendance.

I see it as shorter-term reactionary power.  The forces falling out of synch with a more modern, transnational, and changing culture are united to a degree in their fear and disdain.  They are far more able to initially strike and strike hard, as they are a more cohesive group than the other they fear.  That said, the attacks and dominance attempts will end up crystalizing opposition to their minority position.

Much like the invasion was what finally might have made Ukraine into something new, this period of revanchism and scorched earth tactics by the reactionary group will likely create what they fear the most (and believe is already there) an actual movement opposing them.

I think you are right.

But I also think we may no have the space or time to see that long term trend win out.

It's like racing. You might have the better tires and faster car after the last pitstop, and the long term outcome is not in doubt. But if the race ends after the next lap, what would have happened if it had no ended doesn't really matter.

[Jacob]

Yeah it is. But as I say I just don't see the incipient Communism - but I do see the impact of the far-right.

Yes, that's the result of the centre-left adopting some of the positions of the populist right to win elections.

[Admiral Yi]

Are you guys saying Danish neighborhood caps are an example of far right influence because

a) the idea originated from the far right or

b) the idea is inherently far right?

[Zoupa]

I'd say b)