Could it happen here? (In the USA)

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B19
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24 Oct 2016, 2:09 am

New Zealand blood also colours the soils of Vietnam, Afghanistan and Europe: our histories are very intertwined in many other ways. New Zealanders know far far more about the United States than American's know about New Zealand; our geographical isolation actually encourages interest in world affairs, and minds/hearts/homes (and on occasion bodies too) were opened to large numbers of American serviceman during the second world war and afterwards.

The prospect of wealthy Americans emigrating here in large numbers if Trump was elected has also been a factor in New Zealand interest in the current election. Few would welcome this, as it might inflate property values further, and there is a point beyond which we don't have the current infrastructure to accommodate huge numbers of new arrivals. So we have skin in the game in a number of ways, and these are some.

GGPViper
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24 Oct 2016, 2:27 am

Darmok wrote:

B19 wrote:

De Spiegel article this month:

http://www.spiegel.de/international/wor ... 92548.html

I say this not harshly, but in strange puzzlement:

I find it completely bizarre that here on WP we have (for example) obsessed New Zealanders who post opinion pieces translated from German in an effort to explain American politics to Americans, and even more obsessed Britons (for example), perhaps disappointed that they were born too late to join uncle Joe Stalin's Red Army, who try to convince Americans that a pro-gay-rights former Democrat who used to party with Bill Clinton is actually Adolf Hitler.

What a weird world it is. :lol:

I say this not in strange puzzlement, but harshly.

I find it somewhat annoying that here on WP we have obsessed Donald Trump supporters who take offense to Non-Americans having an opinion about US politics.

B19
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24 Oct 2016, 2:42 am

When I was 12, the whole family unit which I lived with, including grandparents, attended the premiere of the 1959 film "On The Beach". It is very difficult to try to explain the huge effect the film had here; the Cold War was at a peak, there were very real fears of a nuclear holocaust started by one of the Northern Hemisphere countries.

http://cinema-crazed.com/blog/2016/07/0 ... each-1959/
http://thebulletin.org/continuing-relevance-beach8589
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Beach_(novel)

I am sure that was a formative influence too, though perhaps not as much as the astonishing news on the radio that JFK had been assassinated. I did go to Dallas, years later, to look at Dealy Plaza myself, and recall the shock of hearing the news in 1963 as if it was happening now.

As to the De Spiegel piece - I find European views interesting, not least because I lived in two EEC countries for some time, West Germany being one of them. Hope that clarifies the puzzle for you.

ASPartOfMe
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24 Oct 2016, 10:32 am

B19 wrote:

The prospect of wealthy Americans emigrating here in large numbers if Trump was elected has also been a factor in New Zealand interest in the current election. Few would welcome this, as it might inflate property values further, and there is a point beyond which we don't have the current infrastructure to accommodate huge numbers of new arrivals. So we have skin in the game in a number of ways, and these are some.

New Zealand is having her 15 minutes of fame in America and elsewhere at the moment.

Why everyone wants to move to New Zealand (if Trump wins)

15 Reasons We Should All Move To New Zealand If Donald Trump Becomes President

Trump, Brexit ... Is New Zealand your escape route too? Eleanor Ainge Roy Billy Crystal has threatened to move to New Zealand if Trump wins power and post-Brexit, ‘move to New Zealand’ became a top Google search term. Please consider moving here, but do so with your eyes wide open

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auntblabby
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25 Oct 2016, 2:16 am

^^^i'm well-used to "cold, mouldy and damp." nothing new there.

Boudewijn
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06 Nov 2016, 4:34 pm

B19 wrote:

New Zealand has only had one Prime Minister in the past with proto-fascist demagogue tendencies, and not so long ago. These memories are still fairly fresh, (he was voted out in 1984, after he called a snap election during a drunken episode captured on television), people still remember the damage to others that his vindictive nature caused, he took the slightest disagreement as a personal slight on himself. They can see the same fault in Trump, I think, and this has been another influence in the nationwide anti-Trump feeling here.
...
Perhaps this will sound a cautionary note though: that particular Prime Minister even interfered with the time honoured concept of judicial independence, which is very strict here as it is in England. Only one Prime Minister showed contempt for that time honoured hallmark. He publically interfered in a judicial decision because it meant adverse consequences for a mate of his, who covered up the truth at an inquiry into an air accident in which many lives were lost, for his own benefit. The judiciary were appalled. The judge resigned in protest. Most of the country were shocked and appalled too. But that chapter did unmask for people the demagogic nature of the PM of the time, far more clearly than anything prior, though worse things were to follow before he was deposed.

Jeez, are you scared to utter this guy’s name or something? Your readers might be interested to know who you’re talking about.

auntblabby
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06 Nov 2016, 4:40 pm

some names ought not to be spoken aloud in polite company

Kraichgauer
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06 Nov 2016, 7:33 pm

auntblabby wrote:

some names ought not to be spoken aloud in polite company

Say their names three times in front of a mirror in the dark, and they'll appear. :lol:

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auntblabby
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06 Nov 2016, 7:53 pm

Kraichgauer wrote:

auntblabby wrote:

some names ought not to be spoken aloud in polite company

Say their names three times in front of a mirror in the dark, and they'll appear. :lol:

OMG

Brainfre3ze_93
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07 Nov 2016, 9:43 am

auntblabby wrote:

When and if fascism comes to America...it will not even be called 'fascism'; it will be called, of course, 'Americanism'" --Professor Halford E. Luccock of Yale Divinity School; New York Times article from September 12, 1938, page 15

Thanks auntblabby for the good chuckle.

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stevens2010
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07 Nov 2016, 10:08 am

B19 wrote:

The acclaimed novelist Sinclair Lewis once wrote a novel that may interest book lovers who are also worried about where the current political hysteria may lead. The Guardian also published an article about the grim possibility of parallels to now represented by Lewis's novel, which was written in the first half of last century:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/sho ... nald-trump

Book lover or not, could it happen in the USA?

What if it already happened? The government gets away every day with what Nixon was hounded out of office for, and the U.S. incarceration rate is about seven times Canada's. People are denied bail and imprisoned for months for nothing more than a few hundred dollars worth of fines, which rich people sell the country. The government puts journalists under surveillance and, if you speak up, you'll be on the enemies list, too. In the 1950's we had Joe McCarthy and the witch hunt, but in 2016 we're still waiting, for Trump to show us fascism? It's absurd. It's already here.

Everyone notices Donald Trump, and complains about his view on various minority groups, but no one noticed that under Obama at this time, the largest single ethnic group in federal custody (lock up) right now is....hispanic. You can't send a letter expressing your views to your congressional representative....without the CIA and NSA intercepting your political leaders' emails. Sure doesn't sound like a free country to me.

auntblabby
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08 Nov 2016, 2:49 am

AFAIC things started going off the rails when JFK got it.

friedmacguffins
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08 Nov 2016, 1:49 pm

auntblabby wrote:

Brainfre3ze_93 wrote:

Thanks auntblabby for the good chuckle.

Ultra-nationalism is synonymous with fascism. It's technically true.

They liquidated academics, when those were considered to be change agents.

Rhetoric has been used as a sort of intellectual game, in a free marketplace of ideas.

So, academia was also a hotbed of radicals.

Is everyone willing to admit what they are doing in short, easy words?

I'll get the popcorn.

jrjones9933
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31 May 2020, 8:10 pm

Seriously, wth?

I keep thinking about the Irish bookmakers. They paid out bets on Clinton a month ago. What now?

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B19
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31 May 2020, 8:15 pm

The Trump demolition of the longstanding ethos of "our fellow Americans" is almost completed. The USA is in dire peril now.

Pepe
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31 May 2020, 8:56 pm

B19 wrote:

The Trump demolition of the longstanding ethos of "our fellow Americans" is almost completed. The USA is in dire peril now.

Trump caused racism, in America.
He is a bad, bad man. :mrgreen:

My point:
Based on what I have "seen", American culture is rather toxic,
And it has been for quite some time.

Also:
The chinese would be luving how America is imploding, these days.

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