The other day, Australian Senator Nick McKim issued a warning in the Australian Parliement about the US’s descent into fascim.
And of course it’s true, but I lament - that was true as soon as Trump won.
What we see is now simply the reification of the intention, planning, and forces behind Trump.
Today’s news includes that Trump is going to establish a “Christian office” and target “anti-Christian bias”
"The mission of this task force will be to immediately halt all forms of anti-Christian targeting and discrimination within the federal government, including at the DOJ, which was absolutely terrible, the IRS, the FBI and other agencies," Trump said.
He vowed his attorney general would work to "fully prosecute anti-Christian violence and vandalism in our society and to move heaven and earth to defend the rights of Christians and religious believers nationwide."
And it reminded me of a video that I put together last year - see below.
At the time, I thought it was important people understand the fundamentalist Christian element to this new alt-right.
But other things overtook it, and at the back of my mind, I also knew that until things become reified - most folks might find it all a bit too opaque and conceptual.
Perhaps even alarmist.
Anyway here it is - a 5 minute snapshot on the ultra-conservative Christian movement that is behind the new alt-right.
And it’s connections to white supremacy.
All part of the “think tank” alliance group - conservative interests of all stripes that have found a similarity of purpose and values.1
i.e. reshaping the world in their image
I encourage you to watch it if you have 5 minutes to spare —
Now some of you may be wondering what this has to do with little old Kiwi.2
Well here’s a UK Tory speaker at NZ’s Taxpayers Union last year - an event which our Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour attended.
Afterwards, Seymour shares dinner with this speaker - a leading Brexiteet (and winner).
i.e. The networks are international and their interests are frequently aligned.
And it sure sounds like our Kiwis are taking advice from international thinkers (1:38 minutes from end)
If you don’t want to watch this one, the upshot is Hannan laments our judiciary and politicians who have compromised the Treaty’s interpretation - thus, he infers, complicating what was once simple. Underscoring that is - this must stop.
The speech also significantly, in my opinion, understates the horrors of colonial history.
Ditto with David Seymour’s “conspiracy” connection:
Anyway, I got into an energetic ‘debate’ with someone yesterday about all this.
They said that although the playbooks overseas in the US was similar, NZ had enough distinctive differences from the USA to be different.
My argument was - well, no, not really.
What these people play on is human nature - not substantive geography.
Our key strategic strength are Māori rights, Te Tiriti, laws protecting Te Tiriti, our judiciary, as well as the many millions of Kiwis with strong liberal values.
And now think which ones are being undermined through this government…
Hint: I’d say all of them, and the last requires extrapolation, which I don’t intend on today.
What many may not see is: extremism is being actively cultivated in our country as we speak.
And has been for many years.
Covid was a prime opportunity to accelerate it.
Last year I wrote: “Why the Left has been stupid. The Right has been busy”
And it was my synthesis of what I was seeing on popular right wing channels - the extreme nature of their speech and their active cultivation of anti-woke, anti-environment, anti-Maori and the like here in NZ.
It is ongoing and well funded.
Jordan Williams, together with his Free Speech Union “Council” members such as Chris Trotter, Ani O’Brien etc. are pushing for changes under the banner of free speech.
And according to them, that includes hate speech.
And they are advocating to pull down our laws to allow hate speech because, apparently, it’s “subjective”
The normalisation of hate speech - as evidenced by Chris Pratt overturning the Ministry of Immigration decision to reject Candace Owen’s3 visa - in my opinion - is really about normalising divisive speech, promoting their practices as well as “rationale” i.e. excuses, and introducing segregationist ideas to a wider audience.
i.e. It’s about bringing it mainstream.
Another article I wrote last year, called: “The Folly of Retreat in the Face of Defeat”, synthesised how disinformation and hate is a form of cancer - simple but effective.
Minority cells start attacking larger, healthy ones and eventually, without strong intervention, it spreads.
Judging by this analogy, there will also be a set point when the changes are dominant.
It’s not as dramatic as it sounds - it’s just an analogy.
And it’s all outstandingly simple in practice.
Biden’s outgoing US Ambassador to Hungary - a former assistant secretary of homeland security and a human rights lawyer - summarised his view like this:
In addition, when I researched the Holocaust Library last year, I realised all the tactics mirror ones that were once successful in Germany.
The myth of control
I’d like to end with the myth of control.
Many folks participate in social media - on BlueSky, Substack, Reddit, Facebook, Instagram etc.
It gives us all an illusion of control.
By talking about it, sharing it, perusing, we are doing something.
We recognise at some level we don’t have a lot of standing or power.
And instinctively as humans, we reach out, find solace and comfort within community, do what each of us feels driven to, try to find power in our own ways.
And as much as I am part of that - and recognise it’s a way to control what is uncontrollable - I wanted to advise caution about social media.
Facebook’s Zuckerberg has clearly pledged allegiance to Trump and his ideology. Ditto Amazon.
The data on those servers is penetrative.
If the US government’s highest security clearance is open fodder, what say you about corporate systems owned by Trump aligned technology moguls?
The other day, Reddit temporarily banned a subreddit that had incurred Elon Musk’s wrath.
And more recently, at least 90 subreddits were taken down by Reddit in an automated script - many were adult content and others transgender subreddits etc.
It was recovered about a day later, with Reddit citing it was an error.
But it’s the second time it’s happened.
To me, it shows their system’s readiness to respond to executive orders -e.g. in support of “Christian ideals” as necessary.
And those ideas and ideals can be expanded.
What would you do if your platforms were removed - or substantively restricted?
Where would your control reside then?
Everything we review in Aotearoa - including this Government’s Crime (Countering Foreign Interference) Amendment Bill - should be viewed with the critical lens it requires. These are extraordinary times, no matter how much some feel “we are very different”.
Good Vibes - Liquor Stores in Canada pull alcohol from US Red State suppliers
Waitangi Day Photos
Fossil Fuels
White supremacy
Anti-environment
Pro-guns
Pro-free speech (code for allowance of hate speech)
Pro-big wealth
Pro-cut regulations for the wealthy and corporations
Low taxes
Pro-”free market” etc.
Note we also have a devout anti-abortion, pro-gay conversion Health Minister who wants to keep track of how many abortions a woman has, and a Christian Prime Minister who believes helping the poor equates to trickle down economics.
A write up I did about Owens:
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