scientists are usually the first target of when a dictator takes power, they often leave before shit hits the fan. then it goes to POC, and then lgbtq+, and then non-loyalists.
Controlling the universities is for control of information.
The Nazis could easily burn down the Institute of Sex Research and all it contents. Today’s fascists cannot burn down the science on queer people and global warming.
Universities have smart people who can say “hey this is the way your economic policies are harming this group of people” or “being LGBT is a normal human variation” or “the American civil war was fought over slavery” or “here are characteristics that seem to be common to every incarnation of fascism, and how they all seem to be related to what’s happening now.”
The idiot arm attacks knowledge online with Alex Jones style “information warfare” - just repeating insane falsehoods over and over again. Never playing defense, always flooding the web with lies and half truths. This is also why fascists love AI so much. (How much time do people waste arguing with bots? And the amount of bots makes these ideas seem more “normal” and common then they are…)
Beat me to it. How you could say the scientists are the first to go while they are putting legal residents that have done nothing into el Salvadorian prisons is beyond me.
Seriously. I wonder why European countries aren’t massively jumping on this opportunity. Like every developed country, the nations of Europe need immigrants to prop up their demographics. Most of Europe’s immigrants have been coming from countries in the global South. And while such immigrants have done well for the nations of Europe, there will always be less friction in bringing in immigrants from countries of more similar culture. Fuck any racists who hate Muslims. But the cold truth is it’s probably a lot easier to integrate large numbers of politically liberal Americans into European countries than it is to integrate immigrants from Muslim countries. European countries desperately need immigration, but right wing politics is on the rise, in large part due to the frictions of immigration. Obviously American and European cultures are not the same; there are still very real cultural differences. But European vs. American culture is far closer than many other cultural pairings out there.
European countries do have some very limited ancestry-based immigration policies. But they usually only go back a generation or two. If your parent or grandparent immigrated from a European country to the US, you can get easy immigration in a lot of EU countries. But for most Americans of European descent, that immigration happened generations ago.
If the EU countries were clever right now, they could take advantage of this opportunity to bring in large numbers of disaffected Americans. They could offer relocation assistance, make it cheap and easy for educated American progressives to pack their bags and jump the pond. And in exchange they get workers in their economies they don’t have to train to educate, and immigrants who would assimilate quite readily into the existing cultural milieu.
Hell, personally, I’m a typical American in that I have a hodgepodge of European ancestry. But my ancestors came over before 1900, there’s nowhere in Europe I qualify for immigration based on ancestry. But if one of the countries my ancestors came from wanted to made it cheap and easy for me to return to the old country, I would jump on that.
Hell, the politics of it sell itself. Bill it politically as “bringing the European diaspora home.”
But the cold truth is it’s probably a lot easier to integrate large numbers of politically liberal Americans into European countries than it is to integrate immigrants from Muslim countries
I genuinely don’t think it makes a big difference for like 99% of immigrants. The process is pretty much the same. Gotta find work, a home and learn the language. The cultural friction you mentioned mostly affects the immigrants themselves rather than society as a whole.
Plus there are already ways for Americans to move here, especially skilled workers. There are some hurdles of course but it’s doable. Don’t really see why we should make it any easier except for potential refugees like Latin Americans and queer people.
At an individual level you are right. But this is more an issue with numbers. Immigrants do not just bring themselves; they also bring their culture. Think of it this way. Let’s say Germany decides to bring over a million politically disaffected American progressives. How many mosques do you think those million people will want to build in their new home? Maybe one or two, there will be some Muslims in that group. But most of those million won’t even be religious. And most of those that are will just help fill the pews of half-empty German churches. There won’t be a titanic shift in the German religious landscape from these million American immigrants.
Immigration starts having issues not at the individual level, but the societal level. Too many immigrants too quickly, and people start feeling like their culture is being replaced. The slower assimilation happens, the more people start feeling like their culture is being replaced. The more culturally different the immigrant population is from the native population, and the more people feel like their culture is being replaced. And the more people feel like their culture is being replaced, the more they start voting for hard right parties like AfD.
There’s nothing wrong with Muslims or with people building mosques. But I mention mosques because they are a highly visible symbol of immigrant populations with very different cultures, a symbol that right wing politicians gleefully exploit.
If Germany brings over a million disaffected Americans, what culturally disruptive things will they bring? I guess Germany will get some more McDonalds franchises and a few other American brands? But those million Americans really aren’t going to stir things up too much. It’s not like you’re going to let the Americans bring their guns with them. They’ll have to leave those behind. And the big gun nuts aren’t likely to take Germany up on its immigration offer in the first place.
And just due to genetics, give it a generation or two, and you won’t even able to tell who is descended from those immigrants without checking ancestry records. The first generation will be noticeably American, but the second, third, or fourth? Indistinguishable from the native German population. Completely assimilated.
It’s really fucking difficult, but I’m grateful for the opportunity I have right now. For everyone’s sake I really hope the biue states wake up and realize that they’re not getting anything out of the Union
Must be nice to be able to leave
scientists are usually the first target of when a dictator takes power, they often leave before shit hits the fan. then it goes to POC, and then lgbtq+, and then non-loyalists.
Controlling the universities is for control of information.
The Nazis could easily burn down the Institute of Sex Research and all it contents. Today’s fascists cannot burn down the science on queer people and global warming.
Universities have smart people who can say “hey this is the way your economic policies are harming this group of people” or “being LGBT is a normal human variation” or “the American civil war was fought over slavery” or “here are characteristics that seem to be common to every incarnation of fascism, and how they all seem to be related to what’s happening now.”
The idiot arm attacks knowledge online with Alex Jones style “information warfare” - just repeating insane falsehoods over and over again. Never playing defense, always flooding the web with lies and half truths. This is also why fascists love AI so much. (How much time do people waste arguing with bots? And the amount of bots makes these ideas seem more “normal” and common then they are…)
It kinda seems like immigrants and anti-war protesters made it to the top of the list this time.
Beat me to it. How you could say the scientists are the first to go while they are putting legal residents that have done nothing into el Salvadorian prisons is beyond me.
If we all go in on a boat we can invade Ireland
They can’t stop us all
Seriously. I wonder why European countries aren’t massively jumping on this opportunity. Like every developed country, the nations of Europe need immigrants to prop up their demographics. Most of Europe’s immigrants have been coming from countries in the global South. And while such immigrants have done well for the nations of Europe, there will always be less friction in bringing in immigrants from countries of more similar culture. Fuck any racists who hate Muslims. But the cold truth is it’s probably a lot easier to integrate large numbers of politically liberal Americans into European countries than it is to integrate immigrants from Muslim countries. European countries desperately need immigration, but right wing politics is on the rise, in large part due to the frictions of immigration. Obviously American and European cultures are not the same; there are still very real cultural differences. But European vs. American culture is far closer than many other cultural pairings out there.
European countries do have some very limited ancestry-based immigration policies. But they usually only go back a generation or two. If your parent or grandparent immigrated from a European country to the US, you can get easy immigration in a lot of EU countries. But for most Americans of European descent, that immigration happened generations ago.
If the EU countries were clever right now, they could take advantage of this opportunity to bring in large numbers of disaffected Americans. They could offer relocation assistance, make it cheap and easy for educated American progressives to pack their bags and jump the pond. And in exchange they get workers in their economies they don’t have to train to educate, and immigrants who would assimilate quite readily into the existing cultural milieu.
Hell, personally, I’m a typical American in that I have a hodgepodge of European ancestry. But my ancestors came over before 1900, there’s nowhere in Europe I qualify for immigration based on ancestry. But if one of the countries my ancestors came from wanted to made it cheap and easy for me to return to the old country, I would jump on that.
Hell, the politics of it sell itself. Bill it politically as “bringing the European diaspora home.”
I genuinely don’t think it makes a big difference for like 99% of immigrants. The process is pretty much the same. Gotta find work, a home and learn the language. The cultural friction you mentioned mostly affects the immigrants themselves rather than society as a whole.
Plus there are already ways for Americans to move here, especially skilled workers. There are some hurdles of course but it’s doable. Don’t really see why we should make it any easier except for potential refugees like Latin Americans and queer people.
At an individual level you are right. But this is more an issue with numbers. Immigrants do not just bring themselves; they also bring their culture. Think of it this way. Let’s say Germany decides to bring over a million politically disaffected American progressives. How many mosques do you think those million people will want to build in their new home? Maybe one or two, there will be some Muslims in that group. But most of those million won’t even be religious. And most of those that are will just help fill the pews of half-empty German churches. There won’t be a titanic shift in the German religious landscape from these million American immigrants.
Immigration starts having issues not at the individual level, but the societal level. Too many immigrants too quickly, and people start feeling like their culture is being replaced. The slower assimilation happens, the more people start feeling like their culture is being replaced. The more culturally different the immigrant population is from the native population, and the more people feel like their culture is being replaced. And the more people feel like their culture is being replaced, the more they start voting for hard right parties like AfD.
There’s nothing wrong with Muslims or with people building mosques. But I mention mosques because they are a highly visible symbol of immigrant populations with very different cultures, a symbol that right wing politicians gleefully exploit.
If Germany brings over a million disaffected Americans, what culturally disruptive things will they bring? I guess Germany will get some more McDonalds franchises and a few other American brands? But those million Americans really aren’t going to stir things up too much. It’s not like you’re going to let the Americans bring their guns with them. They’ll have to leave those behind. And the big gun nuts aren’t likely to take Germany up on its immigration offer in the first place.
And just due to genetics, give it a generation or two, and you won’t even able to tell who is descended from those immigrants without checking ancestry records. The first generation will be noticeably American, but the second, third, or fourth? Indistinguishable from the native German population. Completely assimilated.
It’s really fucking difficult, but I’m grateful for the opportunity I have right now. For everyone’s sake I really hope the biue states wake up and realize that they’re not getting anything out of the Union
Well let me know if they need any resistance painters! I’d really like to get my family through this alive.
Excellent work!