bendix

No, but i think the theory has some merit. I get TCH's objections - he points out the differences in SOME policies. OK, fair enough. They propose in many instances differnt tactical solutions to problems). My sense though is that it's less about policies (which are no more than proposed solutions to a worldview) and that the horseshoe theory really comes into its own when you consider how broadly aligned the respective macro worldviews of the far right and far left are. Both are essentially nationalist. Both by into conspiracy theories about global elites, usually with some weird references to a controlled media. Both have political bogeymen. Both view international capitalism with suspicion. And both - the far right and far left - are aggressively waging hate campaigns against political foes online using the same terminology and attacks. (although TCH will argue that those members of the far left doing it are likely not far left because we don't know they are far left but only that they profess to be far left. Or something like that . . . I dunno)

Of course it matters. Parliament will NOT allow No Deal to happen. If it gets even close, there are enough sensible tories left to put country before Party and bring down the government. It's astonishing you can't see that. Of course the truth is it won't come to that. Johnson is posturing to his Tory party base right now. Once elected, he will soften his position and go back on his No Deal word.

I dont get the Common People reference. Isn't the song basically a working class guy chiding an upper middle class girl about pretending and glorifying in living a poor life for a while: Smoke some fags and play some pool, Pretend you never went to school. But still you'll never get it right, 'Cause when you're laid in bed at night, Watching roaches climb the wall, If you called your Dad he could stop it all. That seems to me to be pretty much what the modern Labour Party is now, an essentially university educated middle class movement angry at social injustices that don't affect them, despite them now and again 'smoking some fags and playing pool' because . . let's face it . . because they think that poor is cool. The comments about Love Island etc and its purpose is valid though. I assume you've read Herbert Marcuse who argued in One Dimensional Man that capitaadvanced industrial societies (be they capitalist or communist like China) protects itself by creating false needs throuogh things like consumerism, mass media, advertising etc.

yeah, probably planted there by the jewish controlled illuminati. Here we are in the post-truth, post-fact, 'I don't believe anything but I feel everything' world which makes rational debate meaningless. It's all very sad. Anyway, back to those polls. I would be interested to hear from some of the sensible Labour supporters (I think that applies to TCH only to be honest) what they think Labour needs to do to get back on track. Do you think there will ever be a time when the members who voted Corbyn leader for what seemed like good reasons at the time, will now have to reflect that we are in a different political world now and a different answer might be needed?

And yet it was a Labour supporter from Birmingham. But let's not get onto my theory of how the far right and the far left have converged in recent years. I know that gets you going 😉

Which is kind of weird. Inequalities have always been with us and always will be. The curious thing is that it's middle class far left voters who seem the angriest, while those who are suffering in this unequal society you condemn who are part of the angry far right. Those who care anyway; many are too busy watching daytime tv and Love Island to care that much.

It's a fair question. The likes of Williamson et al are usually clever enough to avoid saying anything that can be deemed directly anti-semitic, but as this piece in JC expresses articulately, he has a long history of jew baiting. https://www.thejc.com/comment/analysis/what-exactly-has-labour-mp-chris-williamson-done-to-offend-jews-here-s-a-long-list-1.485890 Would each one on their own be considering anti-semitic? Probably not. But when he has such a long track record of making similar comments over and over again, you can understand the concern. It's odd how people can be anti-semitic without even realising it. I was listening to LBC this week, and a young Indian lad who supports Labour came on and vehemently denied there was an issue in the party, arguing that it was all whipped up by (I kid you not), "the jewish owned mainstream media." This is true. Although the influx to the Lib Dems is also coming from the other side. I've voted conservative for 30 years. I've recently switched to Lib Dems. My best friends here are life long educated Labour voters. One voted Green and one voted Lib Dem.

Why are so many people on the far right and far left so perpetually angry? Whatever happened to the true British quality of quiet sang froid. Angelfire gives the impression he is always close to having a stroke through sheer rage.

inevitable really. In an age where gambling online is so easy and private (if you're of that ilk) the FOBTs were the only thing keeping betting shops alive. With them unsustainable, they will go the same way as much of the rest of the high street.

Given that Sky News is this morning reporting that around 1 in 10 people put dirty nappies out with their recyclables, it could be that the 'pyoo' smell is coming from something more obvious. Seriously, what are people like?

The idea that people are expecting Corbyn to back Remain shows just how little people understand his position, which is weird because it hasn’t changed in 40-50 years.

In terms of inappropriateness with women? Yes, perhaps. But let's not get into comparative 'whataboutisms', huh? It's the death of modern debate. I'd say Trump is far more damaged as a person overall though. It's just truly embarassing to watch him ask questions about the his views on the bussing debate, and to reply that he thinks it's a good way to get kids to school. In some ways he is lucky. He has no selfawareness, and is so blissfully unaware of how little he knows that it never troubles him.

As with all such debates, those who love Trump will jump on every piece of evidence that makes the story look suspect. And those who hate him will jump on every piece of evidence that damns him. The truth is somewhere in the middle. That he's a deeply flawed man with massive insecurity issues is beyond doubt. Is he a rapist? I doubt it? Has he been consistently inappropriate with women - most likely.

Don't you go introducing ridiculous notions like facts-based arguments into modern debate. That's fighting talk.

But time and effort - and huge amount of money - does go into this. Putting aside the hundreds of millions spent on R&D and testing by the producers themselves, every new drug entering the market has been vigorously tested by the FDA in the US and the MHRA in the UK. Numerous drugs never make it to market because their deemed side effects are too risky. Are you suggesting that more should be done and, if so, by whom?

Are you seriously saying you need scientific proof of the validity that vaccinations have helped humankind? Here's one. Polio has been all but eradicated thanks to vaccines.

Furthermore Angel1 seems to be under the impression that being part of the EU means we can't trade with countries outside the EU. We can. Just in the last few months the EU has signed trade deals with Canada, Singapore and - just this week - the equivalent trading block of South America. We, of course, will be excluded from all these deals once we leave the EU meaning . . well . . we can only trade with them on WTO terms, not the better terms we would have had as part of the EU. Never mind. We will survive thanks to the continuity deals signed so far with Liechenstein, Palestine, The Faroe Island, Norway and Israel. Brexit - living the dream.

Well, yeah, but on the plus side my scenario sees the gullible and stupid wiped out too. And let's be candid here. Those who are likely to be anti-vaccers are also statistically more likely to be Trumpist nutjobs, flat-earthers, birthers, far right extremists. See, it's win win. We've come full circle. Bring on anti-vaccers! It's designed to cure all society's ills. Permanently.

What exactly does 'fair and balanced' mean? Is it fair and balanced to give complete free reign to people to post spurious arguments about there being a Democratic pedo ring being run from the basement of a Washington pizza restaurant that doesnt have a basement, or that the Parkland shootings was fake and actually done by FBI actors? Is it fair and balanced to politely give intellectual credence to those who believe the earth is flat (without ever being able to explain why NASA has been tricking us for so long)? Sorry, Waldo. There are just some positions where fair and balanced is not fair and balanced to those who are fair and balanced.

You know the world is getting more and more insane when reasoned debate and rational analysis of data has been replaced by YouTube videos made by young men living in their mum's basements and shouty references to David Icke and his poorly crafted Twitter memes. Seriously. What has happened to sanity and common sense?

Well this is odd. After getting lots of backlash for the announcement, he has now backtracked and said 'nahhhhh . it was all a joke - fooled ya!' https://www.thestar.co.uk/news/politics/sheffield-mp-jared-omara-claims-tramlines-fringe-dj-set-announcement-was-a-joke-following-online-backlash-387240 It's hard to know which is true. Either way, he comes out of it looking even more foolish than ever.

On the plus side, couldn't you make a case that if anti-vaccer numptie conspiracy nutjobs genuinely believe what they say (and are not simply posturing), then they themselves won't take vaccinations and, ipso facto, will die out early as a result, those closing down all that nonsense? It's Darwinian Theory at its purist.

Jared O’Mara will be performing at the Tramlines festival. That’s a surprise. I guess a few thousand drugged up kids is less likely to trigger anxiety than PM’s question time.

Pretty much VoR. The internet has served an intriguing dual purpose. It has managed to dumb us down while giving us more 'knowledge'. That isn't as contradictory as it sounds. Knowledge does not provide wisdom, far from it. Most of the greatest fools are those armed with knowledge, yet use it badly.

By saying what is lacking now is intellectual curiosity, I wasn't suggesting it's an age thing. At the end of the day, education is what it is - a force-feeding of pre-set 'facts' about a range of subjects such as history or geography or whatever. I dont think that has changed much over the generations - it impacts young and old alike. Intellectual curiosity comes from within. I see little of it anywhere today, regardless of age. It's not a young or old thing; it's a cultural and historical development. Instead i see a population binging on factoids and memes and becoming increasingly dogmatic and unthinking and uncritical in their worldviews. I can't recommend Popper enough. The greatest thinker of the 20th century.