ModCen

@ moderatecentrist @feddit.uk

Posts

35
Comments

318
Joined

8 mo. ago

3w ago

The media smear campaign against Zack Polanski is working wonders
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17

ModCen @feddit.uk 3w ago
I think I prefer the Lib Dems and Labour (when they can get their act together) to the Greens. One thing I dislike about the Greens is this policy:
Elected Greens will... immediately begin the process of dismantling our nuclear weapons, cancelling the Trident programme
I think the UK should keep its nukes for now, given that we are threatened by Russia. In the future we could be threatened by China and even the US.

3w ago

2/10 people on Lemmy, is that you?

Yeah I guess they see it as the plucky underdog of Russia taking on the decadent oppressive behemoth of the West. Invading Ukraine isn't taking on the West though. It's just Putin's attempt to subjugate Ukrainians to the will of Moscow.

3w ago

Why does Lemmy.ML admire authoritarian regimes ?

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ModCen @feddit.uk 3w ago

Surely you would agree that some countries are more authoritarian than others?

3w ago

2/10 people on Lemmy, is that you?

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ModCen @feddit.uk 3w ago

This reminds me of talking to tankies on Lemmy, which is probably a futile endeavour.

For example, they seem to think that Russia's imperialist invasion of Ukraine is justified. They think that Russia murdering Ukrainians with missiles and drones is justified. I can tell them that these actions are wrong, but they won't listen.

3w ago

Labour’s Deflection Machine Is in Full Swing Ahead of a Local Election Catastrophe

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ModCen @feddit.uk 3w ago

I think the government should allow pro-Palestine marches, but obviously hate speech should be punished, according to current laws. So if a person expresses hate towards Jews, or Israelis, or Muslims, or Palestinians, or anyone else (based on characteristics outlined in hate speech laws), they should be arrested.

3w ago

Dominic Cummings’ "moonshot" agency awarded £52m to US tech firms

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ModCen @feddit.uk 3w ago

I see okay, thanks for your view. Yes Sweden and Poland don't use the euro but that's due to a loophole, whereas Denmark has a legal exception to joining the euro. Maybe the UK could use the Sweden/Poland loophole but the EU might try to close it, I don't know.

Anyway, I expect the UK will just slowly get closer to the EU over the coming years. Rejoining probably won't be a possibility for at least a few years. At that point, maybe the euro will be less controversial among Brits.

3w ago

Trump to remove whisky tariffs after King's visit

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ModCen @feddit.uk 3w ago

I like the idea of Mecha Attenborough. I hope the technology for this will be discovered soon.

In any case, in Ireland it seems that the public elect their president, but in Germany it's parliamentarians who elect the president. So the Irish model would be more obviously democratic. And they use ranked voting for this, so that should make controversial candidates less likely to win.

3w ago

Dominic Cummings’ "moonshot" agency awarded £52m to US tech firms

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ModCen @feddit.uk 3w ago

Good point, my mistake. Russia does have a larger population than any European country though of course, I guess I was thinking of that.

Actually I have a question if you don't mind, since you're from a Danish Lemmy instance. How do you view the euro? Because Denmark is the only EU country with a legal opt-out from the euro, right? I guess if I were Danish I would think it's pretty nice to enjoy the benefits of the EU without being obliged to join the euro.

If the UK were to rejoin the EU (possible in the coming decades) then I bet the euro would be a sticky issue, because I think it has traditionally been unpopular in the UK, while the EU would probably require at least a nominal promise to adopt the euro.

4w ago

Dominic Cummings’ "moonshot" agency awarded £52m to US tech firms

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ModCen @feddit.uk 4w ago

My impression of the Tories and Reform is that they want the UK to forever be a lapdog of the US. Perhaps it would be better for the UK to reduce our dependence on the US and instead increase our ties with our European allies. A friendship between the UK and any European country - even Germany, the largest European economy - is more of a partnership of equals, which can obviously not be said about UK-US relations (I wouldn't count Russia as the largest European economy because Russia is Eurasian).

4w ago

Never waste a good crisis

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ModCen @feddit.uk 4w ago

Fuck off

If you're incapable of having a rational discussion then what's the point in saying anything? All you're signalling is that you're a moron.

4w ago

Trump to remove whisky tariffs after King's visit

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ModCen @feddit.uk 4w ago

I think Ireland and Germany have good systems. Both of them have a president who is mostly ceremonial, like our monarch. The real power lies with the heads of government (taoiseach in Ireland, chancellor in Germany), who are equivalent to the UK prime minister.

4w ago

Where's the outrage?

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ModCen @feddit.uk 4w ago

I think you're right. Surely the solution is to oppose all discrimination on the basis of ethnicity or religion, whether it's discrimination against Jews, or Muslims, or Christians, or Hindus, or black people, or white people, etc.

4w ago

Never waste a good crisis

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ModCen @feddit.uk 4w ago

As I said previously, I definitely prefer secular states with full freedom of religion and freedom of belief. On the question of ethnicity, I hope all countries will treat people as individuals (regardless of ethnicity), rather than discriminate on the basis of ethnicity.

But I just think that if you assume that all supporters of "a country for Jewish people" are scum then surely you'd also have to say that all supporters of "a country for Muslim people" are scum too. I think quite a lot of people in the world support the existence of explicitly Muslim states, but I don't think all those people are "scum".

It might be fair to call Netanyahu scum though, as well as Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.

4w ago

Western media really can't find a single Ukrainian to interview who's not an open nazi

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ModCen @feddit.uk 4w ago

No, I don’t think open fascist should’ve been allowed to run in Russian elections

So you don't believe in self-determination at all. I think what I believe is that a country should be able to elect whoever they like, and then that person must act within international law. If they break international law then they should be arrested and tried by a court such as the International Criminal Court.

I guess I believe in democracy and the rule of law, while you believe in arbitrary authoritarianism. That's probably why you're posting in defence of Russia's fascist regime.

There is probably no point in us talking with each other any longer. You believe in the fascist Kremlin regime invading a sovereign democratic nation and murdering its people. I hope one day you will take a more humane position, but I'm not optimistic.

4w ago

Western media really can't find a single Ukrainian to interview who's not an open nazi

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ModCen @feddit.uk 4w ago

I believe you edited this post after I replied to it. I think it originally said only "fuck off back to Reddit you fascist".

As I stated in my other reply to you: I oppose the fascist Russian government.

I love how self determination doesn’t apply to people of Donbas

I am in favour of self-determination, including in the Donbas. Unfortunately self-determination was taken away from those who live in the Donbas because armed separatists, helped by Russia, took over the region. They held sham "referendums" to try to legitimise their armed seizure of the region. I don't know which view is more popular in the Donbas right now: being part of Ukraine, or being part of Russia. Given the lack of political freedom in Russian-occupied territories these days, it is practically impossible right now to determine which view is more popular.

If you believe in self-determination then presumably you think Alexei Navalny should have been able to run in Russian elections? Presumably you think he shouldn't have been poisoned by the FSB? Perhaps you didn't agree with Navalny's views, and that's fine, but self-determination means that candidates you don't like must be able to stand in elections.

4w ago

Western media really can't find a single Ukrainian to interview who's not an open nazi

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ModCen @feddit.uk 4w ago

Navalny wasn’t a threat

Navalny wanted to sell out to the west, which was genuinely deeply unpopular

I see. If Navalny was such an unpopular non-threat, why did the FSB poison him? The purpose of the FSB is to protect Russia's ruling regime, right? So presumably they poisoned Navalny to protect the regime.

Why is it that Russian authorities can't even tolerate a mural of Navalny? See picture:

Ukraine, since 2014, has been governed by Banderites

Ukraine since 2014 has been governed by elected governments. Unlike Russia, which has been governed by a regime which prevents genuine elections from taking place.

Donetsk and Luhansk to secede and vote to join the Russian Federation

It's likely that you already know that armed separatists in those regions, with assistance from Russia, seized land and government buildings. Then they held sham "referendums" to try and make their armed seizure appear democratic.

4w ago

Western media really can't find a single Ukrainian to interview who's not an open nazi

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ModCen @feddit.uk 4w ago

I support democracy. I oppose the fascist government of Russia.

4w ago

Western media really can't find a single Ukrainian to interview who's not an open nazi

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ModCen @feddit.uk 4w ago

Ukraine had elections for many years. Now it would be difficult to organise an election because parts of their country are illegally occupied by the fascist Russian regime.

Russia, unlike Ukraine, has not had a legitimate presidential election for years. Ballot boxes are stuffed in Russian "elections". Opposition politicians are either banned from running (e.g. Boris Nadezhdin) or poisoned by the state because they are deemed too much of a threat to the powers that be (this happened to Alexei Navalny).

4w ago

Never waste a good crisis

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ModCen @feddit.uk 4w ago

Judaism can be converted to, right? So it's not just an ethnicity.

Therefore if you think "a country for Jewish people" is very bad then what about "a country for Muslim people"? Is everyone who supports the existence of Saudi Arabia or Iran "scum", for example?

My position is that supporting the existence of a religious country doesn't necessarily make a person "scum". I wouldn't fully agree with the views of such people (since I prefer secular countries with full freedom of religion and belief) but I'm not going to regard them all as "scum".

4w ago

Trump to remove whisky tariffs after King's visit

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ModCen @feddit.uk 4w ago

Maybe we should abolish the monarchy and have an elected head of state instead. Also perhaps we should increase our trading relationship with the EU for a real boost to our economy, instead of whatever tiny boost we might get from the US dropping tariffs on whisky.