We all know the famous Shakespeare quote about the state of Denmark.
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This is not my experience. Yes, I read and hear about fear, helplessness and complacency.
I also see people building communities of mutual aid, locally and globally. Neighbours who help each other, bit by bit finding out where it hurts and what to do. Growing trust and faith in humanity.
Act, rather than add our opinion to the plethora of narratives. Prepare, don't scare.
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@passenger @shantara @Pepijn Sweden has proper swedish troll farms run by the "we're totally not nazis anymore, since we hate muslims more than jews" party, the blueprint for it is copied from the russian troll farms though.
I wish we could be working away on the background level of xenophobia though, but after a long while of (too) slowly getting better, but for the last decade things are backsliding bad under a combination of domestic and foreign propaganda.
@maswan @passenger @Pepijn “Background level of xenophobia” is a good way to describe it. I’ve personally seen several of outwardly very liberal Danish acquaintances say some wild stuff after a few drinks, but they at least had enough sense to keep it under wraps in their daily lives. But now such viewpoints have become a part of the mainstream political culture
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Maybe examples are a good idea:
>Being openly xenophobic
The local leader of the Danmarksdemokraterne (Danish Democrats) here acts openly racist in public*. And is not called out for it because "his policies for the community are not xenophobic."
*What I witnessed personally: he's third in a restaurant line. He waits for the older 'ethnic Dane' and then steps around the clearly 'not-ethnic Dane' and orders as if she doesn't exist.
People report the same behaviour in the supermarket etc.1/2
2/2 A local man had this as his Facebook profile banner.
[Bunch of people holding up a banner saying "white lives matter" (in itself a racist slogan). Someone added "Only" to the image to emphasise the racism to the less intellectual racists.]
A candidate standing in yesterdays elections for Danish Democrats liked this.
As I consider this relevant I contacted journalists from national outlets. One replied "You have to understand in Denmark we don't discuss private life of candidates".
2/2
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Maybe examples are a good idea:
>Being openly xenophobic
The local leader of the Danmarksdemokraterne (Danish Democrats) here acts openly racist in public*. And is not called out for it because "his policies for the community are not xenophobic."
*What I witnessed personally: he's third in a restaurant line. He waits for the older 'ethnic Dane' and then steps around the clearly 'not-ethnic Dane' and orders as if she doesn't exist.
People report the same behaviour in the supermarket etc.1/2
@Pepijn Cutting the line, at least in other Nordic countries is usually very much frowned upon. Doing so is very much a statment.
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@passenger @shantara @Pepijn hmm, as a European, in most of the circles I move in it's recognised this is a complex problem. Caused by industrial decline, the loss of state capacity through neoliberalism, and a failure to neutralise right-wing narratives for decades.
I associate the "it was Russia" with a specific strand of liberals you also see in the US.
A bigger issue is that many left parties have concluded they cannot change opinion anymore, so have to ride the ride of nativism instead.
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@Pepijn It amazing, right. I mean, DK probably has problems with a few "foreigners", but it is far from an important agenda at this time.
But I am curious, do you mean Messerschmidt from Dansk Folkeparti or Støjbjerg from Danmarksdemokraterne? They both use xenophobic rhetoric.
Støjbjerg was impeached and convicted for systematically breaking the law in the treatment of refugees, which is now celebrated by her fans as an act of freedom and courage.
@tokeriis In our area "foreigners" mostly help bring in the wealth our community has.
Both by working and living here (for example LEGO, it would not have been the company it is today without all the diversity brought in by hiring people from all over the world), and with all the tourists coming here to visit the theme parks etc.I mean both. There's not much difference between them and for all we know next election there's a third that just happens to be most popular one.
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@maswan @passenger @Pepijn “Background level of xenophobia” is a good way to describe it. I’ve personally seen several of outwardly very liberal Danish acquaintances say some wild stuff after a few drinks, but they at least had enough sense to keep it under wraps in their daily lives. But now such viewpoints have become a part of the mainstream political culture
@shantara @passenger @Pepijn Yup. And they fade even more into the background now that the extreme racism that 15 years ago would be shunned in polite nordic society are now "reasonable talking points" in mainstream politics.
I despair a bit on how much work there is to be done to get things back to where we again can make progress on this.
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And while I am happy that the "left" did reasonably well in yesterdays elections, it is not the win it is made out to be.
The area I call home is the base of the world's largest toy company. It has a massive airport and hosts other large employers.
Most people, including unemployed, in this area have a high quality of life.
There's no "30% of people loosing out" here. Yet that is what many do believe. The cause? Foreigners (and, apparently, solar panels). The solution? Vote "against".
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@Pepijn jeeeeesus Christ
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@cazmockett @Pepijn Here in the Netherlands it's the same.
It echoes a past I only heard stories about from older generations. I don't want to have to tell my own similar stories to young people in the future.
@geppiegep @Pepijn I think it is becoming common everywhere. So depressing.
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2/2 A local man had this as his Facebook profile banner.
[Bunch of people holding up a banner saying "white lives matter" (in itself a racist slogan). Someone added "Only" to the image to emphasise the racism to the less intellectual racists.]
A candidate standing in yesterdays elections for Danish Democrats liked this.
As I consider this relevant I contacted journalists from national outlets. One replied "You have to understand in Denmark we don't discuss private life of candidates".
2/2
@Pepijn this is the party that was founded by the person who was impeached, ejected from parliament, and given a prison sentence for (racist) human rights violations while serving as immigration minister - supporting this party, let alone running as one of their candidates, is an open acknowledgement of being a white nationalist shitbag
I hate it, but I can understand why nobody is surprised
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This is not my experience. Yes, I read and hear about fear, helplessness and complacency.
I also see people building communities of mutual aid, locally and globally. Neighbours who help each other, bit by bit finding out where it hurts and what to do. Growing trust and faith in humanity.
Act, rather than add our opinion to the plethora of narratives. Prepare, don't scare.
>I also see people building communities of mutual aid, locally and globally.
Both can be true. In the 1990s the Dutch Socialist Party was a good example of this. On the one hand all about local capacity building for "all of us", and at the same time these same kind locals would fight against any facilities for asylum seekers as these would take stuff away from "us".
Mutual aid among kindred spirits is easy. Being kind to strangers is the hard bit.
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>I also see people building communities of mutual aid, locally and globally.
Both can be true. In the 1990s the Dutch Socialist Party was a good example of this. On the one hand all about local capacity building for "all of us", and at the same time these same kind locals would fight against any facilities for asylum seekers as these would take stuff away from "us".
Mutual aid among kindred spirits is easy. Being kind to strangers is the hard bit.
The communities I see and experience do reach out and aim to be inclusive. This is a process, obviously.
It is vital to face facts as to the resurgence of fascism, and also fight back by acting, instead of amplifying doom scenario narratives. Howling w the wolves is doing the oppressors work. Why would you?
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@Pepijn this is the party that was founded by the person who was impeached, ejected from parliament, and given a prison sentence for (racist) human rights violations while serving as immigration minister - supporting this party, let alone running as one of their candidates, is an open acknowledgement of being a white nationalist shitbag
I hate it, but I can understand why nobody is surprised
>I hate it, but I can understand why nobody is surprised
But what it says in that image is the opposite of what both their party line and the politician himself say.
In a good system that politician would be asked about this by a journalist. If only to get it on the record as "I am actually a racist based on skin-tone" is not a private matter.
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@passenger @shantara @Pepijn don't believe the hype
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..also, I see it as a challenge. Make the community/events/vibe so attractive, everyone WANTS to join.
And remember to enjoy it yourself, too🤍
Praise will confuse the enemy
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=BadPZsYAdq0&si=c8A-AAYYNNnP9eMy
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@passenger @shantara @Pepijn I'm sure that Russian money and online influence is helping some of the key people, however indirectly. But it wouldn't be the case if Europe wasn't already fertile ground.
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2/2 A local man had this as his Facebook profile banner.
[Bunch of people holding up a banner saying "white lives matter" (in itself a racist slogan). Someone added "Only" to the image to emphasise the racism to the less intellectual racists.]
A candidate standing in yesterdays elections for Danish Democrats liked this.
As I consider this relevant I contacted journalists from national outlets. One replied "You have to understand in Denmark we don't discuss private life of candidates".
2/2
@Pepijn We truely live in the #Assholecene, where posting racist shite and vice-signalling are becoming ubiquitous.
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