the 1970s oil embargo & resulting stagflation was felt to discredit the left on economics for two generations
& this is a million times stupider & more avoidable than that
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▪️ ignore 97% of the studies done
▪️ claim there aren't enough studies
▪️ ban care for trans teenagers on that basis
www.erininthemorning.com/p/new-nhs-en...
So very glad this bounced back around and landed in my feed today! So much crazy making nonsense, and then suddenly a tribute to truth seers and truth tellers. My deepest gratitude to all the Cassandras in my world!
it's (yet another) reason i reject the 'we need a normal centre right back' notion
i've got time for people who defected to our side, but anyone who went along with this is never to be trusted with governance ever again
www.liberalcurrents.com/it-wasnt-fas...
same on immigration- it's long been held that the right has more credibility on the issue
after recent horrors, we need to make the case they can never be trusted again on it - see my convo with @gregsargent.bsky.social
www.politicalphilosophypodcast.com/li
we need to create reputational, trust, & competence perception consequences of this for decades to come
it's crackers that trump was allowed to run as an anti-war, anti-couruption candidate 8 years after bush
never again do we not hold it over their heads
the 1970s oil embargo & resulting stagflation was felt to discredit the left on economics for two generations
& this is a million times stupider & more avoidable than that
3% of atheists believe in god
2% of biblical literalists think jesus was a fictional character
& i want to see a debate between them
i love religion polling, could look at stuff like this forever
see also 12% of atheists believe in reincarnation
i read around on this & there're a million blog posts by priests explaining, no, reincarnation isn't really on the table for catholics
& the comments are unfailingly like "well if it makes sense to you, i say go for it"
toby's stat of the day: 38% of us catholics believe in reincarnation
that'll be this friday's episode
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can the uk labour party - from either an electoral or moral standpoint - come back from this?
just recorded a great conversation with @danielsohege.bsky.social mulling this over
(& if you haven't seen his shorts on trans & refugee rights you should check them out 👇)
but i also do say in the essay 'what the hell happened to the centre right' is a question on which more (good) work needs to be done - this is like my first pass at it from within the theoretical framework that i generally use
so while it *was* shocking, & was a turning point, i think people who experienced it as a pure 'out nowhere' break kinda hadn't been paying attention - or, more charitably - our dominant interpretive lenses obfuscated the ways our world was changing
i could have been clearer on that
i won't do a point by point, read it & decide for yourself
one clarification: i think the 2016 moment *appeared to many* as having come out of nowhere, but actually had antecedents & structural reasons that went back a bit
bsky.app/profile/bord...
thoughtful critique of my latest from a centre-right perspective
if you're committed to just accepting public opinion as is & the right feels empowered to try & change it, the whole country will invariably get pulled right fast
as we're seeing
that's not to say a maximalist position is always strategically wise
but you have to at least be open to trying to change public opinion in some circumstances
they right is never held back by "what about mythical swing voter?" considerations
the press don't put that on them, their parties don't hamstring themselves in that way
they figure if they yell about it & have the right wing press hammer the point home, they'll move public opinion
& they are - 10% to 25%, but still
war with iran is 30 points underwater with uk voters, really no one wants it
do the right wing parties let that hold them back? clearly not
man, if only someone had warned them this wasn't going to work
bsky.app/profile/polp...
i wouldn't go as far as to say labour are a far-right party, but they're certainly implementing far-right policies
so it's not just that their unpopularity makes the greens the strategic choice - if you're motivation is to vote against far right policy that now *includes* labour
the thing is, it's not just lefties upset that they're not getting what they want
that's part of it, but - as the article correctly says - the latest immigration reforms are well to the right of previous conservative governments
i would also add the rollback of trans rights to that
"progressives aren’t just voting against Reform, they are now actively voting against Labour"
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
thus concludes toby's lunchtime thoughts
i've only made it with lamb, but i imagine it would also work with goat
(if you can get fresh curry leaves, which my local world foods store does, they're a lovely thing to cook with -
my railway curry for instance is just lamb braised with them & garam masala, then add a little tamarind & coconut milk at the end)
