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Am I a far right extremist?

1000 replies

Isitme245 · 25/01/2025 11:30

I had a conversation with my best friend of 25 years the other day and she called me a far right extremist and how my views are scary, dangerous and 'nazi coded'
I was really shocked as I didn't think any of what I said was bad. I'm not a particularly avid supporter of any political party and very much keep opinions to myself. She's very supportive of labour and anti trump and always has been. Usually when she asks me my opinions I just don't want to get into it but I did the other night and now I feel bad.

Here's the breakdown:

  • she sent me an article and told me that Nigel Farage is going to ban abortion eventually if he wins an election. I read the article and pointed out he only suggested lowering the abortion cut off date to 22 weeks (not 24 as it is now). I told her it wasn't the end of the world and it's reasonable if you read his reasons. I also made the point that men shouldn't really be getting involved in abortion law but that what he said wasn't the end of the world.
  • she asked me about immigration and I said that it's great but that we should be prioritising skilled immigrants and have stronger immigration laws. She also asked about asylum seekers and hotels and I said that we should have stronger laws about monitoring people and collecting documentation when people arrive.
  • she sent me and asked about Elon Musk's Nazi salute and I said I didn't interpret it that way
  • I said that immigrants who rape or murder should be deported.

To me this feels really reasonable and not over the top but she really attacked me for it? Now I feel really awkward and uncomfortable talking to her. Is this far right??

OP posts:
Thread gallery
22
AnnaFrith · 25/01/2025 15:33

OP, you probably are 'a far right extremist', as that's an expression that seems to be going the same way as 'transphobe', to now mean 'somebody with completely unremarkable and sensible views'.

I seem to have become one as well, despite being a lifelong socialist, and a former Labour party member, who had always voted for left wing parties until 2024.

The refusal of those parties to give up woke nonsense like transgenderism and their dismissal of concerns about immigration and mutli-culturalism is going to give us Prime Minister Farage, just like it's given America President Trump.

This is such a fucking disaster for a planet facing catastrophic climate change that if I believed in conspiracy theories I'd be convinced the oil companies were paying the leaders of the so-called left wing parties to be so deliberately obtuse.

Serpentstooth · 25/01/2025 15:33

More right-wing faux-naivete, thanks OP. MN was running a bit short of this kind of sly provocation.

MistressoftheDarkSide · 25/01/2025 15:33

I have some dark thoughts about the Abortion issue.

In regards to women's rights, it's a power play. An outright ban affects women's choices in a myriad of ways. Some will have to live with raising the consequences of rape and incest, potentially when they are still children themselves. It could open up far more babies being available to the adoption industry, and / or unwanted babies becoming state property.

It will mean we go back to the time when a woman's sex life was everybody else's business but their own. Bear in mind hard-line anti-abortionists also campaign against birth control,especially hormonally based ones as it interferes with religious views about life beginning at conception, so preventing conception is bad because "God".

If abortion is banned and women give birth to more children with significant health issues, it generally takes them out of the workforce. Healthcare and support are already stretched to the limit, so this is where I struggle to understand the logic of everyone complaining about the cost of those who are perceived to be a drain on society, yet also demanding that forced birth, even in horrific circumstances is preferable, leading to lifetimes of financial and emotional suffering for both mother and child.

Law around abortion should always be framed as protecting women and allowing them to make choices between themselves, their healthcare providers and their God if applicable.

Bottom line is that the state, in terms if reproductive choice and freedom, should not be allowed to decide wholesale who lives and who dies. And criminalising abortion means more women die.

There is precious little pressure on men to choose how they disseminate their seed (hormone driven, can't help themselves, bless) but women are counselled to keep their legs shut, and even if they are pried open by an entitled man, even a relative, they should suck it up, accept their part in it by virtue of being a fertile woman, and go all Virgin Mary to nurture the possible offspring.

The alleged God some people want to appease created everything, ergo, He facilitated abortion. Let it be. Women are at the mercy of natural selection of their wanted offspring as it stands. Abortion rights should be let well alone, and those who have never been affected by it should butt the hell out if their motivation is purely to see women kept in their place. Goddammit, we are human beings and we deserve equal rights in every area, including bodily autonomy. This is a hill i would die on.

At the moment there is a growing and frightening zeitgeist that dictates the unproductive economically have almost zero value. If you're in that number, likely through no choice of your own, the world is a scary place right now.

The most astonishing thing about attitudes to humanity in general at the moment is how political rhetoric is encouraging out and out hatred of so groups that anyone of us could fall into on the roll of the dice. People always say "oh but we don't mean YOU" in those cases, but the cognitive dissonance is there.

Poor people, foreign people, disabled people are all being targeted as the reason for the world's economic problems, and those who point at billionaires and trillionaires serving their own interests are called jealous, paranoid, conspiracy theorists.

Left or right? I think we've got a problem too big for such simplistic terms.

80smonster · 25/01/2025 15:33

Isitme245 · 25/01/2025 11:30

I had a conversation with my best friend of 25 years the other day and she called me a far right extremist and how my views are scary, dangerous and 'nazi coded'
I was really shocked as I didn't think any of what I said was bad. I'm not a particularly avid supporter of any political party and very much keep opinions to myself. She's very supportive of labour and anti trump and always has been. Usually when she asks me my opinions I just don't want to get into it but I did the other night and now I feel bad.

Here's the breakdown:

  • she sent me an article and told me that Nigel Farage is going to ban abortion eventually if he wins an election. I read the article and pointed out he only suggested lowering the abortion cut off date to 22 weeks (not 24 as it is now). I told her it wasn't the end of the world and it's reasonable if you read his reasons. I also made the point that men shouldn't really be getting involved in abortion law but that what he said wasn't the end of the world.
  • she asked me about immigration and I said that it's great but that we should be prioritising skilled immigrants and have stronger immigration laws. She also asked about asylum seekers and hotels and I said that we should have stronger laws about monitoring people and collecting documentation when people arrive.
  • she sent me and asked about Elon Musk's Nazi salute and I said I didn't interpret it that way
  • I said that immigrants who rape or murder should be deported.

To me this feels really reasonable and not over the top but she really attacked me for it? Now I feel really awkward and uncomfortable talking to her. Is this far right??

Abortion laws shouldn’t be amended unless the NHS is able to speed up the process for each and every woman. I must have missed Farages proposed NHS investment? Without the money to underpin a faster service this clearly would not be in the best interest of women. So yes, that’s a very extremist and odd view you hold.

samarrange · 25/01/2025 15:35

we should be prioritising skilled immigrants

You are in luck, at least on paper, because this is actually pretty much the stated policy of the present and previous government. The problems are (a) highly skilled people are more likely to go to the US/Canada where they can earn more, and (b) the UK actually needs a large number of not-especially-skilled people because of the ageing population. The Conservative government more or less admitted as much when it issued 1.2 million visas in a single year when Suella Braverman was Home Secretary.

You could of course make the immigration laws tougher (e.g., minimum salary offer £75k), and that would greatly reduce immigration, but then employers, especially from the hospitality and care sectors and the NHS, would face huge staff shortages. There seems to be a belief that there are large numbers of indigenous Brits who just need to be told to get off their arses, but anyone who is unemployed for more than a few months in the current state of the labour market probably isn't someone you would want to hire or supervise.

I have some sympathy with the idea that bringing in large numbers of foreigners risks disturbing the social balance and putting pressure on housing, particularly in large urban areas, but the country has to make a choice between immigration and economic activity. Those meal deal sandwiches won't make themselves, and you maybe don't want that unemployable, poorly-socialised slob getting off the sofa to bathe your Mum in the care home. If Reform was prepared to say "We want lower immigration, and if that means wage inflation and even fewer staff in A&E, so be it", they would at least have a coherent position. But to be fair, all of the major political parties are guilty of cakeism on this, even if only by omission.

Catsandcheese · 25/01/2025 15:35

seriouslyfunny · 25/01/2025 15:30

I don't think I would call you extreme right wing but not sure how you interpreted the salute as anything else! With regards to abortion, I discussed this once with someone who was very pro choice and its about drawing a line. If you move it to 22 weeks, someone else will come along, and try to move it to 20 weeks etc. I remember also reading that late abortions almost never happen and are often related to serious medical issues for mother/foetus. So the argument used by Farage is emotionally manipulative.

Personally I get bored of both sides bashing each other. Care about the climate left wing looney. Worried about immigration right wing nut. All the people throwing these insults around are the problem, making society more and more divided.

The problem really comes down to the press, people are heavily influenced by their right wing agenda, here and in America in particular.
Woke, loony lefties, turning the country over to immigrants, the absolute chaos Musk created over the grooming scandals, and subsequent death threats to people like Jess Philips who daily try to help women and girls' suffering, 'two tier' Keir putting people in prison because they are white.
I worry that a huge number of people have lost or have never been taught critical thinking skills.

febmayjune87 · 25/01/2025 15:35

I don't think Elon musk is a nazi. I think he's a massive attention seeker and he knew it would send him viral

genesis92 · 25/01/2025 15:36

You're not far right, you just have common sense.

Dappy777 · 25/01/2025 15:37

Anyone who thinks you're unreasonable for wanting rapists and murderers deported is a lunatic. They're the irrational, brainwashed extremist, not you. Any sane, rational human being would agree that such people should be removed. If you asked someone in Nepal or Vietnam or Nigeria or the Amazonian rainforest if they'd welcome a rapist or murderer into their village they'd think you were mad. It just shows what a stranglehold the woke left have got over academia, the media and the arts that you even feel the need to ask.

TheseCalmSeas · 25/01/2025 15:37

OneTC · 25/01/2025 15:27

Lots of people knocking out nazi salutes wouldn't be entirely politically aligned with the Nazi party. They do it because it's shocking. Musk deployed it in the same fashion.

I agree. He’s desperate for attention

lifeonmars100 · 25/01/2025 15:37

So what was Elon Musk doing? the hokey cokey by chance?

And as for Farage, he is testing the water with the comment about abortion, he knows what an emotive subject it is and he is seeing which way the wind could blow on this. I doubt he has any particular views, he just wants power and is always looking for ways in with the electorate.

Animatic · 25/01/2025 15:37

Most of what you said in your OP sort of made sense until you got to Musk and his "gesture". A la poubelle.

freakyfriday23 · 25/01/2025 15:38

Your friends opinion is a text book response to your answers from the left. Her views are all part of the problem and have directly strengthened the growth of the real far right. I agree with your views btw as do many educated brits as opposed to (as they prefer to think) bald uneducated tattoo smothered British yobs. She's a fucking idiot

Doloresparton · 25/01/2025 15:40

lifeonmars100 · 25/01/2025 15:37

So what was Elon Musk doing? the hokey cokey by chance?

And as for Farage, he is testing the water with the comment about abortion, he knows what an emotive subject it is and he is seeing which way the wind could blow on this. I doubt he has any particular views, he just wants power and is always looking for ways in with the electorate.

I think Musk is testing the water too.
It wasn’t a Nazi salute as I would recognise it but imo he knew what the effect would be.

SerafinasGoose · 25/01/2025 15:40

If you know the purpose of an anomaly scan - it's called this for a reason - then nothing below the 24-week limit is reasonable. In the context of the increasingly tightening of the noose surrounding women's rights - including the disastrous overturning of Roe vs. Wade and the mooting of the death penalty for abortion in South Carolina - I'd say we're experiencing an alarming rollback of women's individual autonomy and that this is a matter of real concern.

There is more mistaking a Nazi salute than a swastika, no matter how much Musk's supporters try to deflect from what is patently obvious to anyone with eyes. And yes, I saw the footage. That was a deliberately provocative gesture coupled with just enough plausible deniability to provide a get-out clause. It's not only incendiary, but cowardice to boot.

The views you list in your opening post are right wing. I wouldn't call them far right or extremist - this is becoming an increasingly tired objection to anyone holding contrary opinions or views I might personally find distasteful. To me, they merely look ill-informed.

Matilda761 · 25/01/2025 15:42

Out of interest, does your friend live a very sheltered existence? Does she pay a decent amount of tax or is she a net recipient from the state?

Wemaybebetterstrangers · 25/01/2025 15:42

SerafinasGoose · 25/01/2025 15:40

If you know the purpose of an anomaly scan - it's called this for a reason - then nothing below the 24-week limit is reasonable. In the context of the increasingly tightening of the noose surrounding women's rights - including the disastrous overturning of Roe vs. Wade and the mooting of the death penalty for abortion in South Carolina - I'd say we're experiencing an alarming rollback of women's individual autonomy and that this is a matter of real concern.

There is more mistaking a Nazi salute than a swastika, no matter how much Musk's supporters try to deflect from what is patently obvious to anyone with eyes. And yes, I saw the footage. That was a deliberately provocative gesture coupled with just enough plausible deniability to provide a get-out clause. It's not only incendiary, but cowardice to boot.

The views you list in your opening post are right wing. I wouldn't call them far right or extremist - this is becoming an increasingly tired objection to anyone holding contrary opinions or views I might personally find distasteful. To me, they merely look ill-informed.

Was Macron doing the ‘nazi’ salute?

https://x.com/Basil_TGMD/status/1882930215082655866

x.com

https://x.com/Basil_TGMD/status/1882930215082655866

lifeonmars100 · 25/01/2025 15:44

Catsandcheese · 25/01/2025 15:35

The problem really comes down to the press, people are heavily influenced by their right wing agenda, here and in America in particular.
Woke, loony lefties, turning the country over to immigrants, the absolute chaos Musk created over the grooming scandals, and subsequent death threats to people like Jess Philips who daily try to help women and girls' suffering, 'two tier' Keir putting people in prison because they are white.
I worry that a huge number of people have lost or have never been taught critical thinking skills.

And people often do not seem to have a basic grasp of civics, how elections work, what democracy entails (the recent petition calling for a general election was a good example of that), some do not know the difference between a local councillor and an MP, many do not a working knowledge of how the criminal justice system operates or how public services function. I think there is a strong case for teaching civics in school, I did not have an especially good education but we did study this in. I remember going to watch some cases at the magistrates court and studying how universal suffrage was achieved in this country.

TENSsion · 25/01/2025 15:45

ChallahPlaiter · 25/01/2025 13:35

What’s wrong with it is that it immediately and completely denies the existence of any other identification than man (now synonymous with male in the US) and woman (now synonymous with female). That, no matter what your position, negates the lived reality of thousands of people and puts them at risk.
I also think the idea of being gender critical has been hijacked by the right and that perfectly considerate and well meaning people are inadvertently supporting some really rather authoritarian ideology. But that’s an issue for another day.

Which people have the “lived reality” of being neither male nor female?

LoveRicePudding · 25/01/2025 15:45

Are you looking for validation? Yes, you have far right opinions.

MistressoftheDarkSide · 25/01/2025 15:46

Any outward thrust, palm down salute is resonant of the Nazi salute. If a hand was placed on heart and then arm flung outwards and sideways with palm facing that would better communicate "my heart to yours". The former is a dominant gesture, the latter would be expansive.

YoureNotGoingOutLikeThat · 25/01/2025 15:47

Thing is, we are all somewhere on a political spectrum and asking others to the left or right of us will give us different answers as to how they see us. I think of myself as a centrist but I'm a mish mash of different views on things. Some of my friends on the right think of me as a "loony leftie" and my friends on the left think of me as a soft Tory.
I think the important thing is to develop your own views and to do that by researching well sourced articles, reading widely from different political and global viewnpoints and talking with people who have different perspectives to you. Asking why people have the views they have and listening to them to understand their viewpoints is worthwhile.

LL1991 · 25/01/2025 15:48

If you are then I am because honestly same! Except to Elon, while I don’t think he intended to do a nazi salute (maybe, who can be sure?!) that’s certainly what it looked like on camera

Feelingathomenow · 25/01/2025 15:48

lifeonmars100 · 25/01/2025 15:37

So what was Elon Musk doing? the hokey cokey by chance?

And as for Farage, he is testing the water with the comment about abortion, he knows what an emotive subject it is and he is seeing which way the wind could blow on this. I doubt he has any particular views, he just wants power and is always looking for ways in with the electorate.

He was feeding into his much beloved divide and conquer strategy

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