My son has gone on the march

[funkadelic]

Hi, have been on here years but only lurk, don’t post. But today is the day.
I am in bits. My 22yr old DS is in London on this march. I am shaking and utterly appalled. We differ on politics massively and have done for some time. I work in education, have travelled and am bit of a lefty hippy but to be honest it’s becoming more about values and morals. He is fully immersed in the manosphere algorithm and I’ve always thought he is exploring himself and things and have chats about why he has the opinions he does and try and understand his point of view. I try not to belittle him but try and get him to critically think about things.
But this I can’t deal with. I am so upset that my son has gone to this, and that it is something that is so far away from me and my values, something that I thought I had instilled in him as well.
I am totally aware that it’s triggered embarrassment but that is my issue and I’m not putting that on him. He is still my son and I love him and his passion and interest in the world, just in something I believe is so wrong and makes me sad.
Please talk some sense into me.

If it was stable then it wouldn't 'topple'.

As it is, Labour are doing a very good job of making themselves superfluous to requirements without any help from the "right". 😃

“Susan the UK has solid foundations built on the back of immigration.”

People are sick of being told this lie.

British people built Britain over centuries. Not immigrants.

The people to blame are this, and successive governments.

I firmly believe in immigration. We need it. However, I believe it’s on a bell curve. We need people with niche skills at the top end, and low skilled to pick up the slack at the other end. There are enough people here to be trained up for the average jobs.

For example, I work in a large organisation. Recently, instead of hiring local British people (80% of them being youngsters) they’ve hired overseas students studying here and wanting to work p/t. I’m not even talking a few. In my dept. there are 5. I’ve never even heard of the college they go to. Why have they been hired rather than someone local? We have more applicants than jobs and most applicants are 16 - 25 years old. It’s also not a “best candidate” chosen. We’ve had to sack 2 of them for poor behaviour.

We don’t “need” these people. Someone British missed out on those jobs. That’s not fair.

The government needs to dial this down. I believe that the overseas students who are joining our company are part of a new deal the Labour govt negotiated as part of a trade agreement. If this is what they are promising as part of trade deals then it’s only going to get worse.

Undocumented males washing up on our shores has got to stop or it’s only a matter of time before we have a situation here that recently happened in Holland. An illegal migrant raped a girl, then 3 days later murdered another one. If that happens here the British public will lose it. I watched a meeting on sky yesterday where some locals met with male migrants in a hotel. It was an exercise to bring understanding but the migrant representing the others did say that they didn’t want to stay in France because the facilities are better here. So, basically the words out that if you come to the UK you will be taken care of better than anywhere else.

The rhetoric needs to be dialled down on immigration but in order to do so the government needs to do something drastic and visible to stop illegal immigration. The English are at boiling point and one major incident, like that in Holland a few weeks ago, will see it boil over.

Finally, we think it’s just a Uk issue. It’s not. A lot of Europe is very unhappy with the levels of illegal immigration.

My goodness are you this happy all of the time.

You mean he is supporting Tommy Robinson & the far right?

I would be very upset to see someone so close being radicalised and follow such hate-fulled views.

However I think it is best to maintain open communication with your son and to tell him calmly that you are concerned by his views/actions.

Many young people can be radicalised through social media/the Internet and peer pressure.

Also we have a serious issues with the media constantly platforming the likes of Farage and selling the idea that such views are "patriotic" or about "freedom of speech" when most of us can recognise racism and xenophobia when we see it in plain sight.

But you just said all that so you do already have freedom of speech. Others have the same freedom to reply.

You don't have the freedom to threaten violence and that is quite right.

For the third time, please would you advance your argument. How is a 6% minority threatening British culture? I would like to know.

All I can say really to the OP is that the chances are that your son has probably not turned into an extreme right winger.

I remember one of my friends as a child becoming a serious Marxist who spent his time fighting the police, fighting against what he perceived to be fascism, and being arrested a lot. His family were very worried about him.

However, years later he is now a rather pedestrian middle class professional like the rest of us. He grew out of it, probably because the people around him were there to show him that a good life was to be found in other ways and not in conflict.

This is most likely for your son OP, who will have to cycle through his own views. Racism is borne out of hopelessness and neglect. Family is more important than ever; it doesn’t have to be about politics. It’s about a good, reasoned life to be had and helping our children get there without lapsing into hate.

What has freedom of speech have to do with immigration?

The protests near hotels housing asylum seekers have not been stopped, people are allowed to speak out

How is your voic being silenced?

Keep going, more personal attacks, living up to your reputation 😁

It’s not solely for the left no. You’re probably more used to seeing one view.

Migration has absolutely benefited our country and there is absolutely no doubt about that.

If you think they are personal attacks, you can report them to MN

Labour are having a tough time of their own making.

Britain has seen wave after wave of immigration for millennia. Most British people are descended from immigrants of one kind or another.

What reputation?

Because the 6% may be small but very vocal.

They are not evenly distributed throughout the UK, so "ghettos" form which impedes integration.

What personal attack?

What effect on services in this country? Most services in this country run on immigrants! Immigration has been made a scapegoat in this country, like jews were by Hitler. The only problem with immigrants in this country is that they have become a target of a far right ideology at no fault of their own.

How are asylum seekers 'very vocal'?

Our speech is being censored on social media.
People are being arrested and given custodial sentences for stating an opinion.
One man said he loves bacon and was arrested
It's getting ridiculous and it's getting worse.

Immigrants who integrated and didn't foist their culture on the host country.

Which threatens British culture how, exactly? If immigrants are not integrating, how are they affecting the lives of indigenous British people?

No, not true.

We’ve had more immigration in the last twenty years than we had in the previous thousand.

That’s self-explanatory.