AIBU to think this quote sums up Tommy Robinson and his supporters?

[Gingerbreadtree]

The quote is taken from the British philosopher Bertrand Russell's essay on Fascim in 1940,

"The first step in a fascist movement is the combination under an energetic leader of a number of men who possess more than the average share of leisure, brutality, and stupidity. The next step is to fascinate fools and muzzle the intelligent, by emotional excitement on the one hand and terrorism on the other."

To me it sums them up, but it sums up a lot of the far right in general. The same could be said about Farage and many of his supporters too.

Why is at always the fault of the left?

How does the left calling for a more inclusive society and fairer wealth distribution make a previously "moderate" person suddenly want to deport everyone who's brow and/or Muslim and remove our human rights?

The Greens are too soft on antisemitism? That's quite the understatement. Antisemitism is their main driver in the guise of a self hating Jew. You can choose to minimise their FASCIST regime but not everybody is prepared to.

Being highly educated doesn't mean you possess common sense and are free of prejudice and discrimination.

This is now showing itself up to be a niche and largely unsupported view that is part of the reason the left is being abandoned.

While people on the left keep digging their heels in welded tightly to niche deeply unpopular and not publically supported beliefs and trying to shame others for not having them, their credibility is being completely eroded.

With that level of discontentment added to the very uncertain economic climate we are seeing a corresponding rise in fascism.

👏 💯

It’s not just here, though, is it? Nearly every thread on Mumsnet is now polluted with transphobia. It’s actually horrifying and I feel this issue has been a gateway into right wing, regressive thinking for a large number of posters on here.

This. Literally no one cared about the rape gangs unless it gave them an angle they could use. The other side want you to never ever discuss it and call you racist if you mention how widespread it is and the racial targetting of the victims. Tommy's gang only care if white women are attacked by brown men. We really need our own party.

Jewish people are literally being murdered in this country due to extremism, and it’s not Tommy Robinson or Reform supporters doing it.
Im not a TR fan, but FFS!

Calling a trans person "a bloke in a dress" comes under the "invalidating" part of the definition, btw.
Who in their right mind would want to validate a voluntary choice to live in a fantasy?

There are men and there are women. Trans women are men who say they are women. Yes they exist but they are still men. They aren't a sub set of any sort of women.

This would have got me kicked out of the Green Party which you seem to think is 'inclusive'. So, not that inclusive then.

Amazing isn't it, how the be kinders seem to completely miss what is going on under their nose?

I think it's regressive to believe a man can become a woman. Its deluded and not nice to let people think this.

I mean, If I had the time, I would link to the same number of anti Semitic posts by Green councillors. In any case Tommy Robinson or Rupert Lowe are to the right of Reform. They don't have a chance of getting into government. The Greens are in with a high chance of becoming the kingmakers in any Labour ( particularly Burnham/Rayner led) government. They will Trojan horse the Hard Right in through their patronising ignorance. Or trash womens rights. Education does not equal intelligence. Especially if you are blinded by your own self righteousness.

At least two of Reform's recently elected councillors have been exposed as horrific anti-Semites, who publicly supported Hitler and claimed the Holocaust was a hoax. Those sound exactly like the type of people supporting and encouraging extremism to me.

Well, I would like to think that, even if people didn’t agree with such choices, they would at least show compassion for someone who has clearly been through inner turmoil. But I don’t see that on here, either; just some sort of belief that trans women are evil, twisted and hate women.

pho·bia
[ˈfəʊbiə]
noun
phobia (noun)
phobias (plural noun)
an extreme or irrational fear of or aversion to something:
"she suffered from a phobia about birds"

Just a reminder, that a phobia is an irrational fear of something, there is nothing irrational about not wanting men with fetishes or mental health problems in female spaces or activities. It is a totally rational thing to want.

The right wing? I take it you're including Islamic extremists in the right wing attack on trans?

Completely agree. Authoritarianism exists at both political extremes and I say that as a left of centre person. It’s the horseshoe theory of politics, that the far-left and far-right have more in common with each other than they do with the centre. Hence a horseshoe, where the two extremes bend towards each other, rather than a linear left to right spectrum. Anti-semitism being a current example of this.

Will you come back and do it when you have the time?

The inner turmoil of putting a v neck top on?

Or the inner turmoil of getting into hypno cissy porn at university?

What inner turmoil are you on about?

No they don't. Women and men pretending to be women exist.

Yes, of course I include Islamic extremists as right wing and anti-trans. What a strange question.

Yeah, it’s communism that the Greens are touting. Both political extremes are formulated in the same way - as with any extreme.

Ah, ok, so trans women don’t go through any kind of identity crisis, gender dysphoria, the trauma of coming out, etc etc. They just go and buy a v-neck top and say that makes them a woman.

I think it’s you who is living in a fantasy land.