I don’t know if this is 100% strictly privacy related but I think it does fall in the sphere of protecting one’s right to express oneself privately.
"Government officials have drawn up deeply controversial proposals to broaden the definition of extremism to include anyone who “undermines” the country’s institutions and its values, according to documents seen by the Observer.
The new definition, prepared by civil servants working for cabinet minister Michael Gove, is fiercely opposed by a cohort of officials who fear legitimate groups and individuals will be branded extremists.
The proposals have provoked a furious response from civil rights groups with some warning it risks “criminalising dissent”, and would significantly suppress freedom of expression."
Why is the UK turning into a fucking dictatorship
It’s incredible how many people think the UK is better than the US when it clearly is not.
Not having healthcare is kind of a big deal. It’s easy for us Europeans to forget the implications, but for a significant portion of the US populous, if they get sick they’ll either go bankrupt or they’ll simply just die. Which is insane.
to be fair… they won’t die from an acute injury… they will die slowly from chronic conditions while being sucked dried for everything they got.
That sounds much better.
Getting sucked dry does sound much better.
“Better than the US” is a bit too unspecific to judge. If you mean for privacy, the UK is certainly on the bad end of things.
This is one I’d say is comparing apples to oranges. They each are good and bad in different ways. The unfortunate thing is that our current government wants the UK to be more like the US which will be a net negative to everyone in the UK. For example, they’ve been gutting the NHS for years to pave the way for a privatised hellscape.
I dont care to compare. I dont need to lord over people on whose country is turning more shit. Just do what you can to stop this current worldwide rise in fascism. VOTE (if you can).
It’s not as if the u.s. doesn’t have anti-bds laws. Also if the conservatives/Republicans were in power in the u.s. like in the u.k. they definitely would be trying something similar to this
These things are multifaceted.
Privacy? Hell no.
Healthcare? Absolutely (though trending the wrong direction)
Public transport? Better, though again heading the wrong way.
That idea fell way off for me after the lies and manipulation of Brexit.
UK has always been slowly moving towards 1984.
They shear amount of CCTV is extremely unsettling for foreigners visiting.
Tories.
Damn. It’s always those stupid conservatives who ruin everything on this planet
Oh yeah, because authoritarianism doesn’t give large chunks of the labour party massive hard ons too.
If they’d had their way all our biometrics would be on a database and we’d have to have our id cards with us at all times.
Yes, that’s true. Recently though, the ones responsible have been Tories. But I agree. There’s a general tendency in the governing culture of the UK to override basic rights in the name of expediency or convenience for the government.
Oh absolutely. I just think that there’s a danger that people will think if the Tories are out of power all of these kinds of proposals will just disappear.
Well… The voters who vote for Tories…
Dumb people will always exist
Having lived in various countries in Europe including over a decade in the UK, my theory is three fold:
- It already started with a system were power is dynastic (not just because of the monarchy and an unelected 2nd chamber were many members inherit their position but also because it has a well-entrenched system of private schools which tie to elite universites and from there to political, media, corporate and judiciary to positions) were there used to be some level of noblesse oblige (the duty of the upper classes toward “their lessers”) which is now completelly gone: the UK copied the “everybody for themselves” spirit from the US (but not the “go getter spirit”) into a system which was already incredibly stratified into classes and riddled with priviledge, so it basically ended up just being used by the rich scions of the rich to tell themselves their wealth is due to personal merit and from which it “logically” follows that the poverty of the poor is due to them being lazy and the rest of of the population should just do as they’re told by such clearly superior people.
- Starting in the Thatcher years the Press in the UK was bough by a handfull of very rich people who don’t pay tax in the UK, most noteably Murdoch. That fully privatised and Press whose ownership was then heavilly concentrated, was then used for propagand purposes, pushing anything and everything to make the power of the state subservient to the power of money, mainly by removal of regulation and lowering of effective corporate taxes and taxes for the wealthy (though the UK already had unique legal frameworks to allow the very wealthy to avoid all tax, most noteably the Non-Resident Tax Status) as well as views such as the above mentioned one that poverty is caused by laziness and being wealthy comes from merit.
- Being a de facto Two Party System due to a First Past The Post representative allocation system that makes it extremelly hard for a third option to rise to power (and on the rare occasions when they get close - about once every half a century - they’re quickly “put back in their place”), the extreme right in the UK, rather than try and gain power through the popular vote (as you see, for example in The Netherlands, where they float around the 15% mark) were they would require millions of votes to get power, have instead just infiltrated one of the power duopoly parties and thus only needed about 50k votes to take power (by outvoting other factions inside that party to elect their people as leaders). Once they dominated the Tory party, the First Past The Post system makes it extremelly hard to dislodge the party even though it has massivelly changed, and you even get effects like the other mainstream party of the Party Duopoly shifting its policies more towards the agenda that’s being set by the far right now in power.
Murdoch is the main driving force. He got Tony Blair in, and after the Leveson Inquiry where the ethics of the press was called into question and found wanting, absolutely nothing was done (under Cameron).
Strong analysis
Conservatism is fascism in a trench coat
I agree
Monarchy, dictatorship … potato patato
They’re not a monarchy though, and haven’t been for a long time. They’re a parliamentary democracy, or at least they have been. They’re definitely edging dictatorship.
#ThanksGaza for exposing these governments.
Queen died, and they gained her spoiled cunt of a son as a king.
Oh yeah that’s it, the 63rd inbred figurehead that finally did the trick
1984 was supposed to be a warning, not a fucking manual.
Lol fr. It’s like they watched all the movies and books about dystopia and thought, “okay, this looks good, let’s do this”
Even the wording and grammar sounds like they are doing a 1984 parody
Honestly a lot of things today seem like funhouse mirrors of scifi dystopias. There is something to be asked of chicken or the egg with our similarities. Did the writers just think about how we would eventually end up and just got slightly wrong with the details or did someone with terrible social skills and a fucked up hyper focused head think it was a good idea and aimed to make it reality.
It happens all the time with items from Star Trek. Literally engineers wanting to make the gadgets they saw and even Meta pulls it’s name from a dystopia novel that Zuck thinks is neat instead of horrifying.
So do we put forth ideas only to normalize them and make them true? Do thoughts become reality whether good or bad? Or do people have the ability to extrapolate where we are heading through guess work and random chance with enough time and effort?
Because I’m horrified if twilight becomes real… Oh God is it already real?? Has anyone been to Utah lately?!
don’t forget to practice your double think
Doubleplus ungood.
The day after the 5th of November. Nothing bad ever happens when you suppress the freedom of speech and the right to protest.
Remember, remember! The fifth of November, The Gunpowder treason and plot; I know of no reason Why the Gunpowder treason Should ever be forgot! Guy Fawkes and his companions Did the scheme contrive, To blow the King and Parliament All up alive. Threescore barrels, laid below, To prove old England's overthrow. But, by God's providence, him they catch, With a dark lantern, lighting a match! A stick and a stake For King James's sake! If you won't give me one, I'll take two, The better for me, And the worse for you. A rope, a rope, to hang the Pope, A penn'orth of cheese to choke him, A pint of beer to wash it down, And a jolly good fire to burn him. Holloa, boys! holloa, boys! make the bells ring! Holloa, boys! holloa boys! God save the King! Hip, hip, hooor-r-r-ray!
Climate protests are probably gonna be illegal in many places soon… :(
Lol, that and Israel is what this is all about.
Honestly I think climate protests are the least of your concern. Before you know it we will need to be careful not to commit though crime as then the thought police will find us
broaden the definition of extremism to include anyone who “undermines” the country’s institutions and its values
Guess I’m an extremist 🤷♂️
Who gets to define what the country’s values are? Who defines which activities undermine them and its institutions? You could plausibly argue that the present Conservative government is working hard to undermine the country’s values and institutions. You could argue that introducing this very bill is an attempt to undermine the country’s values and institutions.
Person/group in charge is always right!
No no no, you see you’re missing that only browns and poors can do that.
Proper nomenclature is “domestic terrorist”
Funny how mouth breather right loved patriot act until recently …
Now they woke up but it is too late!
They think they’ll be the ones enforcing the act, so they’re not that afraid.
The reality is much stupider. It has the word patriot in it, so they love it.
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“You’re no longer allowed to be upset at your government and if you are you’ll be met with violence”
people use violence
“They just love violence nobody said they were upset!”
Are we in the V for vendetta timeline now?
remember remember
The 5th of November…oh shit that was yesterday.
Yeah, almost seems like a bit too much of a coincidence to me…
Finally, its about time. We need to centralize authority as democracy never does anything good
Edit: this is a joke just to be clear
Die in a hole, in Minecraft
That’s not very Orwellian of you
holy shit let me out of here
if you’re serious, then here’s two places i recommend to make a start on that train of thought
https://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org should clue you in on which “advanced economies” might skew towards the life factors that interest you
and https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison-tool might help you narrow down which of these will be a better cultural fit
i’m aware there’s a lot of subjectivity in these two links but, it could help you make a start.
many people are great at saying “get me out of here” online, but not many people follow up that thought, and ask themselves “but where to?”
be one of those who answers the second question. start working on your escape today! 💪
thank you!
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Just leave. I did it in 2018. They can’t force you to stay in this shithole.
They can’t force you to stay in this shithole.
Not yet, you mean.
I also left, for me in 2021.
Life really is better if you can get out. The process is no walk in the park but it is a temporary pain.
I also left, for me in 2021.
PredatorHandshake.gif
I think one of the things I’ll miss the most if I do is the London underground. it’s such a convenient form of travel for me
Many major cities in Europe have a metro system similar to London Underground. I live in Barcelona, and their metro has LU beat hands down. Trains come literally every two minutes and cost a little over a Euro when you buy a 10-ride ticket
Wow. This is two shakes short of full-blown Fascism.
For those that don’t know, look at Michael Gove -
And remember that wimpy kid from your school who was horribly, horribly bullied
Then think about what a fuckin psychopath they’d be now if they were in a position of power
Sweet Jesus, it really is time to bail. Any recommendations on where to go? I’m hearing the weather is much better in France and Spain.
Is Scotland on board with this dictatorship malarky or are they fighting it? I didn’t see them kick up a fuss about the online safety bill which made it to law, which makes me think they aren’t fighting it.
Yeah but how do we leave without a crap ton of money to buy our citizenship in another country?
I was considering moving to Scotland if they vote to leave the UK and rejoin the EU
I honestly dont know how most of us can make a move happen. Its a shit state of affairs.
I hoped that Scotland was going to be our get out of jail card too. I’m still hoping.
You don’t have to buy citizenship in the United States or Canada. Both countries are also fighting internal fascism, but it’s not as bad as what we’re seeing in the UK.
Being a permanent resident is essentially buying citizenship since you’re not allowed to work, living in those countries without working isn’t cheap
Every immigrant I know has a work visa. They work and live here. Their lives are basically the same as regular citizens except they can’t be unemployed, they have to update their visa every year, and they can’t vote. After 7 years on a work visa you can apply for citizenship in the United States.
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Macron in France has seemingly had similar fascist quivers running down his leg.
France is right behind the UK right now. It’s not as bad yet but will be in the near future.
Whoever thought 1984 would become a documentary - and V for Vendetta a possible solution.
I mean, George Orwell wasn’t exactly optimistic about the future outlook.
‘If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face – for ever.’
Everyone that seen the UK go ?
Its kind of ironic that its happening in the UK of all places
I want off Mr Gove’s wild ride.
