Best Of

.

Are international institutions breaking down?

COP29, which started badly with plenty of no shows, is now on the verge of a complete breakdown, and that's on top of the Commonwealth hustle and FUBAR last month:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c8jykpdgr08t

If they are, and I fear they may well be, then our descendants are basically fucked. The high point of international cooperation has been and gone, and the future is one of nationalist insanity and environmental destruction.

Darwin got it all wrong. We're regressing.

Evolution is not teleological. Darwin never said it always means "progress or improvement"

Yes, things can zig zag. I know that.

Anyway, as I now keep saying to all and sundry, Left Populism is coming. A radical economic offer for the struggling classes without the tacky xenophobic nostalgia that defines the right wing version.

It won't get funded by billionaires (for obvious reasons) but that won't matter once it gets rolling. I'm in. ✊️🕺

(please refrain from the very tedious "lol" if you choose to reply, which you shouldn't feel you have to)

I have seen you suggest this a couple of times and I don't really get it. Left populism would be an utter disaster for all of us (see Venezuela for an obvious example).

Populism is the enemy of progress, both of the left and right variety, and I think of you as a progressive. What's going on?

I mean a politics that shifts wealth and opportunity in favour of those who are in most need without corruption or financial recklessness or xenophobic obsession with borders and immigration. Nothing like Venezuela.

What do you honestly think will happen if Britain becomes, say, 30% Muslim? Or 40%? Think about it, and be honest

At 50-60% we could even get Sharia law

Um… who was saying they haven’t seen much evidence of Great Replacement Theory cropping up on PB?

What's the difference between a conspiracy theory and a projection of current trends?

From the 2001 to the 2021 census, Islam went from 2.7% to 5.97%, so that’s an increase of 3.27%, or 0.16% per year. If we project that trend forward, the UK will reach 50% Muslim in 269 more years. That is, in 2290. I think it unlikely any trend would actually continue for over two and a half centuries.

That’s the difference between a conspiracy theory and a projection of current trends.

That's not how it works, the replacement rate for Muslims is much higher than it is for non-Muslims in the UK - they have more kids per family than everyone else so the growth isn't linear. I'd have thought someone with your background would have been able to work that out. You probably did but it wouldn't help your stupid point I guess.

Immigrant populations rapidly move to have fertility rates like the local population. This happens in a few generations. Third generation from a Pakistani or Bangladeshi heritage have a similar number of kids to White British parents, as do third generation from an Indian/Hindu heritage.

How many kids have you had? How many kids did your grandparents or great-grandparents have?

But that's not what's happened for Muslim people in the UK, you want it to be true but it's not. The fertility rate among Muslims is substantially higher than among everyone else. You're going to be sitting there one day in the future while Labour passed a bunch of hateful anti-gay legislation after being pushed into it by the Muslim party and you'll be telling yourself "at least I wasn't racist like those awful Tories".

There's a weird blind spot and accomodation of Islam by the left, it's the major part of the coalition that doesn't fit and eventually they'll form their own party and the tail will wag the dog. If you can't see that then I pity you. The sad part is you're smart enough that you probably do see it and realise that it's a path we're currently heading down but you're so far gone down the "mustn't be perceived as racist" road that there's no coming back. You can't repudiate it without admitting that maybe, just maybe, allowing millions of people who are opposed to our cultural values and have very strong beliefs in a stone age religion with backwards ideas was a poor idea.

Like the rest of the establishment you might get a scintilla of realisation from time to time but the fear of what you've allowed to happen will mean you will push that realisation aside and continue as if it's not happening and pretend to yourself that we're wrong and you're right. You're not, and you know it, I know it but you will never admit it.

Don't group the left into one homogeneous group. If you're concerned about "cancel culture", it's much more pernicious on this side of the spectrum because if you're campaigning on a particular issue (for me, various environmental stuff and active travel), you often get co-opted into other views which you don't actually hold. It's very awkward.

I basically agree with with what a lot of you guys are saying, but I'm naturally suspicious of your motivations. I really need a rock-solid, and very brave, lefty to put their head above the parapet.

I also note that rise in extremist views among young Muslim men mirrors that of white menelsewhere in Europe. Perhaps this the same phenomenon, and it's ultimately not based on religion.

My motivations are very simply and I've been open about them for a long time. Islam isn't compatible with western culture, some Muslims are and are secular but they are not the majority. In every major piece of research a huge majority of Muslims across western countries believe that violence is justified against people who blaspheme against Islam. That to me means Islam isn't compatible with our core value of free expression of ideas, you can't have free expression if people are afraid that they'll be stabbed if they speak out against Islamic ideas and that to me is a step too far.

I understand why you have scepticism but for me Islam is a religion that is never going to have a "reformation", the idea is antithetical to the religion and in the UK as you note, younger generations are more conservative than their parents and grandparents who lived under Islamic rule and escaped from it, but their kids have been fed a diet of poison in foreign funded mosques and on social media so they've become more militant and less likely to identify with British culture and more likely to hate those values and the people who follow them.

.

Are international institutions breaking down?

COP29, which started badly with plenty of no shows, is now on the verge of a complete breakdown, and that's on top of the Commonwealth hustle and FUBAR last month:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c8jykpdgr08t

If they are, and I fear they may well be, then our descendants are basically fucked. The high point of international cooperation has been and gone, and the future is one of nationalist insanity and environmental destruction.

Darwin got it all wrong. We're regressing.

Evolution is not teleological. Darwin never said it always means "progress or improvement"

Yes, things can zig zag. I know that.

Anyway, as I now keep saying to all and sundry, Left Populism is coming. A radical economic offer for the struggling classes without the tacky xenophobic nostalgia that defines the right wing version.

It won't get funded by billionaires (for obvious reasons) but that won't matter once it gets rolling. I'm in. ✊️🕺

(please refrain from the very tedious "lol" if you choose to reply, which you shouldn't feel you have to)

I have seen you suggest this a couple of times and I don't really get it. Left populism would be an utter disaster for all of us (see Venezuela for an obvious example).

Populism is the enemy of progress, both of the left and right variety, and I think of you as a progressive. What's going on?

I mean a politics that shifts wealth and opportunity in favour of those who are in most need without corruption or financial recklessness or xenophobic obsession with borders and immigration. Nothing like Venezuela.

What do you honestly think will happen if Britain becomes, say, 30% Muslim? Or 40%? Think about it, and be honest

At 50-60% we could even get Sharia law

Um… who was saying they haven’t seen much evidence of Great Replacement Theory cropping up on PB?

What's the difference between a conspiracy theory and a projection of current trends?

From the 2001 to the 2021 census, Islam went from 2.7% to 5.97%, so that’s an increase of 3.27%, or 0.16% per year. If we project that trend forward, the UK will reach 50% Muslim in 269 more years. That is, in 2290. I think it unlikely any trend would actually continue for over two and a half centuries.

That’s the difference between a conspiracy theory and a projection of current trends.

That's not how it works, the replacement rate for Muslims is much higher than it is for non-Muslims in the UK - they have more kids per family than everyone else so the growth isn't linear. I'd have thought someone with your background would have been able to work that out. You probably did but it wouldn't help your stupid point I guess.

Immigrant populations rapidly move to have fertility rates like the local population. This happens in a few generations. Third generation from a Pakistani or Bangladeshi heritage have a similar number of kids to White British parents, as do third generation from an Indian/Hindu heritage.

How many kids have you had? How many kids did your grandparents or great-grandparents have?

But that's not what's happened for Muslim people in the UK, you want it to be true but it's not. The fertility rate among Muslims is substantially higher than among everyone else. You're going to be sitting there one day in the future while Labour passed a bunch of hateful anti-gay legislation after being pushed into it by the Muslim party and you'll be telling yourself "at least I wasn't racist like those awful Tories".

There's a weird blind spot and accomodation of Islam by the left, it's the major part of the coalition that doesn't fit and eventually they'll form their own party and the tail will wag the dog. If you can't see that then I pity you. The sad part is you're smart enough that you probably do see it and realise that it's a path we're currently heading down but you're so far gone down the "mustn't be perceived as racist" road that there's no coming back. You can't repudiate it without admitting that maybe, just maybe, allowing millions of people who are opposed to our cultural values and have very strong beliefs in a stone age religion with backwards ideas was a poor idea.

Like the rest of the establishment you might get a scintilla of realisation from time to time but the fear of what you've allowed to happen will mean you will push that realisation aside and continue as if it's not happening and pretend to yourself that we're wrong and you're right. You're not, and you know it, I know it but you will never admit it.

Michel Houellebecq says 'hi'.

.

Are international institutions breaking down?

COP29, which started badly with plenty of no shows, is now on the verge of a complete breakdown, and that's on top of the Commonwealth hustle and FUBAR last month:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c8jykpdgr08t

If they are, and I fear they may well be, then our descendants are basically fucked. The high point of international cooperation has been and gone, and the future is one of nationalist insanity and environmental destruction.

Darwin got it all wrong. We're regressing.

Evolution is not teleological. Darwin never said it always means "progress or improvement"

Yes, things can zig zag. I know that.

Anyway, as I now keep saying to all and sundry, Left Populism is coming. A radical economic offer for the struggling classes without the tacky xenophobic nostalgia that defines the right wing version.

It won't get funded by billionaires (for obvious reasons) but that won't matter once it gets rolling. I'm in. ✊️🕺

(please refrain from the very tedious "lol" if you choose to reply, which you shouldn't feel you have to)

I have seen you suggest this a couple of times and I don't really get it. Left populism would be an utter disaster for all of us (see Venezuela for an obvious example).

Populism is the enemy of progress, both of the left and right variety, and I think of you as a progressive. What's going on?

I mean a politics that shifts wealth and opportunity in favour of those who are in most need without corruption or financial recklessness or xenophobic obsession with borders and immigration. Nothing like Venezuela.

What do you honestly think will happen if Britain becomes, say, 30% Muslim? Or 40%? Think about it, and be honest

At 50-60% we could even get Sharia law

Um… who was saying they haven’t seen much evidence of Great Replacement Theory cropping up on PB?

What's the difference between a conspiracy theory and a projection of current trends?

From the 2001 to the 2021 census, Islam went from 2.7% to 5.97%, so that’s an increase of 3.27%, or 0.16% per year. If we project that trend forward, the UK will reach 50% Muslim in 269 more years. That is, in 2290. I think it unlikely any trend would actually continue for over two and a half centuries.

That’s the difference between a conspiracy theory and a projection of current trends.

That's not how it works, the replacement rate for Muslims is much higher than it is for non-Muslims in the UK - they have more kids per family than everyone else so the growth isn't linear. I'd have thought someone with your background would have been able to work that out. You probably did but it wouldn't help your stupid point I guess.

Immigrant populations rapidly move to have fertility rates like the local population. This happens in a few generations. Third generation from a Pakistani or Bangladeshi heritage have a similar number of kids to White British parents, as do third generation from an Indian/Hindu heritage.

How many kids have you had? How many kids did your grandparents or great-grandparents have?

But that's not what's happened for Muslim people in the UK, you want it to be true but it's not. The fertility rate among Muslims is substantially higher than among everyone else. You're going to be sitting there one day in the future while Labour passed a bunch of hateful anti-gay legislation after being pushed into it by the Muslim party and you'll be telling yourself "at least I wasn't racist like those awful Tories".

There's a weird blind spot and accomodation of Islam by the left, it's the major part of the coalition that doesn't fit and eventually they'll form their own party and the tail will wag the dog. If you can't see that then I pity you. The sad part is you're smart enough that you probably do see it and realise that it's a path we're currently heading down but you're so far gone down the "mustn't be perceived as racist" road that there's no coming back. You can't repudiate it without admitting that maybe, just maybe, allowing millions of people who are opposed to our cultural values and have very strong beliefs in a stone age religion with backwards ideas was a poor idea.

Like the rest of the establishment you might get a scintilla of realisation from time to time but the fear of what you've allowed to happen will mean you will push that realisation aside and continue as if it's not happening and pretend to yourself that we're wrong and you're right. You're not, and you know it, I know it but you will never admit it.

Don't group the left into one homogeneous group. If you're concerned about "cancel culture", it's much more pernicious on this side of the spectrum because if you're campaigning on a particular issue (for me, various environmental stuff and active travel), you often get co-opted into other views which you don't actually hold. It's very awkward.

I basically agree with with what a lot of you guys are saying, but I'm naturally suspicious of your motivations. I really need a rock-solid, and very brave, lefty to put their head above the parapet.

@Roger, step forward.

.

Are international institutions breaking down?

COP29, which started badly with plenty of no shows, is now on the verge of a complete breakdown, and that's on top of the Commonwealth hustle and FUBAR last month:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c8jykpdgr08t

If they are, and I fear they may well be, then our descendants are basically fucked. The high point of international cooperation has been and gone, and the future is one of nationalist insanity and environmental destruction.

Darwin got it all wrong. We're regressing.

Evolution is not teleological. Darwin never said it always means "progress or improvement"

Yes, things can zig zag. I know that.

Anyway, as I now keep saying to all and sundry, Left Populism is coming. A radical economic offer for the struggling classes without the tacky xenophobic nostalgia that defines the right wing version.

It won't get funded by billionaires (for obvious reasons) but that won't matter once it gets rolling. I'm in. ✊️🕺

(please refrain from the very tedious "lol" if you choose to reply, which you shouldn't feel you have to)

I have seen you suggest this a couple of times and I don't really get it. Left populism would be an utter disaster for all of us (see Venezuela for an obvious example).

Populism is the enemy of progress, both of the left and right variety, and I think of you as a progressive. What's going on?

I mean a politics that shifts wealth and opportunity in favour of those who are in most need without corruption or financial recklessness or xenophobic obsession with borders and immigration. Nothing like Venezuela.

What do you honestly think will happen if Britain becomes, say, 30% Muslim? Or 40%? Think about it, and be honest

At 50-60% we could even get Sharia law

Um… who was saying they haven’t seen much evidence of Great Replacement Theory cropping up on PB?

What's the difference between a conspiracy theory and a projection of current trends?

From the 2001 to the 2021 census, Islam went from 2.7% to 5.97%, so that’s an increase of 3.27%, or 0.16% per year. If we project that trend forward, the UK will reach 50% Muslim in 269 more years. That is, in 2290. I think it unlikely any trend would actually continue for over two and a half centuries.

That’s the difference between a conspiracy theory and a projection of current trends.

I thought you were more numerate than that.

It's more than doubled in the space of 20 years. If you want to project that trend forwards you need to make some attempt to understand what is driving it. Have you looked at factors like differential birth rates and immigration rates?

If you look at the 2011 census figures as well, it’s clear that a linear relationship fits better than an exponential one. Ergo, my maths is fine.

There has been a blip in immigration from Muslim countries under the recent Conservative government post-Brexit, but that government is out of power now. Immigration figures in total look to be now falling.

The figures over that period are distorted by the one-off anomaly caused by EU expansion which temporarily inflated Christian immigration.

Are international institutions breaking down?

COP29, which started badly with plenty of no shows, is now on the verge of a complete breakdown, and that's on top of the Commonwealth hustle and FUBAR last month:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c8jykpdgr08t

If they are, and I fear they may well be, then our descendants are basically fucked. The high point of international cooperation has been and gone, and the future is one of nationalist insanity and environmental destruction.

Darwin got it all wrong. We're regressing.

Evolution is not teleological. Darwin never said it always means "progress or improvement"

Yes, things can zig zag. I know that.

Anyway, as I now keep saying to all and sundry, Left Populism is coming. A radical economic offer for the struggling classes without the tacky xenophobic nostalgia that defines the right wing version.

It won't get funded by billionaires (for obvious reasons) but that won't matter once it gets rolling. I'm in. ✊️🕺

(please refrain from the very tedious "lol" if you choose to reply, which you shouldn't feel you have to)

I have seen you suggest this a couple of times and I don't really get it. Left populism would be an utter disaster for all of us (see Venezuela for an obvious example).

Populism is the enemy of progress, both of the left and right variety, and I think of you as a progressive. What's going on?

I mean a politics that shifts wealth and opportunity in favour of those who are in most need without corruption or financial recklessness or xenophobic obsession with borders and immigration. Nothing like Venezuela.

What do you honestly think will happen if Britain becomes, say, 30% Muslim? Or 40%? Think about it, and be honest

At 50-60% we could even get Sharia law

I'm not aware of any large country where that has happened in modern times, though there are certain small examples. There are majoritarian Muslim smaller countries in Europe - Albania, B&H, Kosovo. I'm not sure of the status of Sharia Law in those.

Same sex marriage and civil unions are certainly illegal in Albania, same sex marriage is not legal in Kosovo or Bosnia either so even if not full Sharia LGBT rights would likely regress

LGBT rights are also limited in Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania, which are all largely Christian, so is it Islam in Albania, Bosnia and Kosovo, or something about those countries being in the Balkans?

Slovenia is in the Balkans and has same sex marriage and Croatia has civil unions. No Muslim majority nation has same sex marriage.

Women are also discouraged from working with men in the same workplaces in Islam

Slovenia and Croatia are more western looking. I referred you already to Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania. You can also add North Macedonia. Moldova, Ukraine and eastwards also have no recognition of same sex marriages. Rights are limited in Slovakia, Poland and Lithuania. The dividing line in Europe is clearly not Muslim/non-Muslim.

Yeah, the major dividing line in Europe, between outright homophobia and allowing gay marriage, is a weird kind of Iron Curtain with strange ziz zags, probably caused by Lech Walesa, and nothing at all to do with whether there are majority Muslim populations in certain countries that believe homosexuality should be punishable by death

.

Are international institutions breaking down?

COP29, which started badly with plenty of no shows, is now on the verge of a complete breakdown, and that's on top of the Commonwealth hustle and FUBAR last month:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c8jykpdgr08t

If they are, and I fear they may well be, then our descendants are basically fucked. The high point of international cooperation has been and gone, and the future is one of nationalist insanity and environmental destruction.

Darwin got it all wrong. We're regressing.

Evolution is not teleological. Darwin never said it always means "progress or improvement"

Yes, things can zig zag. I know that.

Anyway, as I now keep saying to all and sundry, Left Populism is coming. A radical economic offer for the struggling classes without the tacky xenophobic nostalgia that defines the right wing version.

It won't get funded by billionaires (for obvious reasons) but that won't matter once it gets rolling. I'm in. ✊️🕺

(please refrain from the very tedious "lol" if you choose to reply, which you shouldn't feel you have to)

I have seen you suggest this a couple of times and I don't really get it. Left populism would be an utter disaster for all of us (see Venezuela for an obvious example).

Populism is the enemy of progress, both of the left and right variety, and I think of you as a progressive. What's going on?

I mean a politics that shifts wealth and opportunity in favour of those who are in most need without corruption or financial recklessness or xenophobic obsession with borders and immigration. Nothing like Venezuela.

What do you honestly think will happen if Britain becomes, say, 30% Muslim? Or 40%? Think about it, and be honest

At 50-60% we could even get Sharia law

Um… who was saying they haven’t seen much evidence of Great Replacement Theory cropping up on PB?

What's the difference between a conspiracy theory and a projection of current trends?

From the 2001 to the 2021 census, Islam went from 2.7% to 5.97%, so that’s an increase of 3.27%, or 0.16% per year. If we project that trend forward, the UK will reach 50% Muslim in 269 more years. That is, in 2290. I think it unlikely any trend would actually continue for over two and a half centuries.

That’s the difference between a conspiracy theory and a projection of current trends.

That's not how it works, the replacement rate for Muslims is much higher than it is for non-Muslims in the UK - they have more kids per family than everyone else so the growth isn't linear. I'd have thought someone with your background would have been able to work that out. You probably did but it wouldn't help your stupid point I guess.

Immigrant populations rapidly move to have fertility rates like the local population. This happens in a few generations. Third generation from a Pakistani or Bangladeshi heritage have a similar number of kids to White British parents, as do third generation from an Indian/Hindu heritage.

How many kids have you had? How many kids did your grandparents or great-grandparents have?

But that's not what's happened for Muslim people in the UK, you want it to be true but it's not. The fertility rate among Muslims is substantially higher than among everyone else. You're going to be sitting there one day in the future while Labour passed a bunch of hateful anti-gay legislation after being pushed into it by the Muslim party and you'll be telling yourself "at least I wasn't racist like those awful Tories".

There's a weird blind spot and accomodation of Islam by the left, it's the major part of the coalition that doesn't fit and eventually they'll form their own party and the tail will wag the dog. If you can't see that then I pity you. The sad part is you're smart enough that you probably do see it and realise that it's a path we're currently heading down but you're so far gone down the "mustn't be perceived as racist" road that there's no coming back. You can't repudiate it without admitting that maybe, just maybe, allowing millions of people who are opposed to our cultural values and have very strong beliefs in a stone age religion with backwards ideas was a poor idea.

Like the rest of the establishment you might get a scintilla of realisation from time to time but the fear of what you've allowed to happen will mean you will push that realisation aside and continue as if it's not happening and pretend to yourself that we're wrong and you're right. You're not, and you know it, I know it but you will never admit it.

.

Are international institutions breaking down?

COP29, which started badly with plenty of no shows, is now on the verge of a complete breakdown, and that's on top of the Commonwealth hustle and FUBAR last month:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c8jykpdgr08t

If they are, and I fear they may well be, then our descendants are basically fucked. The high point of international cooperation has been and gone, and the future is one of nationalist insanity and environmental destruction.

Darwin got it all wrong. We're regressing.

Evolution is not teleological. Darwin never said it always means "progress or improvement"

Yes, things can zig zag. I know that.

Anyway, as I now keep saying to all and sundry, Left Populism is coming. A radical economic offer for the struggling classes without the tacky xenophobic nostalgia that defines the right wing version.

It won't get funded by billionaires (for obvious reasons) but that won't matter once it gets rolling. I'm in. ✊️🕺

(please refrain from the very tedious "lol" if you choose to reply, which you shouldn't feel you have to)

I have seen you suggest this a couple of times and I don't really get it. Left populism would be an utter disaster for all of us (see Venezuela for an obvious example).

Populism is the enemy of progress, both of the left and right variety, and I think of you as a progressive. What's going on?

I mean a politics that shifts wealth and opportunity in favour of those who are in most need without corruption or financial recklessness or xenophobic obsession with borders and immigration. Nothing like Venezuela.

What do you honestly think will happen if Britain becomes, say, 30% Muslim? Or 40%? Think about it, and be honest

At 50-60% we could even get Sharia law

Um… who was saying they haven’t seen much evidence of Great Replacement Theory cropping up on PB?

What's the difference between a conspiracy theory and a projection of current trends?

From the 2001 to the 2021 census, Islam went from 2.7% to 5.97%, so that’s an increase of 3.27%, or 0.16% per year. If we project that trend forward, the UK will reach 50% Muslim in 269 more years. That is, in 2290. I think it unlikely any trend would actually continue for over two and a half centuries.

That’s the difference between a conspiracy theory and a projection of current trends.

That's not how it works, the replacement rate for Muslims is much higher than it is for non-Muslims in the UK - they have more kids per family than everyone else so the growth isn't linear. I'd have thought someone with your background would have been able to work that out. You probably did but it wouldn't help your stupid point I guess.

Immigrant populations rapidly move to have fertility rates like the local population. This happens in a few generations. Third generation from a Pakistani or Bangladeshi heritage have a similar number of kids to White British parents, as do third generation from an Indian/Hindu heritage.

How many kids have you had? How many kids did your grandparents or great-grandparents have?

But that's not what's happened for Muslim people in the UK, you want it to be true but it's not. The fertility rate among Muslims is substantially higher than among everyone else. You're going to be sitting there one day in the future while Labour passed a bunch of hateful anti-gay legislation after being pushed into it by the Muslim party and you'll be telling yourself "at least I wasn't racist like those awful Tories".

There's a weird blind spot and accomodation of Islam by the left, it's the major part of the coalition that doesn't fit and eventually they'll form their own party and the tail will wag the dog. If you can't see that then I pity you. The sad part is you're smart enough that you probably do see it and realise that it's a path we're currently heading down but you're so far gone down the "mustn't be perceived as racist" road that there's no coming back. You can't repudiate it without admitting that maybe, just maybe, allowing millions of people who are opposed to our cultural values and have very strong beliefs in a stone age religion with backwards ideas was a poor idea.

Like the rest of the establishment you might get a scintilla of realisation from time to time but the fear of what you've allowed to happen will mean you will push that realisation aside and continue as if it's not happening and pretend to yourself that we're wrong and you're right. You're not, and you know it, I know it but you will never admit it.

Spot on

Are international institutions breaking down?

COP29, which started badly with plenty of no shows, is now on the verge of a complete breakdown, and that's on top of the Commonwealth hustle and FUBAR last month:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c8jykpdgr08t

If they are, and I fear they may well be, then our descendants are basically fucked. The high point of international cooperation has been and gone, and the future is one of nationalist insanity and environmental destruction.

Darwin got it all wrong. We're regressing.

Evolution is not teleological. Darwin never said it always means "progress or improvement"

Yes, things can zig zag. I know that.

Anyway, as I now keep saying to all and sundry, Left Populism is coming. A radical economic offer for the struggling classes without the tacky xenophobic nostalgia that defines the right wing version.

It won't get funded by billionaires (for obvious reasons) but that won't matter once it gets rolling. I'm in. ✊️🕺

(please refrain from the very tedious "lol" if you choose to reply, which you shouldn't feel you have to)

I have seen you suggest this a couple of times and I don't really get it. Left populism would be an utter disaster for all of us (see Venezuela for an obvious example).

Populism is the enemy of progress, both of the left and right variety, and I think of you as a progressive. What's going on?

I mean a politics that shifts wealth and opportunity in favour of those who are in most need without corruption or financial recklessness or xenophobic obsession with borders and immigration. Nothing like Venezuela.

What do you honestly think will happen if Britain becomes, say, 30% Muslim? Or 40%? Think about it, and be honest

He can't. He wants to live in his bubble.

We couldn't accept that level and nor could any European country.

I agree, but that means necessarily at some point:

European countries bring in nation- or culture-specific restrictions on Islamic migration, which at the moment is entirely unpalatable to a lot of lefties, or indeed lots of people (and I can see why)

And/or

European countries start restricting displays of Islamic religion as a deterrent. Minarets, burqas, etc. We already see that in France and Switzerland

And/or

European countries start "voluntary deportation" of migrants. Already happening in Sweden

I predict this will all get a lot worse before it gets better

I think restricting and revoking visas and residency for people who don't align to our cultural values is necessary. It's going to upset people but we're allowing the viper into the nest because people are scared to say that vipers aren't good for nests.

Again, to repeat what I have posted many times in the past, we should be looking to Norway for our example here. 300 hours of compulsory language and culture lessons and immigrants don't get to choose where the live. They are assigned a county where they have to settle to avoid the creation of ghettos. It works.