Peak Extremism !

[Four Litre]

It seems we must be near or about to go through massive change in one way or the other , if I watch any news channel all I see is extremism. Be it (in no particular order);

- Veganism - (Burn in hell if you dare to eat meat you murderer!)
- Brexit - (no explanation needed)
- Antifa - Everyone who doesn't want to worship the hard left is a fascist dog!
- Climate Change - shut the place down, lets go back to the dark ages and chuck in a crying teenager for good measure
- Trump - Racist dog, should be in prison, impeach him by any means etc etc
- Boris - Lied to the queen, should be fired etc etc
- Royal Family - work-shy dogs sponging off the state. Cut them off, make them pay.
- Transgender - don accept this at your peril, speak out and you'll never work again etc. And yes a man can give birth to a baby!

I do wonder where we will end up next and the direction this is all taking us, maybe I'm getting old and this is normal to a lot of people. To me it seems the worlds gone nuts.

The one thing that concerns me, isn't this how wars start?

[Randy Winkman]

Four Litre said:

It seems we must be near or about to go through massive change in one way or the other , if I watch any news channel all I see is extremism. Be it (in no particular order);

- Veganism - (Burn in hell if you dare to eat meat you murderer!)
- Brexit - (no explanation needed)
- Antifa - Everyone who doesn't want to worship the hard left is a fascist dog!
- Climate Change - shut the place down, lets go back to the dark ages and chuck in a crying teenager for good measure
- Trump - Racist dog, should be in prison, impeach him by any means etc etc
- Boris - Lied to the queen, should be fired etc etc
- Royal Family - work-shy dogs sponging off the state. Cut them off, make them pay.
- Transgender - don accept this at your peril, speak out and you'll never work again etc. And yes a man can give birth to a baby!

I do wonder where we will end up next and the direction this is all taking us, maybe I'm getting old and this is normal to a lot of people. To me it seems the worlds gone nuts.

The one thing that concerns me, isn't this how wars start?

Yes - but do you think you notice more the ones you don't agree with?

[lemmingjames]

Have you seen the film Equilibrium - hopefully that direction

As opposed the Star Trek future where they encounter advanced races whose people are wearing hemp and living in mud huts aka the dark ages to us

[Four Litre]

Randy Winkman said:

Four Litre said:

It seems we must be near or about to go through massive change in one way or the other , if I watch any news channel all I see is extremism. Be it (in no particular order);

- Veganism - (Burn in hell if you dare to eat meat you murderer!)
- Brexit - (no explanation needed)
- Antifa - Everyone who doesn't want to worship the hard left is a fascist dog!
- Climate Change - shut the place down, lets go back to the dark ages and chuck in a crying teenager for good measure
- Trump - Racist dog, should be in prison, impeach him by any means etc etc
- Boris - Lied to the queen, should be fired etc etc
- Royal Family - work-shy dogs sponging off the state. Cut them off, make them pay.
- Transgender - don accept this at your peril, speak out and you'll never work again etc. And yes a man can give birth to a baby!

I do wonder where we will end up next and the direction this is all taking us, maybe I'm getting old and this is normal to a lot of people. To me it seems the worlds gone nuts.

The one thing that concerns me, isn't this how wars start?

Yes - but do you think you notice more the ones you don't agree with?

Yes - more than likely. I've always tried to be quite open to reason and respect opinion as that's what it is - opinion. But we seem to of gone past that to where peoples opinions are now fact.

[drmotorsport]

I agree. Everything is just so shouty these days. I blame 24hr 'news' aka opinion and speculation 99% of the time; and social media which seems to have caused everyone to be attention seekers and therefore a race to shout the loudest.

[Jazzy Jag]

I've always viewed life like a pendulum.

The further things go in one direction, the bigger the swing will be in the other direction.

Interesting times ahead.

[snake_oil]

Surely it's just because we're all connected via the internet and media these days.

I guess there's always been people with opposing views but they haven't always had a) the platform to argue with one another or b) done so in full view of everyone else.

[kev1974]

Twitter is to blame, it's given numpties a public voice they shouldn't have.

[g7orge]

I blame social media and some peoples need to virtue signal to others -

[ben5575]

kev1974 said:

Twitter is to blame, it's given numpties a public voice they shouldn't have.

Agreed. Most of the moderate, sensible, some would say liberal stuff, has all pretty much been accepted and is the norm now. That just leaves the outliers at either end of the bell curve, the people/topics you'd ignore in the pub, left having to shout louder to be heard over everybody else.

The concept of Teams is also a big thing at the moment. You either have be either Team Brexit or Remain, Eco Warrior or Climate Denier etc etc. It's actually perfectly possible to not be on either Team, but that's complicated and therefore not easily condensed into 140 characters.

[Johnnytheboy]

What worries me most is the tendency towards it being completely accepted that on a subject there can only be one opinion, and even having voiced a non-acceptable opinion in the past can see you lose your job.

That can only be a retrograde step for society, as it ought to be blindingly obvious that no one person, body, or 'side' in a debate should be allowed to determine what an acceptable opinion is.

[Oakey]

I don't have a problem with being more eco-friendly, I do what I can to be as green as possible, but it's the cognitive dissonance (have I used that right? I think so?) that gets me. As I said in the other thread, David Attenborough on the news telling us we all need to change our behaviour to avoid the impending climate disaster, all said with a straight face whilst sitting in front of a 15,000 tonne diesel powered ship with his name emblazoned across it about to go ploughing it's way through the arctic. Apparently it holds 660,000 litres of fuel and has a crew of less than 100. Let's start there shall we David?

Edited by Oakey on Friday 27th September 15:07

[Countdown]

Four Litre said:

It seems we must be near or about to go through massive change in one way or the other , if I watch any news channel all I see is extremism. Be it (in no particular order);

- Veganism - (Burn in hell if you dare to eat meat you murderer!)
- Brexit - (no explanation needed)
- Antifa - Everyone who doesn't want to worship the hard left is a fascist dog!
- Climate Change - shut the place down, lets go back to the dark ages and chuck in a crying teenager for good measure
- Trump - Racist dog, should be in prison, impeach him by any means etc etc
- Boris - Lied to the queen, should be fired etc etc
- Royal Family - work-shy dogs sponging off the state. Cut them off, make them pay.
- Transgender - don accept this at your peril, speak out and you'll never work again etc. And yes a man can give birth to a baby!

I do wonder where we will end up next and the direction this is all taking us, maybe I'm getting old and this is normal to a lot of people. To me it seems the worlds gone nuts.

The one thing that concerns me, isn't this how wars start?

Strange how all your examples of “extremism” are liberal /left wing and, arguably, not even particularly extreme....?

[Murph7355]

Countdown said:

Four Litre said:

It seems we must be near or about to go through massive change in one way or the other , if I watch any news channel all I see is extremism. Be it (in no particular order);

- Veganism - (Burn in hell if you dare to eat meat you murderer!)
- Brexit - (no explanation needed)
- Antifa - Everyone who doesn't want to worship the hard left is a fascist dog!
- Climate Change - shut the place down, lets go back to the dark ages and chuck in a crying teenager for good measure
- Trump - Racist dog, should be in prison, impeach him by any means etc etc
- Boris - Lied to the queen, should be fired etc etc
- Royal Family - work-shy dogs sponging off the state. Cut them off, make them pay.
- Transgender - don accept this at your peril, speak out and you'll never work again etc. And yes a man can give birth to a baby!

I do wonder where we will end up next and the direction this is all taking us, maybe I'm getting old and this is normal to a lot of people. To me it seems the worlds gone nuts.

The one thing that concerns me, isn't this how wars start?

Strange how all your examples of “extremism” are liberal /left wing and, arguably, not even particularly extreme....?

I don't think he said it was a complete list. Add your own to it - the point still stands and has a good degree of credibility...life does seem to be polarising in quite a number of areas.

I do, however, think we can all agree that all of this is happening because Boris said "humbug". No?

[Randy Winkman]

Countdown said:

Four Litre said:

It seems we must be near or about to go through massive change in one way or the other , if I watch any news channel all I see is extremism. Be it (in no particular order);

- Veganism - (Burn in hell if you dare to eat meat you murderer!)
- Brexit - (no explanation needed)
- Antifa - Everyone who doesn't want to worship the hard left is a fascist dog!
- Climate Change - shut the place down, lets go back to the dark ages and chuck in a crying teenager for good measure
- Trump - Racist dog, should be in prison, impeach him by any means etc etc
- Boris - Lied to the queen, should be fired etc etc
- Royal Family - work-shy dogs sponging off the state. Cut them off, make them pay.
- Transgender - don accept this at your peril, speak out and you'll never work again etc. And yes a man can give birth to a baby!

I do wonder where we will end up next and the direction this is all taking us, maybe I'm getting old and this is normal to a lot of people. To me it seems the worlds gone nuts.

The one thing that concerns me, isn't this how wars start?

Strange how all your examples of “extremism” are liberal /left wing and, arguably, not even particularly extreme....?

That's why I asked. Trump is extreme but the list seems just to show the reaction. Antifa are there but not the myriad extreme right-wing racist groups. But thanks to Four Litre for the response.

[Jinx]

Randy Winkman said:

Countdown said:

Four Litre said:

It seems we must be near or about to go through massive change in one way or the other , if I watch any news channel all I see is extremism. Be it (in no particular order);

- Veganism - (Burn in hell if you dare to eat meat you murderer!)
- Brexit - (no explanation needed)
- Antifa - Everyone who doesn't want to worship the hard left is a fascist dog!
- Climate Change - shut the place down, lets go back to the dark ages and chuck in a crying teenager for good measure
- Trump - Racist dog, should be in prison, impeach him by any means etc etc
- Boris - Lied to the queen, should be fired etc etc
- Royal Family - work-shy dogs sponging off the state. Cut them off, make them pay.
- Transgender - don accept this at your peril, speak out and you'll never work again etc. And yes a man can give birth to a baby!

I do wonder where we will end up next and the direction this is all taking us, maybe I'm getting old and this is normal to a lot of people. To me it seems the worlds gone nuts.

The one thing that concerns me, isn't this how wars start?

Strange how all your examples of “extremism” are liberal /left wing and, arguably, not even particularly extreme....?

That's why I asked. Trump is extreme but the list seems just to show the reaction. Antifa are there but not the myriad extreme right-wing racist groups. But thanks to Four Litre for the response.

I blame lists and the makers of lists.......

Humour is the only cure to extremism.

[V10leptoquark]

g7orge said:

I blame social media and some peoples need to virtue signal to others -

kev1974 said:

Twitter is to blame, it's given numpties a public voice they shouldn't have.

Agreed also.

For current 'millennial' and 'x' generations it is what Stephen Fry pointed out in an interview a while ago. In that if anyone disagrees with something (often online) they very easily and quickly become 'offended', and then they feel they have a right to become entitled.
This self entitlement often means they think they have a justification for revenge which usually means other like-minded will group together and deploy what ever means they can to go after those they disagree with.

Of course this escalates and quickly polarises people and pushes them to extremes.

By commenting on social media and then having a few other commenters agreeing with you does not make you a bastion of the truth or of political or moral highness. And I think this is missed on today's social media warriors.

Social media is the pond which contains the lowest common denominator, in as much that with anonymity one can more or less say anything you wish to fit your agenda. But it is worrying that organisations and politics are often looking towards social media for guidance on public opinion.
Social media is a very distorted view of the world - I do wish that all would recognise and accept this. Its not the place where policy and realistic view of society should be derived from.

[Four Litre]

Oakey said:

I don't have a problem with being more eco-friendly, I do what I can to be as green as possible, but it's the cognitive dissonance (have I used that right? I think so?) that gets me. As I said in the other thread, David Attenborough on the news telling us we all need to change our behaviour to avoid the impending climate disaster, all said with a straight face whilst sitting in front of a 15,000 tonne diesel powered ship with his name emblazoned across it about to go ploughing it's way through the arctic. Apparently it holds 660,000 litres of fuel and has a crew of less than 100. Let's start there shall we David?

Edited by Oakey on Friday 27th September 15:07

This kind of stuff cracks me up. This is why I cant take any of them seriously. Its ridiculous. I'm all for recycling and looking after the planet but Its the constant "its ok for me to do this, just not for you" message they all give out takes away any shred of credibility.

Davids made a (very fun filled) career flying round the world poking a camera in animals faces that should be left alone, along with a massive entourage no doubt. Lets not forget that shall be Davo!

[Murph7355]

V10leptoquark said:

...
Social media is the pond which contains the lowest common denominator, in as much that with anonymity one can more or less say anything you wish to fit your agenda. ...

I broadly agree, and definitely look down my nose at the likes of Twitter and Facebook...

....but....

PH is "social media"

Life's so confusing these days. Bring back compuserve and timetables only "internet".

[otolith]

Randy Winkman said:

Countdown said:

Four Litre said:

It seems we must be near or about to go through massive change in one way or the other , if I watch any news channel all I see is extremism. Be it (in no particular order);

- Veganism - (Burn in hell if you dare to eat meat you murderer!)
- Brexit - (no explanation needed)
- Antifa - Everyone who doesn't want to worship the hard left is a fascist dog!
- Climate Change - shut the place down, lets go back to the dark ages and chuck in a crying teenager for good measure
- Trump - Racist dog, should be in prison, impeach him by any means etc etc
- Boris - Lied to the queen, should be fired etc etc
- Royal Family - work-shy dogs sponging off the state. Cut them off, make them pay.
- Transgender - don accept this at your peril, speak out and you'll never work again etc. And yes a man can give birth to a baby!

I do wonder where we will end up next and the direction this is all taking us, maybe I'm getting old and this is normal to a lot of people. To me it seems the worlds gone nuts.

The one thing that concerns me, isn't this how wars start?

Strange how all your examples of “extremism” are liberal /left wing and, arguably, not even particularly extreme....?

That's why I asked. Trump is extreme but the list seems just to show the reaction. Antifa are there but not the myriad extreme right-wing racist groups. But thanks to Four Litre for the response.

It seems the point it doesn't explicitly make is that many of these things are symmetrical with extremists at both ends. The polarisation is worrying, and it's not just happening with the Twitterati, our two main political parties have been hijacked by their respective extremes. The sniping just seems to hype up the venom and encourage the taking of more extreme positions.