"I used to think if things ever got intolerable in the U.S., I could immigrate to Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Argentina, Austria, Germany, Holland, Denmark, but those countries as well have gone full blown authoritarian socialist."
and
"... permanently tighten the reigns of authoritarian Leftist control over their nations. Australia, Canada, Austria, The Netherlands, the U.K., are just a few examples."
Erm. What?
The UK has an arch-conservative government at present. Australia just booted out its centre right government, and installed a centre left government. So even if you categorise Australia as "leftist" (which is correct at present), it is hardly authoritarian. I could take a piss on the Australian flag on the steps of Canberra and I'd guess I'd get arrested and given a good-behaviour acquittal by a magistrate for urinating in public, not for urinating on the flag. I'm not going to disappear in a jail. I've spent time in an authoritarian state - the PRC - and oddly I know the difference.
There was this #Australiahasfallen hashtag doing the rounds on Twitter. Some idiot cops at an anti-vaccine protest in Melbourne went well-over the line, and suddenly the NRA says, "See what happens when you give up your guns?". It would be hilarious if it was not so sinister.
Here's the thing. Our police are armed. Cops on patrol are generally young dickheads. But they're good at dealing with problems on the street - arrests are rare and most trouble makers get move along notices.
I was in the UK in 2018 and watched a far right protest rally in Trafalgar Square. There was a line of cops. Their professionalism was superb. No protective gear. One big, big guy came up to a big, big riot cop and was about an inch away from his face, swearing and spitting. The cop didn't move an inch. The right wing protestors were permitted to stomp about, stopping traffic, and eventually marched off to Buckingham Palace. That's not the indicia of an authoritarian regime.
Edit: sorry, I just noticed this:
"The move toward authoritarianism across much of the West should terrify you, particularly in your native Australia. I've posted several clips here from Australian news. Your country a few years ago ran public service ads during gun confiscation, pre-Covid, where the ads basically said either you turn over your guns, or you'll be put in prison where you'll be gang-raped."
Got a citation for that? Because I never saw it. And if it was "a few years ago", then it was a message from our conservative government.
One of my clients is a big shooters association. Really nice people. By "big", a surprisingly large percentage of the population. They are supportive of laws banning semi-automatic weapons. It would help farmers dealing with rabbits. but the political appetite isn't there. They go about their business with shooting competitions and so on. Occasionally they run a campaign where they go into a regional area and spend a night wiping out feral foxes, pigs, cats and rabbits all of which devastate indigenous wildlife. That's good, responsible civic work. (Australia always does well in the Olympics in shooting - there is a big pool of good shooters.)
If you own a gun in Australia, you have to keep it in a gun safe. The cops will do random checks to make sure this is happening. I met a guy at a dinner party about four years ago who had an old shotgun. He kept it in his basement, rolled up in a rug, under a sofa. The cops were sympathetic but charged him. He appeared before a magistrate. $100 fine, and he had to buy a gun safe. That's hardly authoritarian.
My godson was accused of domestic violence recently. He has three guns in a safe, all licensed. Until the allegations fell away, the guns were not to leave the safe and the key to the safe had to be in the possession of someone responsible. That fell to me. I kept his key for six months until the mess was sorted out. I then gave it back. Again, not authoritarian.
"And that's just a slice of the authoritarianism you probably see daily in Australia."
I think what you're seeing is an agenda. You're in an information bubble which promotes a certain ideology. Have you recently been to "Australia, Canada, Austria, The Netherlands, the U.K" to determine the truth of any of this? I travel to the UK pre-Covid one a year. I can tell you, from personal experience, that the anti-Brexit demonstrations in which tens of thousands of people protested against Boris Johnson's government outside the Houses of Parliament were peaceful, with a small police presence. I went along mostly because I had been told the signs would be funny. The one that stands out in my head was a granny wearing a placard which said, "I am very cross".
Edit again: sorry, now I've read this:
"Including Australia that has seized its population's guns, and put some of its population in Covid-19 concentration camps.""
What the fuck are you reading?!
Last edited by First Amongst Daves; 2022-08-08 11:55 PM.
