• froggers
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    647 months ago

    I really, really hate this kind of thinking.

    Election in 2008: “Calm down, the far right only got 3%” Election in 2012: “Calm down, the far right only got 7%” Election in 2016: “Calm down, the far right only got 13%” Election in 2020: “Calm down, the far right only got 18%” And so on…

    Can you people really not see a problem with this?

    • Maestro
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      287 months ago

      It’s the intolerance paradox in full view. Wilders should have been convicted and jailed years ago. A tolerant society must be fiercly intolerant towards intolerance.

      • @namingthingsiseasy@programming.dev
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        67 months ago

        Not sure if jailing him is the right solution, but after his Moroccan speech, he should at the very least have been barred from public office, as well as participating in any political parties.

        At least that way, there is a strong deterrent to preventing politicians from spewing this kind of hate.

      • @poszod@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        What does the parent comment have anything to do with the intolerance paradox. The population is increasingly voting far-right, it’s terrible and has nothing to do with the paradox.

        • @trollercoaster@feddit.de
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          27 months ago

          A shift of the public opinion at that scale doesn’t occur in a vacuum. It can only happen if society as a whole tolerates increasingly intolerant messages and behaviour. Those far right rat catchers wouldn’t have much of a platform, if they weren’t tolerated, and their supporters wouldn’t be nearly as brazen if they were told off wherever they dare to publicly state their support.

      • @Darkenfolk@dormi.zone
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        57 months ago

        What exactly would you jail him for though? While he is mostly spewing bullshit without coming with any real solutions, he isn’t actually doing anything ‘legally’ wrong.

        • Maestro
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          87 months ago

          He was tried around 2008/2009 for hate speech and discrimination. He should have been convicted then.

          • @Darkenfolk@dormi.zone
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            17 months ago

            There is quite a bit of a difference between genocide and some mean words about the Islam.

            Yes, words can be harmful but the holocaust is quite a bit outside that scope.

            Something that you probably understand, seeing as you came with this absolute shit strawman take.

      • froggers
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        47 months ago

        Ok, you jail him and maybe even his closest allies. What do you achieve with that?

        Imo, at best you got a bunch of people protesting out in the streets, calling it political persecution. And at worst the party’s popularity might even increase, handing them an even larger victory.

        • Maestro
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          47 months ago

          If he had been convicted years ago, we wouldn’t be in this situation today.

    • Vincent
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      47 months ago

      At the same time, people are bound to compare it to e.g. Trump, who actually got a majority. It’s good to know that our electoral system works differently, if you’re unfamiliar with it.

      • @Bumblefumble@lemm.ee
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        47 months ago

        Just FYI, Trump never won a majority of votes either, although he was a lot closer than Wilders.

        • Vincent
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          27 months ago

          Haha yeah fair enough, he got a majority of electors (I think that’s the right term?), but not of the popular vote, which is what counts in the Netherlands - another sign of how different the electoral systems are. But yeah, the larger point is that the level of popular support is way lower.

      • @taladar@feddit.de
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        37 months ago

        Or compare him to Trump whose trials are frankly far too little and far too late for their next election.

    • @Treczoks@lemm.ee
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      47 months ago

      I see the problem with it, but it also means they have not won (yet), and you can work towards the next election to fix it.

    • @vzq
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      47 months ago

      It really depends on your take home message.

      If it’s “shit is dire, but it could be worse and we still have a chance to fight back”, it’s one thing.

      If it’s “everything is under control go back to sleep”, it’s quite another.

      To be fair, the vibe I got from GP was more towards the latter though.

    • The far right got plenty more votes in those elections, just for other parties. I think in total this election the far right received something like 3 more votes than last time? The difference is that it’s now mostly concentrated in a single party.