The World Right Now

[Blaquaza]

As we all know, the world right now is in a very turbulent state. Britain is leaving the EU (much to my dismay), Trump is now President (much to my dismay), and all kinds of crazy shenanigans are happening all over the globe. I'm just wondering what you all think about the current state of the world, particularly with how some of the more controversial, continental pieces of news make you feel. One reason I wanted to make this thread is for people to vent their political gripes.

Here in the UK, we have a system in which anyone can make a petition, and those that get 100000+ signatures must be discussed in Parliament. One of those came out literally a couple of hours ago, and at the time I'm typing this up it has just under 250000 signatures (although that'll probably be far higher by the time I'm finished typing, given the speed it's going up). What is this petition? To ban Trump from making a State Visit to the UK. The description says that we're not saying he can't visit as a figure of authority (if only), but that he shouldn't be expected to meet the Queen and the royal family (who even then, I'm not too fond of) whilst he is acting the way he is. I'm sure you've all heard of the ban he's imposed on people born in predominantly Muslim countries from travelling to America. How is this allowed in any civilised society? A man so prejudiced and outright venomous should not be allowed an audience with anyone, let alone the Queen.

At the risk of getting hyperbolic, what he's doing is no better than what happened leading up to the Second World War. It's shockingly similar, in fact. This should not be tolerated by anyone. His apologists are equally bad, and our Prime Minister showed she's the spineless, moronic fool I've expected she is for quite some time now by refusing to criticise his actions. She wasn't even elected, and she's letting an inexperienced idiot from another country walk all over her. Does any MP even see how stupid this is?

Anyway, the floor is open to anyone else who needs to voice any qualms they have, or to challenge me on my views if you want.

[Caite-chan]

The world went to hell when we found out he was going to be the next President. We too have something where if a petition gets 100,000 I think is the number that the President HAS to look at it. But the crap he is doing now makes us as America look horrid. And even if we got rid of him we still have Mike Pence who is just as bad if not worse than Trump.

[EmeraldSky]

I'm afraid Trump is going to be a real life version of Disney's Jafar sometime soon if he is not stopped...



I actually had a nightmare last night that basically recreated this scene from "Aladdin" with Trump as Jafar--if he thinks he can restrict Muslims and Hispanics, then are the LGBT community and people with disabilities next?

[Neo Emolga]

Normally I don't get into political stuffs, but I do want to say one thing.

When it comes to the media, make sure you get scrutinize, fact-check, and get the full story on EVERYTHING they say about the subject matter before talking and speaking up about it. Don't just rely on one source and keep an objective and open mindset before accepting what they're saying. You know the phrase "take things with a grain of salt" in terms of being skeptical or not to take things too literally? Well, those days are done. You need the whole salt shaker now. :P

The media is going out of their way to trigger you. They cater to the emotionally impulsive and the ones who are quick to jump to conclusions based on limited facts and information resources. That's how they get their ratings and that's how they get their sponsorships. They're out to feed you the story you've been waiting to hear, whether it's something that swings more to the left or to the right depending on the source and their intended target viewer market, but also depending on how much of it is true and how much of it is farfetched to support what their viewers are waiting to see. I've seen videos butchered, facts skewed, and evidence disregarded way too many times on both sides.

So please, take special care with each developing news story that surfaces. Beware of what you see on Facebook and other social media sources. I have friends that are in political total war mode on Facebook right now and it's disheartening.

[EmeraldSky]

The real question is, how do you tell what's fact and what's fiction anymore?

[Blaquaza]

Just in case anyone is interested, that petition I mentioned before is at 630000 now, just short of 1% of the UK's population. The thing is, it's only rising.

The world went to hell when we found out he was going to be the next President. We too have something where if a petition gets 100,000 I think is the number that the President HAS to look at it. But the crap he is doing now makes us as America look horrid. And even if we got rid of him we still have Mike Pence who is just as bad if not worse than Trump.

Pence is worse, because unlike Trump he knows what he's doing. Any person who believes in shock therapy is evil beyond words, and that man is one of those people.

Normally I don't get into political stuffs, but I do want to say one thing.

When it comes to the media, make sure you get scrutinize, fact-check, and get the full story on EVERYTHING they say about the subject matter before talking and speaking up about it. Don't just rely on one source and keep an objective and open mindset before accepting what they're saying. You know the phrase "take things with a grain of salt" in terms of being skeptical or not to take things too literally? Well, those days are done. You need the whole salt shaker now. :P

The media is going out of their way to trigger you. They cater to the emotionally impulsive and the ones who are quick to jump to conclusions based on limited facts and information resources. That's how they get their ratings and that's how they get their sponsorships. They're out to feed you the story you've been waiting to hear, whether it's something that swings more to the left or to the right depending on the source and their intended target viewer market, but also depending on how much of it is true and how much of it is farfetched to support what their viewers are waiting to see. I've seen videos butchered, facts skewed, and evidence disregarded way too many times on both sides.

So please, take special care with each developing news story that surfaces. Beware of what you see on Facebook and other social media sources. I have friends that are in political total war mode on Facebook right now and it's disheartening.

As someone who wants to be a journalist, it's sad to see how the media is preying on the situation, from both the left and the right. All kinds of nonsense is being spewed to deceive more naive members of the public, and that's not on. Like you I don't usually involve myself in politics, but the state of the world right now has kind of pushed me into it, because I want to be in the know rather than hearing all kinds of dramatised crap from the media.

The real question is, how do you tell what's fact and what's fiction anymore?

According to the Trump Administration, you don't. There are simply facts and "alternative facts". Everything is a fact now, apparently. :P

[Elbub]

I wholeheartedly agree with nearly everything you're saying - even regarding not being too fond of the royal family. I can hold some rather socialist viewpoints at times. However, I will just point out one thing with regards to a comment you made;

She wasn't even elected.

No, but then in the last 100 years we've had 24 Prime Ministers, half of which haven't been subject to a general election before they took office. It's even three out of five unelected since 1990, with Tony Blair and David Cameron being the only elected ones (as opposed to John Major, Gordon Brown, and Theresa May).

I'm not saying this is right, or even that I'm happy with this. You may even have been aware of this fact :P I just have seen this argument being used a lot to criticise Theresa May, and I don't think it's entirely fair. Plus, it could end up being absolute chaos if we had to have a general election every time the Prime Minister decided to resign.

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

World, you dun sparced!

Yeah a lot of stuff is eerily reminiscent of WW2 here. Especially considering immigration was one of the major issues for Brexit, also. Trump is a complete loony. I don't think people even thought the things he is doing were possible. The rest of the world practically begged America not to vote him in. They did it anyway, whether they voted for him or abstained from voting. I hope this will be a lesson that will change how elections are held in future, but I doubt it. Trump is doing what he promised so I don't really feel bad for America, this is what they want apparently. I'm scared for the rest of the world. :( I'm glad I'm so far away. If anything is going to start WW3, this is it.

I read something about a Russian book that instructed on how to take down the US, and it's basically exactly what's happening. The US couldn't be defeated in war so you have to disrupt it from the inside, sow disunity and promote isolationism, get an idiot you can control in charge... Pretty scary stuff. The fact that you can't trust the media in all this just makes it even scarier. It really is like some dystopian novel. :P

It would be nice if the leaders of the rest of the world stood up to Trump, bit I can see why they can't. He can easily move against them with whatever crazy, reckless, thing he wants. The way I see it, they're trying to deal with a tantrum-throwing toddler with a loaded gun (or a billion of them). They have to try and get through to him somehow and the best way seems to be to stroke his ego and gently express concerns in a way that he can take on board and pretend he felt that way all along. Good old alternative facts. I'd be surprised if he survived to the end of the 4 years. And I mean that literally.

[Blaquaza]

Well, the government has officially ignored the will of 2% of the country. It's not a large portion, but it's ridiculous that those views aren't even being considered for debate, which is all the petition was asking for. Forgive me for the excessive melodrama here, but democracy is in a real bad place right now.

I wholeheartedly agree with nearly everything you're saying - even regarding not being too fond of the royal family. I can hold some rather socialist viewpoints at times. However, I will just point out one thing with regards to a comment you made;

No, but then in the last 100 years we've had 24 Prime Ministers, half of which haven't been subject to a general election before they took office. It's even three out of five unelected since 1990, with Tony Blair and David Cameron being the only elected ones (as opposed to John Major, Gordon Brown, and Theresa May).

I'm not saying this is right, or even that I'm happy with this. You may even have been aware of this fact :P I just have seen this argument being used a lot to criticise Theresa May, and I don't think it's entirely fair. Plus, it could end up being absolute chaos if we had to have a general election every time the Prime Minister decided to resign.

Honestly, I didn't know that. The only one I vaguely knew about was Gordon Brown, and that's only from a news report I saw on holiday 10 years ago. Political history in that respect is something I really need to brush up on. Like you said, it's not an excuse, especially when right now the country is being thrown into chaos and the person guiding us through it wasn't even technically selected by her own party, let alone by the public. Resignations prompting elections may be slightly chaotic, but I think - even though the window of opportunity has passed now until we've left the EU at least, I'd say - an election should have been held. There should have been some kind of referendum to determine the key arguments for leaving the EU as well, as although it would have taken more time, it would have ended up including views from the 48% of the country that she has outright ignored.

Sorry for going off on one, but right now this whole issue is really angering me more than it should. I'm not one to get angry over political affairs, but this current government seems to be trying to push my buttons until I explode.

[Soups]

I don't find too much interest in diving into political discussions, but I'll make an exception. Personally, I don't Trump. I don't think many people do, but he's the POTUS and it's something that must be accepted for the time being. Does that mean I have to agree with his actions? Of course not (not that I do anyway). However, it does mean that if I truly want to see a change, I'll have to do whatever is in my power to make sure that happens on top of making sure my voice is heard. And that's not something only I should do. It's something that everybody should do if they disagree with something/someone and would like to see a change.

As for the rest of the world, I won't lie. I haven't educated myself recently on what's happening. But I'm not ignorant or careless. Where there is evil, I pray that there is healing. I pray for change to blanket those that need it most.