cross-posted from: https://aussie.zone/post/29819894
In short:
Police have seized five posters depicting world leaders in Nazi-like uniforms from the window of a Canberra bar.
The bar was declared a crime scene and was forced to close, while the artist says the works are “clearly satirical”.
What’s next?
The bar owner says the images are “demonstrably anti-fascist” and that he has no regrets about displaying them.
In India I’m mostly referring to the ongoing descent into theocratic authoritarianism and hindu-nationalism. Historically I agree, they’ve done pretty well for themselves given where they started, but it’s right this moment that they’re veering in a decidedly unpleasant and less grounded direction.
Idk how much the French cultural influence can really be attributed to the maintenance of relative sanity in Canada, but it seems like a sorta far-fetched theory to me. France is going a pretty questionable direction right now too, with a near majority of the country embracing an ethnonationalist, barely-hiding-the-nazism far right party, and that’s a pretty unsurprising reflection of the same historical factors as influence English speaking nations too. Quebec isn’t exactly a bastion of cultural stability in the last few decades either, but I guess you’re right that it’s not quite on the level of the anglosphere.
OK I’m not that well informed about current politics in India, but I have observed Modi is not exactly stellar, I began to notice because they have completely abstained from denouncing the Russian invasion and war crimes in Ukraine.
It may be far fetched regarding Canada, but we know from many other situations that a mix of culture is better than mono culture, especially from work places, where a mix of men and women generally create a better work environment than 100% men or 100% women.
So I’m not saying that the French are better, just that the fact that there are 2 groups, may help prevent exceptionalism by either group to get out of hand. Like it has done in USA and UK. But of course Canada doesn’t have the megalomaniac mindset of UK from being the former mightiest colonial power, or USA from being the global leading military power and economy for nearly a century.
I think such things may not be good for the national mentality. Too bad that USA didn’t focus on promoting human rights and democracy instead of military power and trying to benefit from it.