I think what is happening in the UK currently is a shedding point. It’s important to take note because those who prefer authoritaniasm are trying to control the narrative.
You might think, it’s “just” about a footballer tweeting but it is about so much more and Owen Jones explains it well.
Hitler didn’t happen over night. It was a slow process in which the narrative about jews, travellers, socialists etc was changed so anyone who didn’t follow Hitler’s narrative was dehumanised. Only when you dehumanise the person in front of you will you be able to do cruel things to another human..
And people who survived Nazi Germany recognise the language the UK government is currently using as being similar to that used by the Nazis
I have been told many times since the Brexit referendum:”Oh, we are British we are not like that” meaning the British fought Hitler so they can’t be right-wing, racist or falling for authoritarian propaganda. But that’s exactly what the Germans thought in the 1930s:” We fought Napoleon and are the people of Thinkers and Poets, we can’t be like Hitler wants us to be. We are not like that” However, slowly they were brainwashed into being like that.
The trouble is that you have no brainspace left to watch what your government is doing when you fight to pay the bills, worry how to feed your children or to lose your job. Sounds familiar?
That was the situation the Germans found themselves in when Hitler slowly rose to power and not only promised a better life but gave workers a house, jobs, holidays and a car. The price they paid though was high.
You might feel offended when someone compares what’s going on your country to what was going on in Hitlers Germany. But what if you do not keep a critical eye on what is going on and it makes your country slide into authoritarianism?
Please stay safe, stay kind and remember: you rock!
🇩🇪
Du denkst vielleicht, es geht hier “nur” um einen Fußballer, der tweetet aber es geht hier um so viel mehr. Leider konnte ich kein deutschsprachiges Video finden. Deshalb schaut Euch diesen Artikel auf Freenet an
BBC nach Lineker Suspendierung in der Krise
Und diesen auf Watson.ch
Ex-Fussballstar Lineker attackiert GB-Regierung – und landet im Auge des Sturms
Hitler ist nicht über Nacht an die Macht gekommen. Es war ein langsamer Prozess, in dem das Narrativ über Juden, Roma & Sinti, Sozialisten usw. verändert wurde, sodass jeder, der Hitlers Erzählung nicht folgte, entmenschlicht wurde. Nur wenn man die Person vor einem entmenschlicht, kann man einem anderen Menschen grausame Dinge antun.
Mir wurde seit dem Brexit-Referendum oft gesagt: „Oh, wir sind Briten, wir sind nicht so“, was bedeutet, dass die Briten gegen Hitler gekämpft haben, deshalb können sie nicht rechtsgerichtet, rassistisch oder auf autoritäre Propaganda hereinfallen können. Aber genau das dachten die Deutschen in den 1930er Jahren: „Wir haben gegen Napoleon gekämpft und sind das Volk der Denker und Dichter, wir können nicht so sein, wie Hitler es will. Wir sind nicht so.“ Langsam wurden sie jedoch einer Gehirnwäsche unterzogen, um so zu sein.
Das Problem ist, dass man keinen Kopf mehr hat, um zu beobachten, was die Regierung tut, wenn man darum kämpft, die Rechnungen zu bezahlen, sich Sorgen macht, wie man seine Kinder ernährt oder man seinen Job verliert. Klingt vertraut?
Das war die Situation, in der sich die Deutschen befanden, als Hitler langsam an die Macht kam und nicht nur ein besseres Leben versprach, sondern den Arbeitern ein Haus, Jobs, Urlaub und ein Auto schenkte. Der Preis, den sie zahlten, war jedoch hoch.
Vielleicht fühlen Sie sich beleidigt, wenn jemand das, was in Ihrem Land vor sich geht, mit dem vergleicht, was in Hitlerdeutschland vor sich ging. Was aber, wenn Sie das Geschehen nicht kritisch im Auge behalten und es Ihr Land in den Autoritarismus abgleiten lässt?
Bitte bleibt sicher, bleibt freundlich und denkt dran: Ihr seid grossartig.
the-bee-writes.com 
I so agree with you
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Thanks. It is so worrying what’s happening not only in the UK 🫣
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yes, all around the globe
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I was watching the news and thinking this over.
I don’t work for the BBC…and I do not work for the government either. I have worked for international agencies that provide relief aid as well as many other critical services that provide protection, education and other services – effectively lifelines in some areas.
As volunteers we are asked to remain politically neutral, and we all know that one of the vital reasons why we have to do that is that our neutrality allows us to cross borders and reach areas that would be very hard to access if we were to appear to take sides in political issues. That can sometimes be difficult. One may feel those governing a land are brutal and oppressive, but having to cooperate with their system in order to access people in need is so important.
At the same time, we have a very clear grasp on what is good and bad. But to do what we do, we have to refrain from speaking out against those who we may not agree with. However, neither will we accede to a request for any kind of allegiance to a form of government or rulership.
Maintaining that stand – we will not join you or support you, but neither will be speak against you is challenging. But it is for a reason. We go in as neutral agents and strictly for the sake of helping people in desperate situations.
The situation with Gary Lineker and the BBC feels a little different. Perhaps the BBC may feel that impartiality helps them gain access to all sides of the story in some complex matters. I think that the issue of people paying thousands of pounds for a space in a overcrowded boat not fit for sea has been thorny. Many people genuinely want for those who are fleeing violence and oppression, torture and terror to be able to find a safe haven. The idea of them falling into the hands of people making money out of sending them out to sea in unsafe vessels is very upsetting.
There has been some poor choice of language of late – forgetting that some who risk their lives to cross the Channel are perhaps desperate and traumatised. The language of members of government has come across as belligerent in focusing on the angle of illegal entry, essentially criminalising people who victims of atrocities. Perhaps Gary Linaker’s choice of terms was also leaning towards an inflammatory choice of words. He used a very emotive reference. I understand the connection, I understand the fears many have about the thought of a system that dehumanizes sections of society, especially those most vulnerable.
In someways, social media is just as powerful as the media nowadays. One influential voice can have a platform or an audience as big as one entire broadcaster or new service.
There are some strong feelings. I think many if not most people are concerned that people who have already been mistreated and traumatised should not be treated harshly. But at the same time, people want to know what is being done to tackle the issue of thousands of people, well tens of thousands of people, paying thousands of pounds to whoever is providing these unsafe boats.
If it were up to me Bee, I would demolish borders, destroy all weapons, scrap the economy and start again. Accepting that there is a rulership in place – a rulership that would legally claim to have authority by virtue of a democratic process – and accepting that provides them with some authority to make decisions, not all of which I agree with. Regardless of whether I agree with them, I pay my taxes and obey the law. These times do make us concerned, because there have been some very disturbing views voiced by both politicians and also non-politicians which reveal the deep divisions and potential for conflict.
In a way, I think what has happened this week between the government, the BBC and Gary Linaker – well, it is really just the tip of the ice-berg. I am sure we will see more situations like this. I have seen governments weaken and lose their authority and I do wonder whether at some point they will attempt something radical to cling on to their authority.
Tricky times we live in. I try to keep a distance from the commercial and eco-political set-up because thought I accept they are there, and they provide a structure we live within, I do not put my trust in them. I do not sign up for what they say is success, because it looks more like enslavement than anything.
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Thanks, Mel, for your balanced comment in which you make some valuable points. I always admire your ability to write well-thought-out posts and comments too. However, I would like to answer some of your points.
You wrote that the language the government has been using “may come across as belligerent”. To me “belligerent” is a child that doesn’t want to do what his or her parents asked. “Belligerent” is not calling refugees coming to your shores to seek safety ” an invasion”. Especially not, when said country takes in hardly any refugees compared to its neighbors and does not provide safe routes for refugees to ask for asylum. If you look at the Film “Germany Awaken” The Nazis said the Jewish community would take over Germany and take it away from the Germans” – an invasion by the Jews.
Please, explain to me what the difference is between what Suella Braverman said compared to what the Nazis said? Her language does remind me of the language used in 1930s Germany. That is all Lineker wrote. In my opinion, the only difference is that the Nazis went on to actually kill the people while Britain does not do that (maybe just yet). But the language is the same and it leads to atrocities, in my opinion.
I am very much influenced by Niemoellers poem “First they came…”
https://www.hmd.org.uk/resource/first-they-came-by-pastor-martin-niemoller/
When I was in school we were taught that one reason why the Nazis could get such a strong hold on the German population was that hardly anyone stood up and called out the language and actions of the Nazi government as wrong. People thought: “What the government does has nothing to do with my life I do not follow the news cycle” and “if I do nothing wrong I will be fine”
I was taught that when you see your government do wrong you need to speak out otherwise atrocities will happen. It is your civil duty to speak out. In English you say “don’t use it, lose it”. Don’t use your freedom of expression and you will lose it.
From what I gather from your comment you assume the BBC is impartial. I do not assume that because the freelancer Gary Lineker who criticizes the government loses his job while the freelancer Lord Sugar can put Jeremy Corbyn beside Hitler in a meme and publish a poem about how much he hates Corbyn and he keeps his job at the BBC.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/mar/31/mcdonnell-calls-for-lord-sugar-to-delete-corbyn-hitler-tweet
To me, if the BBC would be impartial either both had lost their job or neither. Besides, according to their contracts, both can express an opinion in their private capacity as they are not fully employed by the BBC.
I worry deeply for your country. I worry because most people seem to feel that undemocratic things cannot happen in a country that fought Hitler.
I am sorry, but I cannot understand how you can call language demonizing refugees as “belligerent” and not be outraged by what is said there. Would you feel the same if a German, Russian, or Hungarian politician said that?
I am also not sure if the British populace can still afford to stay on the sidelines in these matters. It might already be too late because you cannot realize how much a country moved to the right when you only see your country’s news cycle. It is terrifying how different other countries see things and you only realize this when you watch different news from different countries.
I hope, to the powers that be, that what I am fearing is happening in your country does not happen in reality. That I call fire where there is none. However, all my fears about Brexit came to pass so the rest might come to pass too.
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I have had to speak to people in power ever since I started volunteering Bee, and quickly learnt that one of the follies of humans in leadership is that when you choose the wrong word, they shut you down, turf you out, and come down even harder on vulnerable people, people we are trying to access in order to protect or rescue them.
But nowadays, the authority of people in power has weakened. Now, when they choose the wrong words, the reaction is that people will react with fury.
The word I chose belligerent I have always assumed it meant “hostile and aggressive”. I have always it in the context of someone using bullish, thoughtless, or provocative language. The example you used of that term “invasion” is an excellent example.
I have spent my life since I was sixteen, working as an unpaid volunteer, helping people, amongst whom many had fled violence and persecution. Bee I have very strong feelings about people being mistreated. But I have seen what works and doesn’t work when it comes to negotiating with those in power, and for the sake of the people who we are trying to help, we keep our cool and make sure we don’t lose the trust we have that we are strictly focused on helping people.
What concerns me is the indifference some people feel to the suffering of others. I have heard some comments from younger people and older indicating a lack of empathy (to say the least) which shocked me. The loves of many seem to revolve around their own comforts and pleasures – their next holiday, their night out at the pub, the football game they are looking forward to…no desire to stop and think about the serious issues in the world. Wanting to shut their eyes, bury their heads in the sand, grumbling about anyone who disturbs their peace of mind, putting their headphones on to listen to their music so they can shut out what they do not want to hear.
I wish every single young person in lands like the UK and the US had to spend a year as part of their education in a land without the mod-cons many take for granted. To live a year without running water or any white goods – without a local supermarket. I wish that was part of everyone’s education so they had their eyes opened to the way of life of many millions of people.
I look forward to the day when egotistical and often corrupt humans are not allowed to rule over others at all. To me the entire system is monstrously inadequate. But I see them as already having struck the ice-burg and sinking.
I do not consider the UK as my country. I consider this earth as our home and one human family. I do not see borders, but I have to go along with the current system – having a passport, applying for visas.
I have worked with many who fled horrific situations and had to migrate across borders for safety, including concentration camp survivors from the era of Hitler. Their spirit is inspirational and has taught me a great deal about how to build and heal. The love for people, the conviction and triumph in their eyes. They were mistreated horrifically, but as far as they were concerned, they had triumphed, and they wanted to use their lives to help others. Hitler and his atrocities did not break them.
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🤗 I’d love that too: everybody needs to live abroad and learn how privileged we are 😇. And I feel the same about many people having lost all compassion and only being interested in their next pleasure. I suspect both our approaches might work well together: there must be people who speak out but also those who work with the system to help those in need. Those who speak out can change the narrative and wake people up. Those who work within the system can help people by practical means. And I also agree that our political systems are breaking down. However, that is why I feel so strongly about the narrative those in power use. Interesting how different you understand the word “belligerent” that was an eye-opener for me.🤗
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You also mentioned the genuine fears of people about Immigration. Yes, it is a challenge to integrate people from other countries, and if you live in a little town that suddenly has a huge amount of refugees sitting in a terrifying hotel. However, adressing that fear by calling people who come in boats “an invasion” rather stokes those fears instead of reassuring your citizens that the government has a plan and will make sure that both groups will prosper. In my opinion, if you genuinely want to address this fear you will not put so much immigration pressure on small towns, you will invest in language and culture courses for people coming in and you make sure that the asylum claims are decided in a fast fashion so they can go and make a life for themselves. Or have to go back. As far as I can see nothing like this happens in Britain. And, yes, I agree with you, we live in terrifying times with more and more migration going to happen because of climate change and other conflicts. I also agree with you on tearing down borders and starting anew. But maybe we have to stand up and speak out to make that happen.
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I just read what you mentioned about the BBC. It’s not that I believe they are strictly impartial Bee, but I saw in news reports yesterday that is what they are claiming to be. In recent years I have been more aware of how some news channels in the US seem to take a political side, I think we saw that especially when it came to coverage of events linked to Donald Trump. I have always thought of certain UK newspapers as being very supportive of one political camp more than another.
I have never put my full faith in any media outlet. When I was sixteen I was on the front page of newspapers due to an event I was part of. The article was positive, however it was also full of inaccuracies. One that amused me was when they claimed that someone was in charge of the event. The name they cited – well, we were all in stiches laughing because he was a six year old boy. We wondered how reporters had got that so wrong. Since then I have seen incidents when certain newspapers got it very very wrong and did not apologise afterwards for misinforming people.
I have seen some individual BBC correspondents serving in overseas posts, reporting in the midst of some very tense situations. When I see reporters or in Russia, or in Afghanistan etc – there are often times when it is clear the choice of words or terms used, the tone of the report could make a difference to whether they can continue to ask questions, access certain areas or people, or just stay in the country at all.
I certainly would not want to see Gary Lineker punished for expressing his feelings. He clearly feels great empathy for people who are in incredibly distressing situations.
I think that nationalism has already had disturbing consequences, and has the potential for worse. I am very aware of the effects of propaganda, half-truths used in reporting, putting a spin on a story, charismatic speakers who appear enlightened but have an insidious way of poisoning minds. Keeping our heads clear and our discernment sharp is perhaps becoming more challenging, especially when ideas that were completely unpalatable years ago have found acceptance and are gaining growing popularity.
I have a hatred Bee, a real hatred for violence, mistreatment, abuse, oppression, corruption, human trafficking, slavery, injustice, greed, economic extremes and many other issues that are clearly wrong.
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Hi Mel, from your recent posts, I clearly understood where you are coming from. I fell prey to misunderstanding a word. Your meaning is actually the correct one. This way I misunderstood at first what you were actually saying and I am grateful that you took the time to explain it to me. It makes me realize how little I often understand what someone says to me even though I know the language very well now. But my reaction also proves your point about how people react when someone voices an opinion. It’s an opinion not the end of the world. Everybody gets riled up so easily. But I also think we might have talked about two different things. Your point being: if you want to help people in need do not upset the people in power because they will stop you from doing what needs doing. I was talking about how the narrative in a system can leads to destruction and that I feel you need to stand up to that. Maybe you are right and my rsnts are pointless: we live in a failing system and simply have to sit it out until the new forms. But how can the new be formed when there is no one actually voicing it in public?
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I just turned on the news here Bee – BBC news channel – and there is more about Gary Linaker and BBC. The interesting thing is that what started out as one tweet expressing a view is now the main news story dominating the headlines. That is probably due to the reaction from the BBC to Linikar’s comments.
Bee, I don’t think your rants are pointless. I would want everyone to use their brains and form opinions and to have a clear grasp on the pulse of what is right and what is wrong. I think that is vital.
I do think that the challenge perhaps is in navigating the turbulent boisterous mass of humanity. We live in times when there are louder voices, (perhaps partly due to social media) deeper feelings, explosive issues. The difficulty is that what most people want is a clean peaceful earth where everyone feels safe. Sometimes division steers people down a different path, one that becomes ugly, and can develop into violence, terrorism, or even war. Sometimes both sides feeling they are right or righteous, and fighting for their own vindication, thinking that the end justifies any means.
I grew up near Liverpool and events connected with Northern Ireland shaped so much of my childhood. Almost everyone in town had Irish relatives. We were all upset by the conflicts within Northern Ireland. My first shopping trip to Manchester was memorable as a bomb left by the IRA destroyed shops I had spent my money that very morning, and I realized I had walked past the van with the explosives in twice before we were evacuated. It felt like a never ending quarrel with anger on both sides, both sides determined they were right and they had been wronged. For a while I had a flatmate had been a former member of the IRA – we had some fascinating conversations.
I sometimes perceive the decisions politicians make as being partly motivated as pleasing voters. It is uncomfortable, but some proposed policies have been born by discontent and demands from a populace who are blinded by their own daily challenges and perhaps increasingly hardened to the plights of others in a far far worse state than they are.
I think Bee that when we express our view, our perception, sometimes others will disagree simply because it does not match their view, their perception. But that may be simply because they were two different people who have seen and experienced different things, and perhaps have a different outlook. Sometimes two people with a very different outlook or set of beliefs or ideals can agree on a specific issue because it seems clearly wrong to both of them. We should be allowed to think and speak.
I personally try to be careful because of the work I am involved in. While I may speak out on an issue at times, I try to acknowledge the different views others may have.
About eleven months ago, I did feel upset by the choice of language used by another politician, and though I did not name the individual, I did write two posts, in which I tried to acknowledge the views of others but at the same time explained the topsy-turvy situation as I perceived it. I sometimes hold back Bee, restraining my choice of words, simply because it is so important to me to be allowed to keep doing what I am doing. In many cases there are too many words and nowhere near enough action. So I am going to keep doing, keep acting, and not impede that activity.
https://crushedcaramel.wordpress.com/2022/04/20/the-roof-is-leaking-so-lets-replace-the-carpet/
https://crushedcaramel.wordpress.com/2022/04/21/not-a-solution-but-a-little-education/
I have the same view that I had as a little girl – one human family, one home planet. We all need to learn to care for our home and our family.
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These are worrying times indeed Bee.
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They are indeed and I am not sure any of us are prepared for them 🍀
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