Most Based Comments

Basedness: 🔥🔥🔥🔘🔘

Teslas are shit cars (look at their error stats) and Elon is a shit human being. I'm German, and I know a fricking Nazi Sieg Heil when I see one!! (667)

You're the original nazi. Takes one to know one. (-93)

Basedness: 🔥🔥🔘🔘🔘

Your friend is ignoring the facts because they make her uncomfortable. Elon is a total Nazi, he's defending the AfD, a neo Nazi party, in Germany right now and telling Germany to get over the Holocaust. He bought Twitter so Nazis would quit getting banned and censored. They just ignore those facts because it makes them uncomfortable and it doesn't directly impact them...yetQuit trying to defend Nazi shit in my comments. I'm gonna tell you you're defending a Nazi and then block your ignorant butt when you continue to try and act like THIS isn't the same darn thing https://giphy.com/gifs/gJJ8ZV3xVonUU4vcXwETA: Longer paragraphs defending Nazi shit doesn't all of a sudden mean I won't block you when I see it, so you can quit trying to convince me to give Nazis a chance to speak their mind...frick Nazis and frick their opinions, their Nazi butt opinions are rooted in bigotry, they're trash and I don't discuss things with garbage. (318)

He is saying my heart goes out to you!! I am high jacking your top comment to clearly point this out. Quit making something into what it isn't. He did not do the salute. He was throwing his heart out to the crowd. Whatever other agenda y'all have with whatever he has done is not needed in this. Pretend he isn't Elon.. he is just some person throwing his darn heart out to the crowd!!! OP threw out a friendship because they are so blinded by just who the person is that they didn't want to see what was actually being said with the hand gesture! FFS get over yourselves! (-45)

Basedness: 🔥🔘🔘🔘🔘

No, he's literally done the "my heart goes to you" gesture by making his hands into a heart.He ALSO literally JUST told Germany to get over the Holocaust If it honks like a goose and steaks like a goose, it's a fricking Nazi (30)

Lmao this is beyond wild. He did not say "get over the holocaust" like the other comment says he said it's over and no one is to be to blame anymore don't blame someone for their ancestors! Geez (-23)

Angriest Comments

Angriness: 😡😡😡😡😡

Teslas are shit cars (look at their error stats) and Elon is a shit human being. I'm German, and I know a fricking Nazi Sieg Heil when I see one!! (667)

this comment isn't all that good. not all that interesting or good really. double plus bad. it's not really 'top comment' material is it? it does really conform with what's popular though. fascists everywhere. i feel faint... where am i.... is that guy doing a bad thing? i hate that man. hate. hate. hate. hate. hate. hate. hate. hats. i mean hate. hate. hate. hate. hate. hate. hate. hate. hate. hate. hate. hate. (-1)

Angriness: 😡😡😡😡😡

People can be upset by more than one thing at the same time where I come from. Not good at multi -tasking? (4)

No, I'm neurodivergent. I don't need to see a clip of Elon being a moron to know that Trump is a fascist and I feel that this particular thing is rage bait. It's a bad look, but it's not an executive order that is going to get thousands of trans people killed. There's so much destructive angry energy going around and I feel like it's not even worth it to keep dwelling on Elon's Nazi salute. The salute and the response are amplifying all of the nasty energy that's already in the country. And the salute isn't even killing anyone. (1)

Angriness: 😡😡😡😡😡

Pretty sure bro bought the car before elon supposedly seig heiled anyways. (10)

Yeah idk what OP's angle is here. Like are they demanding they sell their car just because op doesn't like Elon after he did something stupid? The fact op is literally being an butthole, forcing politics into the group chat then getting angry they don't automatically hate whoever op hates, then getting more angry that they happen to own a Tesla, is unequivocally an butthole move and sentiment but Reddit is so anti Elon they'll ignore all of it just to take another stab at that dumbass (2)

Biggest Lolcow: /u/The_Rad_Knight

Score: 🐮🐮🐮🐮🔘

Number of comments: 6

Average angriness: 🔘🔘🔘🔘🔘

Maximum angriness: 😡😡😡🔘🔘

Minimum angriness: 🔘🔘🔘🔘🔘

NEW: Subscribe to /h/miners to see untapped drama veins, ripe for mining!

autodrama: automating away the jobs of dramneurodivergents. Ping HeyMoon if there are any problems or you have a suggestion

Prologue:

Before I can talk about Bungie's current bed-pooping I have to give you the context of yesteryear's bed pooping. During the thirdish quarter of 2023 the full weight of Bungie's massive screw up by releasing one of the dumbest, anti-climactic, and poorly written game expansions (even by destiny standards) had been realized. This gave Pete Parsons the CEO of Bungie, you're going to be seeing a lot of seethe surrounding this guy, the justification needed to start layoffs in the company.

https://bungie.fandom.com/wiki/Layoffs_2023

On Monday, October 30, Bungie laid off a sizable chunk of its staff in departments including community, QA, audio, and more. According to a report from IGN, Bungie CEO Pete Parsons cited Destiny 2's declining performance in 2023 as a cause. A report from Bloomberg noted that Bungie's upcoming projects were internally delayed as part of the move, with The Final Shape quietly moving to June 2024.

That underline section is going to be important later.

In an internal town hall meeting addressing a Monday round of layoffs that impacted multiple departments, Bungie CEO Pete Parsons allegedly told remaining employees that the company had kept "the right people" to continue work on Destiny 2.

This tone deaf remark caught Pete a lot of flak, as if he would give a shit, and he was criticized for not taking a paycut to prevent the layoffs. He instead chose to purchase 2.4 million worth of Antique cars and offer to show his female employees his collection.

https://kotaku.com/bungie-pete-parsons-layoffs-classic-cars-sony-buyout-de-1851610196

Speaking to multiple current and recently laid off employees, IGN has confirmed reports that Bungie took responsibility for the layoffs, rather than laying them at the feet of parent company Sony. Parsons told employees that the layoffs were largely due to underperformance of Destiny 2 over the last year, as well as lower-than-expected preorders for upcoming expansion The Final Shape.

As it so happens Lightfall was actually Destiny 2's best performing expansion. The newest expansion The Final Shape failed to break the previous expansions poulation record on steam (although that could also be sttributed to the amount of server issues during the release of TFS. Despite this the expansion still technically "underperformed" because bungie had likely over-promised Destiny 2's performance after releasing expansions during the height of the pandemic when everyone was trapped inside playing videogames.

Employees were also told that Destiny 2 player sentiment was at an all-time low. Sources tell IGN that this issue had been flagged to leadership repeatedly for months prior to the layoffs, with employees begging for necessary changes to win players back.

One former Bungie employee recalled that they were repeatedly assured following the 2022 Sony acquisition of Bungie that there would be no layoffs, and cited an item from a Sony quarterly report that claimed $1.2 billion of the $4 billion acquisition was going explicitly toward staff retention. Multiple employees confirmed that money was distributed to employees who were fully vested, with money split into multiple payments over time and varying based on discipline and seniority.

>t-there's not going to be any layoffs r-right Pete?

>yeah yeah sure, could you pipe down I'm trying to order more ferraris.

Of course since then there have as of now been 2 rounds of layoff. womp womp!

The first round of layoffs targeted those who had stock in the company cutting a lot of senior workers including the lady that designed the flipping Halo logo and Michael Salvatori the composer of pretty much the entirety of the music of the 10 year Destiny Saga ever since they canned Marty O'donnell. Around 100 workers got axed, some very high notoriety, and this isn't even including workers who got shifted into sony positions.

Today's Crisis

https://old.reddit.com/r/DestinyTheGame/comments/1egpwx6/the_new_path_for_bungie/

As of writing this 3 days ago another hundred or so Bungie employees had found out they had just been uncerimoniously laid off in the same darn community update that any redditor can read for patch notes. This time the layoffs were centered around shuttering all projects that weren't Destiny or Marathon related. This means those projects that were delayed in the underline section before were all cancelled. This time around a lot of leadership roles had been hit as well. Mark Noseworthy and Luke Smith, two guys known for almost killing the game at least 3 times, and one of which had been with the company since before Reach, had been let go. These guys were responsible for side projects and bringing Destiny into other mediums such as T.V Shows. With them gone there's nothing left in the works besides Marathon.

https://old.reddit.com/r/DestinyTheGame/comments/1ehxulq/mark_nosesworth_and_luke_smith_are_said_to_have/

Bungie shrank from 1300 to 850

Sony's Bungie is shrinking from 1,300 people to 850:

• 220 laid off

• 155 moving to Sony

• ~75 to a new studio

"We were overly ambitious, our financial safety margins were subsequently exceeded, and we began running in the red," says CEO Pete Parsons

https://x.com/jasonschreier/status/1818674500013097178

On top of the layoffs the annual plan for the release of Destiny content has been alterd, and the consensus is looking like future releases are not going to live up to the previous standards. In other words this 7 year old game might actually die this time, for real...maybe. Idk tbh.

https://old.reddit.com/r/DestinyTheGame/comments/1ehuabx/liz_from_d2_leaks_posting_new_info_regarding/

This leaves Marathon, as the sole entity for Bungie to rest its future on. Bungie has to hope an extraction based looter shooter, a reputably anticasual gaming experience. As well as a hero shooter which have become comically despised by gaymers in the current day (see Concord) will be enough to save them from complete collapse.

This is all that exists of Marathon right now. If I'm not mistaken the studio behind these cgi trailers and cutscenes for Bungie got shutdown too. Little else is even known about this game.

Could be worse though. They could be DICE.

Tl;dr

*Bungie got bought by sony in 2022

*Bungie released a shit expansion, and had a round of layoffs in 2023

*Bungie released a good expansion, and had another round of layoffs in 2024

*Bungie's current cash cow Destiny 2 is being put out to pasture

*Bungie has no other projects in development right now besides Marathon

*The future of this studio lies in the fate of an extraction based hero shooter

*Pete Parons like cars

___

I did it... I effortposted !jannies

NHS England:
*Trans staff changing room policy*:

"If a woman is not comfortable sharing female facilities with biological males, she can use the gender neutral toilets"?....

What does that mean exactly?... pic.twitter.com/X9PCZ92z7J

— Jonny Bell (@Jonnywsbell) February 17, 2025

Foids owned

!transphobes

Which reddit punk is ready to get in the ring and punch a nazi?

https://old.reddit.com/r/PublicFreakout/comments/1idwogr/ufc_fighter_bryce_mitchell_stands_by_his_claim/

YEAH HEIL HITLER NEIGHBOR

https://old.reddit.com/r/ufc/comments/1idy24y/in_defense_of_bryce_mitchell/

🚨 NEW: Kamala Harris just abruptly cancelled her planned trip to California and “raced to the White House,” per reporters

Biden also just returned to DC, after being expected to stay in Delaware until after Christmas

Is something going on? pic.twitter.com/bDVBOpco1q

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) December 20, 2024

Enter BetBiden ded or almost - 5,800 total betted

Enter BetNukes somewhere - 600 total betted

Enter BetWe're going to war - 1,600 total betted

Enter BetALIENS - 600 total betted

Enter BetSomething with the drones (NOT aliens) - 2,200 total betted

Enter BetDeath in the family for one of them - 400 total betted

Enter BetSome sort of high level political death by violence - 600 total betted

Enter BetSomething meaningfully different than these options - 11,000 total betted - WINNER!

Enter BetNothing in the title is true - 10,000 total betted

Enter BetWe will not get an answer within the next 48 hours - 26,400 total betted

!bets

Closed

Boy who injected himself with a crushed butterfly mixed with water 'for online challenge' suffered horrific seven-day slow death, it is revealed - with the insect's toxins feared to be the cause of death

The fourteen-year-old boy who died after injecting himself with a crushed butterfly suffered agonising symptoms for seven days before he died, local media reports.

Davi Nunes Moreira, 14, died in hospital in Planalto, Brazil last Thursday after telling staff he had injected a solution made of crushed butterfly into his leg.

Believed to have carried out the dangerous procedure as part of an 'online challenge', Moreira began vomiting and struggled to walk before admitting his mistake.

The youngster was taken into hospital by his father and remained in the Vitória da Conquista general hospital for a week, receiving specialised support, before he died.

Last April, an online influencer from Brazil nearly required amputation after taking part in an ill-advised viral trend for her two million followers.

'Thammy MC' was left unable to walk after standing in a bucket of ice and salt for an online 'dare' that turned her feet black and nearly required the amputation of her toes.

'We spent 15 minutes with our feet on the ice with coarse salt,' she said, recounting the horror.

'When I took my foot out I never felt such pain in my life. Three of my toes had turned black when it came out of the ice bucket.'

Thammy was treated at a clinic where she was told she was at risk of thrombosis, and that she could have developed necrosis had she remained in the ice another minute.

Unable to put any pressure on her feet, she said she now gets around the house by being dragged around in a garden chair by her mother, who pushes her from room to room.

Be sure to check in later for more Brazil news.

BREAKING: One of Norway’s largest fuel companies, Haltbakk Bunkers, will no longer provide fuel to US forces overseas after Trump’s mistreatment and disrespect of Ukrainian President Zelensky yesterday.

They say "No Fuel to Americans!" and they are encouraging other Norwegians… pic.twitter.com/BaeuDvmOeF

— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) March 1, 2025

Who India will side with? Depends on if the jeet is Ohio governor.

You know what that means? Time... To... GOON!!!

I got a mild tummy ache but I'm still going to GOON because I'm too lazy to go take a shit but I'm not too lazy to GOON. Sheeit it's the weekend so I can GOON all night and then SLEEP all day on Sunday. If you're tryna GOON and you need some COOMpacks hit me up (Whatsapp only).

It turns out, I wasn't the first to think of this shit. And the lil GOONERS have perfected it. I can COOM easy knowing that this time honored tradition will be upheld by future generations.

Ready to GOON with no headphones.

bottom text

!g*mers !chuds

Reminder, this is the average type of individual these jannies seek to lord over

Yooo, that is so relaxing and satisfying to see Jenna get her beautiful hair brushed 😍😍😍. Her hair is so brushable, I wanna brush that beautiful hair of hers 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

Okay. Now the jannies

The OG Celeb Jannies

The OG celebrity power jannies were a group who made it their life's work to collect every single female celebrity subreddit over the last 10-12 years. Here's most of them

Wait what mod list is that from?

https://web.archive.org/web/20170313191431/https://www.reddit.com/r/starlets/

That sub was originally created by the /r/Jailbait janny

I wasn't able to figure out exactly when, but I guess after he was suspended, it was passed to the rest of the cabal. Many of whom still mod big subs.

You see, these jannies were so obsessed with consooming every female celeb name subreddit that sometimes they'ed grab the subs before the girls turned 18. Because otherwise someone else would grab it before them and that was very triggering for them.

Their ranks have diminished in recent years as this guy seems to have died of aids or cancer or something 9 months ago

Some of our rightoids might recall he used to regularly make comments like this

But he was always immune to the reportmaxx. Even last year, I caught him sperging about supreme court justices or something, but nothing ever happened. And he'd say these things in /r/news, but his comment would just be removed whereas anyone else would at least be permed from the sub. Power janny privalege

Then this guy was suspended (maybe during the API protests last year? Not sure)

And I think at least one other died (actually died). But still, you'll find a group of them carrying on if you visit any female celeb sub name. Seriously, any sub

etc.

They are obsessive and controlling. Another group of celeb jannies was tired of being banned by the OG's and having to deal with their rules so over the last 2 years they built their own group.

My lungs taste the air of autism, blown past fallen jannies. /r/RisingTideNetwork

You're thinking, surely the new faction can't be worse then the OG's, half of whom used to mod a literal jailbait subreddit

You know how bardfinn or merari will make a super serious comment as if they're the ceo of a fortune 500 company? These RisingTideNetwork jannies are like that, except they'll be talking about a subreddit called "PicsOfTheMoleOnSydneySweeneysAss or "JennaOrtegasEarlobes.

They take it very seriously.

Helm Emeritus

It was started by /u/NotAMod2112, who is apparently a lesbian woman. That account was suspended so now she's under /u/NowAMod. I know, janny...coomer...lesbian? But I couldn't find any trans posting in her accounts. They usually let you know they're trans after all. So maybe it's really a bio lesbian

Here's a post she made to /r/RisingTideNetwork last year reminding them of their purpose after she was banned from the cabal controlled /r/AlisonBrie subreddit

Evil Empire - reminder of RTN purpose

The OG cabal on the AlisonBrie janny list

In the comments she mentions a man named Topher, who apparently was the original brains behind RisingTideNetwork

https://old.reddit.com/r/RisingTideNetwork/comments/166cqok/evil_empire_reminder_of_rtn_purpose/jylbjwc/?context=8

Introducing Topher /u/TimingGod

https://old.reddit.com/r/RisingTideNetwork/comments/vq59ok/topher_sort_of/

Here's the two of them flirting

https://old.reddit.com/r/CelebsWithPetiteTits/comments/xt22uq/75000_members/iqoajqk/?context=8

Cute , but it's kind of giving me Bardfinn flirting on bluesky vibes Topher has a little sub called /r/TopherB where he's posted.... ....his ex wives...

https://old.reddit.com/r/TopherB/comments/12hni6s/topher/

His first two wives were white. Third was Asian @BWC discuss

"My windows to the world"

This is kind of just sad. But why did he post these to his random sub. Boomer moment.

https://old.reddit.com/r/TopherB/comments/14sd4pk/ana_ai_altering_hair_color/

So anyway, it's a strange group of people because they'll be posting super seriously about janny matters, then the next post will be

Hostile take over of KoreanCelebrityFap? or Celebrity Butt centric subs? or CelebsBikiniUndies needs an approval mod but they take all those goofy subs seriously too.

They've changed leadership a couple times when someone gets too tired. Jannying is tough work, okay I think there's at least 2 or 3 sexy Indian dudes in their network. Jeets have really taken over reddit in the last couple years.

And they have a wiki where they lay out their master plan and all their requirements to join the network

https://old.reddit.com/r/RisingTideNetwork/wiki/index

They actually seem pretty free speech. They're obviously not as bad as the ex celeb jailbait jannies, they're just a little odd and very cringe.

First one to say @Holly_Jolly_Kong sucks peepee gets 300 coins. I know nobody reads this shit

So who's team are you on

including Formerlurkong - 86 votes

Dude bussy lmbo

Karnataka INC Govt announces 15% hike in bus fares from 5th January.

— News Arena India (@NewsArenaIndia) January 2, 2025

Husband paid for both in any case. Now state is her hubby.

>tfw I get a cab home from dalli airport for cheaper than bhangiloreans get a bus

THE INCEL REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED

Don't believe your lying reason chud

You didn't give them water for 6000 years chud REEEEEEE

Wait was that the right one?

Chamars steal seats without paying in unis and femoids steal seats without paying in public transport. Vishwaguru

Protest the Incel Tax

Down with the apartheid

One will have patched black-white reflective hair from a Sino-Albino crossbreed

The other will come from an exact 16.666% genetic combination of each Major Race (irish,native american,black,white,mongoloid,latinx) resulting in reddened skin and hair

Their history of ethnic conflict doesn't exist yet

Their slurs have not yet been coined

(If Hitler had won,)

This is fertile ground for theoretical racism PhDs to field their syncretic race-biology-sociology-aesthetic knowledge, i.e. psychohistorical applications

!meowr

Max announce the release of the 'Luigi Mangione: The CEO Killer' documentary on February 17th. pic.twitter.com/nwIEA87QUp

— Pop Tingz (@ThePopTingz) February 13, 2025

lol at him trying to grift /r/Savannah and /r/RVA at the same time.

Give me money and I will make Savannah the most important place in the world after I get my $200 for my highway junk car

Give me money and I will make RVA the most important city in the world after I'm not homeless

Greetings. I hope you are well. I've been doing a lot of research on fascism lately and I've been left utterly terrified. I can see the power the political ideology has thanks to its reliance on a palingenetic rebirth myth that is very effective at uniting people and bringing them under a charismatic strong man. This shouldn't be surprising, as human beings think in terms of stories, so if you're able to tell a good story and piece together archetypes in aesthetically pleasing ways, you can make billions or rule a nation.

The problem with fascism is that it brings with it war, violence, and the death of human rights. If fascism were to take root again in the West, it could lead to another World War and this would affect everyone. I don't want mass death, nor do I want to be conscripted into the military. I'm scared of what will happen to BIPOCs, LGBT folks, and immigrants in such a scenario. The third world isn't safe either, there are dictatorships in Africa with strong militaries and these nations are teetering close to fascism, including countries like Eritrea. The Second Congo War is just a taste of how deadly things can get, as this war led to over 5.4 million deaths within 4 years, the deadliest war since WW2.

South Africa isn't exempt from the threat of fascism and there have been very active fascist parties in the country. This makes me so, so scared because I don't want civil war. Our government has enough problems to deal with. Consequently, I believe that this is the most important longpost I have ever written. Within it, I'd like to outline what fascism is and how it took root in South Africa and almost collapsed democracy before it started.

This is the first part of a two-part series. In this post we'll look into the background of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging and in the next post we'll delve into the life and death of Eugene Terre'Blanche.

Before we begin, I'd like you to complete this poll.

Do you believe your country is currently at risk of fascism?

What is Fascism?

I have outlined a brief definition of fascism in a previous post, but I'd like to redefine it here in a little more detail. The first instance of fascism can be found in 20th-century Italy under the regime of Benito Mussolini. Benito was inspired by the works of Nietzsche and Georges Sorel. The movement arose while Itality was going through political and economic hardships. Mussolini, after returning from war, believed Italy needed a dictator to lead the nation to greatness. To do this, he would need a myth to unify the people.

He coined the term Fascist which he derived from the Latin term "Fasces" which refers to a bundle of wood. Individually, each piece of wood can be broken with ease. However, when they are bundled together, they become unbreakable.

Pictured above is the Italian fascist symbol used by Italian fascist uniforms. Mussolini rose to power in Italy thanks to his energetic speeches and his ability to tune into the anxieties of the masses and exploit them. For the sake of time, I won't go deep into the history of Mussolini's rise to power, but it is important to know that by 1925, he was the country's dictator and he enjoyed widespread support.

Fascism was exported to Italy's colonies, including Eritrea, which may explain the far-right, dictatorial bend the country has to this day (it is often termed the North Korea of Africa). It also spread through Europe, eventually reaching Germany where Adolf Hitler would establish a dictatorship of his own. When fascism is mentioned, Nazi Germany is usually what comes to mind first. This shouldn't be a shock, as the Third Reich is easily the most powerful fascistic State the world has ever seen. If we are lucky, fascists will NEVER acquire that much power ever again.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Never_again

Hitler was directly inspired by Mussolini, though he also drew from philosophers like Nietzsche and scientists like Charles Darwin to advocate for social Darwinism and eugenics. Hitler was also strongly anti-semitic, a position which Mussolini would also adopt in Italy. With this said, hatred of Jewish people isn't the defining characteristic of fascism. In fact, as Israel is proving, it is possible to have a fascistic State that isn't anti-semitic at all. This raises an important question - what makes a fascist?

How to Identify Fascism

Defining fascism is no easy task, and it is among the hardest political ideologies to adequately categorize. We know it is right-wing, authoritarian, and ultra-nationalistic, but other political movements have these traits as well. Saudi Arabia would be a good example of a country that is right-wing, authoritarian, and ultra-nationalistic but not quite fascist. After doing some research, I've identified the following as the key traits of fascism. If you think I've left anything out or gotten anything wrong, I'd like to hear it. It is important to note that while a nation can exhibit some of these traits and not be a fascist nation, but when they occur altogether, the word fascism starts becoming more appropriate to use.

1. Support of political violence

Unlike liberal movements that were gaining popularity in the 20th century, fascists do not believe that violence is inherently bad and it is viewed as a healthy part of political life. This viewpoint is in part inspired by ideas of social Darwinism which championed the concept of the "survival of the fittest". Hence, it was only right that the strong should subjugate the weak. Violence is also the means by which social hierarchies are reified. I'll touch on it more in the next point, but violence is also an integral part of fascist masculinity. Violence is used to eliminate opposition, undermine democracy, force people into compliance, and expand the borders of the nation.

2. Support of strict gender roles and social hierarchies

As I've stated, fascists believe in social hierarchies, and that some people are more deserving of life and power than others. In Nazi Germany, this viewpoint led to the mass involuntary euthanasia of huge swaths of the population that were disabled either mentally or physically. The most appalling example of this can be found with Germany's Aktion T4 program that claimed up to 300,000 lives.

There are also strict gender hierarchies in fascist nations. Fascism generally takes on a patriarchal shape with a "strong man" leading the nation. Women are expected to remain subservient and to serve a reproductive and domestic role in society. In contrast, men are expected to take to the frontlines of the army and participate in violence and war for the sake of the greatness of the nation. For this reason, you'd be hard-pressed to name a female fascist leader.

3. Belief in a palingenetic rebirth myth

This is perhaps the most important aspect of fascism. The fascist leader will convince the people that they were once a great nation but they have been subverted by outside forces i.e. Jews, communists, immigrants, liberals, etc. The populist fascist leader claims that they are the only ones who can restore the greatness of the nation and rescue the people from economic and political hardships, as well as from the threat of decadence and degeneracy. The palingenetic rebirth myth is reliant on a scapegoat to blame for the nation's decline and to give the people a common enemy to unite against.

4. Opposition to any initiatives or institutions that are racially, ethnically, or religiously diverse

The fascist leader will often create an "us" vs "them" schism. Those in the in-group are the true inhabitants of the nation while those in the out-group are invaders that dilute the blood of the land. One of the slogans used by Nazi Germany is "blood and soil" which illustrates how the regime tied race and nationality together.

Don't be fooled, however - a fascist nation does not need to be racist. The founder of fascism, Mussolini, stated the following:

Race? It is a feeling, not a reality. Ninety-five percent, at least. Nothing will ever make me believe that biologically pure races can be shown to exist today.

However, he did also create an "us" vs "them" schism by scapegoating communists and Jewish people.

So there you have it - four pillars of fascism. If all four are present in a political system, you may be dealing with a fascist nation. I'd like to discuss a fifth possible pillar - isolationism. It appears that a lot of fascist nations aim for an autarkic economy and espouse ideas of isolationism and strong borders. The reason why I do not add this as a pillar of fascism is because scholars generally agree that there is no economic system that is essential to fascism. A sixth possible pillar concerns the use of lies and irrationality. This is seen with both Mussolini and Hitler but I hesitate to add it as an essential element of fascism because quite frankly all politicians lie - it's just a matter of degrees.

The nature of fascism is that it strives to gain power. Consequently, it manifests in varied ways depending on the context. This can make it hard to determine when a nation is fascistic. This has become increasingly true in the modern world where wannabee dictators are aware of the stink of fascism and therefore cloak their ideology using more palatable terms such as "nationalism" and preach about the restoration of "law and order". This isn't always the case, especially with the group we're going to look at today - the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging, also known as the AWB.

Apartheid in South Africa

I'm sure the topic needs no introduction, but I'll quickly define apartheid. It was a system implemented in South Africa from 1948 to 1991, and it was led by the National Party, which was an Afrikaner ethnic nationalist party.

Pictured above is the National Party flag and the apartheid South African flag. In short, apartheid is a system predicated on institutionalized racial segregation, and it favoured the White minority. Segregation was achieved through forced removals and the creation of townships for Blacks, which had the secondary effect of creating a cheap source of labour. The government also used pass laws that required black South African citizens to carry passes when travelling outside their homelands. This was enforced by Acts such as the Natives (Urban Areas) Act of 1923 and the Black (Natives) Laws Amendment Act of 1952 that deemed urban areas "white". If 'non-whites' were found travelling in urban areas without passes, they faced the possibility of arrest. As you can imagine, interracial marriage was also banned.

The "heyday" of apartheid occurred during the 1960s and 1970s, but the National Party soon began facing strong resistance from the ANC and condemnation from the international community. Consequently, in the 1980s, some of the petty laws of apartheid were repealed, including the law banning interracial s*x and marriage (the Race Relations Act) and the mixing of the races (Group Areas Act). The government also provided limited political rights to Indians and Coloureds, though it wouldn't be until 1994 that South Africa would have its first democratic elections which were won by the ANC, allowing Nelson Mandela to rule the nation.

So, was apartheid South Africa fascist? No. Importantly, the movement lacks a palingenetic rebirth myth. Nevertheless, there were fascist movements bubbling in the country, with the most popular easily being the AWB.

The Birth of the AWB

As apartheid laws were slowly repealed, some liberal White South Africans saw this as progress. However, there were huge swaths of the White population that did not agree with the increasing liberal influences on the country's politics.

One individual who opposed the direction the country was going in was Eugene Terre'Blanche. We won't go too deep into his history (there will be a separate post dedicated to him), but all you need to know for now is that Eugene was born in 1941 and he expressed Christian Afrikaaner nationalist sentiments from a very young age. In 1973, he called a meeting with several men where he complained of the increasing liberal influence in the country under the leadership of Prime Minister B. J. Vorster. He also feared the increasing influence of communism, and as a response, he formed the AWB, with him as the leader.

The AWB is an extremist far-right party that strives to create an independent Afrikaaner state (Boerestaat) separate from the rest of the country. Is the AWB fascistic? Yes! The group is openly fascist, and is strongly influenced by Nazi Germany. Consequently, the group is anti-semitic, and it uses a flag featuring a "triskelion" which is a three-armed swastika.

It also exhibits all four of my pillars of fascism:

1. Support of political violence

The group has used significant violence since its conception, and it remains committed to using violence to bring about the Boerstaat. It is responsible for many terroristic attacks during apartheid, especially in the 80s and 90s. Notable episodes of violence include:

• The Battle of Ventersdorp in 1991 which saw the AWB go head to head with the South African Police Force, and resulted in three deaths

• The Storming of the Kempton Park World Trade Centre in 1993 which involved 3000 members of the group storming the World Trade Center in Kempton Park

• 1994 bombings which resulted in the death of 20 people

The violence did not stop after apartheid ended. In 1996, the group planted a bomb in a grocery store, killing four civilians. Eugene Terre'Blanche also served time in prison for beating a petrol station attendant until he had brain damage (more on that in the next post).

The AWB is violent and aggressive. You can see it in this Louis Theroux clip featuring the documentarian speaking with Eugene who gets annoyed with Louis and squeezes his hand.

2. Support of strict gender roles and social hierarchies

The AWB uses Christianity to justify its gender roles and social hierarchy. They are insistent that the Bible says that Blacks and Whites must live separately, and they wish to bring about a patriarchal, pastoral Boer society.

3. Belief in a palingenetic rebirth myth

This runs strong in the ideology of the AWB. Their fall from grace comes with the Second Boer War which brought about the end of the Boer republics of South Africa. The party promises to restore these republics and bring about the great Boer empire once more.

4. Opposition to any initiatives or institutions that are racially, ethnically, or religiously diverse

It goes without saying that the AWB strikes for a homogenous society. They do not want Blacks, Jews, or communists in their Boer republics. They scapegoat the ANC, immigrants, and Black people as their enemies.

Unfortunately, the AWB had a huge following and at its peak, it boasted a membership of close to half a million. It also caught the attention of the international world, including Nazi sympathisers. Consequently, the group is quite prominent in right-wing literature, especially alternate history fiction novels such as Gun of the South. I've read the book and I quite like it. This is my favorite quotes from the text:

The AWB in Modern Day

Since South Africa became a democratic republic, the AWB has only shrunk in size, but its supporters remain passionate. One of the topics they rally around is the issue of farm killings, which they frame as a white genocide. They will often protest by shutting down highways and waving Old South African flags as well as the Nazi triskelion flag.

The group is still concerned with creating a Boerstaat, and they have their eyes on the Transvaal and the Free State but they haven't had much success claiming land. In one video worth watching, a member of the AWB tries arguing his case on television, and he threatens the Black female, leading to an altercation between him and the male host who warns him not to touch him on his studio.

Perhaps the biggest blow the group has experienced occurred in 2010 when he was killed by two of his own Black farm workers! He was beaten to death with pangas (machetes) and pipes. The murderers claimed that Eugene was buckbreaking them, though no evidence of sodomy was found.

Today, the group has about 5000 members and it is a shell of its former self with no political teeth at all. So is there any reason to fear the AWB?

Does the AWB still pose a threat?

YES! The AWB is actively recruiting the youth and trying to grow its numbers. It is doing this through the use of social media to spread its message. Several scholars are warning about the rise of fascism in South Africa and it's terrifying me! I'm so scared of fascism, I feel I have to do everything in my power to stop it. Unfortunately, all I can do is longpost. If they win, the races will be separated, then I'll NEVER have a white gf.

https://www.cfr.org/blog/transnational-white-supremacist-militancy-thriving-south-africa

The Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (Afrikaner Resistance Movement), founded in 1973 by noted white supremacist Eugène Terre'Blanche, also remains active today. The group apparently boasts around 5,000 members, and in 2010, members of the group were arrested for plans to attack Black townships in the wake of the murder of Terre'Blanche—which some claimed was racially motivated. The plotters, based in Pretoria, had also threatened foreigners and players traveling to the country for the 2010 World Cup. And in 2002, a far-right group calling itself the "Warriors of the Boer Nation" claimed responsibility for a series of blasts targeting the township of Soweto, in which one woman was killed.

https://www.ru.ac.za/perspective/2012archives/theleftsfailuretoresolveglobalcrisisgivesfascismroom.html

Last week at the 24th Socialist International (SI) congress in Cape Town, a similar warning about the threat of fascism was issued. However, this referred to a global danger. And this week, as the local mining industry faced turmoil, National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) spokesman Lesiba Seshoka also raised the spectre of fascism.

Conclusion

I hope you join me in my next post when I discuss the life and death of Eugene Terre'Blance. It is a long, sometimes funny, but always frightening story. Look, I'm just searching for a way to stop the chuds from winning. I will NOT live in a segregated nation, I will NOT have my vote taken away from me (even if I don't vote), and I will NOT live in a fascist country. Videos like this absolutely frighten me:

I don't know how Americans sleep at night when they have a proto-fascist about to take the wheel. FASCISM BAD!

!africans !nonchuds !effortposters !mayomoment

AYAAN HIRSI ALI

Hello, dear reader. I hope you've had a wonderful Spooktober and that everything is going well at work and with your family. It's important to keep a good work-life balance and to maintain the relationships in your life that make you happy. Don't let your boss take your golden years from you - live in the moment.

Today, I'd like to discuss an author who has garnered quite a bit of criticism for her views and opinions. However, she has great character and she has not backed down from her positions. The person I'm talking about is Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Some of you might know her already, as she made a name for herself among atheists during the 2010s, but in modern times she has been written off as a discriminating right winger. Is she a bigot? By the end of this post, you'll be able to draw your own conclusions.

The post will take the following structure:

1. The Early Life of Ayaan Hirsi Ali

2. Ayaan Hirsi Ali Becomes an Apostate

3. Prey

4. Conclusion

Neighbour, you better be ready, as this is going to be a particularly long piece, but I trust you're used to lengthy effortposts. I'd also like some feedback regarding the quality of the post. Let's begin!

1. The Early Life of Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Ayaan Hirsi Ali! Oh, how I love that name! Say it aloud; it's quite fun. Ayaan Hirsi Ali! The lady's life began in Mogadishu, Somalia in 1969, the same year as the famed moon landing. For those unaware, Mogadishu is the capital city of Somalia and it has served as a vital trading port in the Indian Ocean for millennia. The city has a rich history and it is also very Islamicized, though this shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone familiar with Somalia's demographics. According to research, over 99% of the country identifies as Sunni Muslims.

Not unexpectedly, Ayaan Hirsi Ali's family is devoutly Islamic as well. Her father, Hirsi Ali Magan, was a prominent figure in the Somali Rebellion Movement, and he is a co-founder of the Somali Salvation Democratic Front. Magan was a very opinionated man, and he was even imprisoned for his political dissidence. Perhaps this is where Ayaan Hirsi Ali gets her bravery and outspokenness from. Do you believe the tendency to be politically active is an inheritable trait?

Now, before we continue, we must discuss a very important topic - circumcision. Female circumcision, also known as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), is very common in Somalia. I will not be using this term because I believe that all forms of circumcision constitute mutilation. CIRCUMCISION BAD! The country has one of the highest rates of circumcision in the world, and the UN has these harrowing statistics to share:

99 per cent of women aged 15 to 49 in Somalia, have been subjected to FGM, the majority between ages five and nine.

Why is female circumcision so common in Somalia? There are many answers to this complicated question. It is a cultural phenomenon passed down from generation to generation. The practice is associated with purity and honour, and it is considered a rite of passage for girls.

Scholars have pointed to the lack of strong legal consequences for the practice as one of the reasons it has endured. They have also looked at patriarchy as a possible reason why female circumcision is widespread. However, it is worth noting that the practice is often perpetuated by older women. This does not disqualify patriarchy as a motivation for the practice, though it does suggest that there is more at play than the mere desire to control women's sexuality.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali was circumcised at age five. This happened despite her father's wishes, as he was opposed to the practice. She has the following to say about this part of her history:

I remember the celebrations. I remember the goodies and the gifts. And I remember being caught by these two women - one of them my grandmother. But they couldn't find a woman to do it. They found a man, and fortunately for those girls circumcised by men, it's much milder. So I wasn't circumcised in the way that I should have been.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali has spoken out against female circumcision. However, she doesn't stop there. She is also careful to highlight that male circumcision is bad! She has the following to say on the topic:

Though her father was progressive in many ways, he still clung to some customs of Islam and his culture. This meant that he married Ayaan Hirsi Ali off to her cousin when she was in her early 20s. Already, Ayaan Hirsi Ali had developed a forceful personality and she wasn't going to be easily told what to do. She has said the following on the topic:

But because I also love and admire my father, I spoke to the man he wanted me to marry, and I asked him what kind of life we were going to have together. And he said, 'Well, you're going to have six sons for me.' And I told my father I didn't want this, and he said he couldn't go back on his word." When Hirsi Ali refused to attend, they carried out the ceremony without her. "Clan members came together, papers were signed, and I was married."

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2005/may/17/religion.immigration

Ayaan Hirsi Ali wasn't happy with the marriage, and she soon made plans to flee from Somalia. She made it to the Netherlands, where she would change her life and the trajectory of Europe.

2. Ayaan Hirsi Ali Becomes an Apostate

Now, growing up, Ayaan Hirsi Ali was a devout Muslim, and she believed wholly in the Quran. As you might have already guessed, things took a turn when Ayaan Hirsi Ali found herself in Europe. After fleeing from her arranged marriage, she sought asylum in the Netherlands. She received a residence permit, and she began her life anew.

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Quick notes from Holly!

The Netherlands. Holland. Dutch. Which one is it? The terms Netherlands and Holland are often used interchangeably, but they actually refer to different things. The Netherlands is the correct and official name of the entire country. It includes 12 provinces, each with its own distinct culture and identity. Holland, on the other hand, refers only to two provinces: North Holland (Noord-Holland) and South Holland (Zuid-Holland). These provinces include major cities like Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and The Hague. Historically, Holland was the most economically powerful region in the Netherlands, and because of its influence in trade and commerce, the name became associated with the whole country.

+++++

At first, she took odd jobs to keep herself alive. However, her intellectual prowess would reveal itself, making it clear that she was destined for more than being a cleaner. In the Netherlands, she exposed herself to a wealth of literature, and this gradually began to expand her worldview and stretch her imagination. She attended Leiden University, where she obtained a Master's degree in political science. Her love of politics only grew, and after graduating, she became a Fellow at the Wiardi Beckman Stichting (WBS), a think tank of the center-left Labour Party (PvdA).

It's at this point of the story that we skip to a historic day - September 11, 2001. The USA was the intended target, but the whole world felt the blow. On this day, Osama Bin Laden, leader of Al Qaeda, orchestrated four aeroplane attacks on various key USA infrastructures. Most notably, the Twin Towers went tumbling down. What motivated the terroristic attacks? As you're intelligent enough to guess, it was a number of factors, including opposition to the USA's military presence in the Middle East and a desire to draw the USA into a prolonged war. There were also religious motivations, and Bin Laden considered the West an enemy of Islam. Al Qaeda's ideology is rooted in Salafi-jihadism, a radical interpretation of Islam that advocates for violent jihad (struggle) against perceived enemies of Islam. The 9/11 attacks were meant to provoke a global confrontation between the West and Muslims, hoping to mobilise Muslims around the world to join the cause. The attackers were promised martyrdom and heavenly rewards, further motivating their participation.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali was taken aback by the attack, and it caused her to question Islam and its tenets. She listened to Bin Laden's tapes and discovered him citing the Quran to motivate the attack. Ayaan's crisis of faith continued when she was introduced to the Atheist Manifesto by the Dutch philosopher Herman Philipse. She found she could not associate herself with Islam any longer and slowly but surely, she gave up her religion. Do you think she made the right choice?

Ayaan Hirsi Ali began writing against Islam and, in particular, its treatment of women. Her writing garnered a lot of attention, good and bad, and it made her a prominent figure in the Netherlands as her political career flourished. To promote her anti-Islam message, Ayaan Hirsi Ali teamed up with filmmaker Theo van Gogh to create a documentary detailing the treatment of women in Islamic society. The documentary, titled Submission, caused much of a stir for its content, especially among Dutch Muslims. A fatwa was called upon Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Theo van Gogh, but those are harmless, right? Wrong! Theo van Gogh was assassinated on 2 November 2004 by Mohammed Bouyeri, a Dutch-Moroccan Muslim. Bouyeri shot Theo van Gogh with a handgun eight times before pulling out a knife and attempting to decapitate the filmmaker. When that failed, he used a knife to pin a letter to Theo van Gogh's dead body. The letter mainly contains death threats aimed at Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

Soon after the attack, Ayaan Hirsi Ali went into hiding, but that didn't last forever, and she eventually resumed her regular political life. After a while, she relocated to the USA where she gained citizenship in 2013. Here, she's lived with her spouse Niall Ferguson and her son whom she had when she was 41! There are so many questions I have regarding her s*x life and her circumcision, but they would be inappropriate to pose to her.

To sum up this section, it is worth noting that Ayaan Hirsi Ali does not believe that Islam is a religion of peace. In her own words:

3. Prey

The Crux of Ayaan Hirsi Ali's Argument

So what the frick is her problem? She details most of it in Prey, a non-fiction novel released in 2021. It outlines how Europe has changed since the mass immigration of asylum-seekers from Islamic countries, as well as the effect mass immigration has had on the lives of women in Europe. Let's take a deep dive into the text. Hope you're ready!

Ayaan Hirsi Ali begins her critique by pointing out that women are seen less in public:

"Walking in certain neighborhoods in Brussels, London, Paris, or Stockholm, you suddenly notice that only men are visible. The shop assistants, waiters, and patrons in cafés are all men."

According to Ayaan Hirsi Ali, this is because women have chosen to remove themselves due to the behaviour of men. It isn't native men that are the problem - no, the problem lies with Muslim immigrants who haven't assimilated into liberal Western society.

"It is no secret—though it is considered impolite or politically incorrect to point it out—that the perpetrators are disproportionately young immigrant men from the Middle East, South Asia, and various parts of Africa."

Why do the immigrants behave this way? Well, they are coming from societies that do not value women and that oppress women. The immigrants are bringing these values with them instead of adopting Western values. Of course, Ayaan Hirsi Ali points the finger at Islam for birthing many of these patriarchal norms. The other problem? The West is not taking the problem of mass immigration seriously enough. When crimes are reported, they are swept under the rug and authority figures pretend the problem doesn't exist.

"Authorities understate the incidence of assaults and harassment of women. In the interest of political expediency, politicians play down the threat and encourage the police to do the same. Excuses are made for criminal behaviour. Judges hand out light sentences to perpetrators. "

What is important to highlight is that Ayaan Hirsi Ali isn't opposed to legal immigration. She believes that people have the right to seek better lives for themselves. It would be hard for her to hold any other position, as she is an asylum seeker herself. However, her main concerns lie with the beliefs and behaviours that migrants bring with them, especially Muslim migrants. To her, Islam is incompatible with Western values and the religion needs drastic reform before it can be accepted in Europe.

The Rise of Sexual Assault in Europe

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a noooooticer, and she has noticed a rise in r*pe cases just as the number of Muslims immigrants has risen in Europe. She provides the following stats:

"In Denmark, sexual offences remained stable or slightly decreased from 2010 to 2014, then steadily rose. Danish law expanded the definition of r*pe in 2013, it is true, but between 2014 and 2017, the number of r*pes (based on the new definition) more than doubled"

"England and Wales saw a 15 per cent increase in r*pes in the year to March 2017 and an 8 per cent increase in sexual assaults from the year before"

"France's national statistics also point to an increase in sexual violence. Between 2017 and 2018, the French Interior Ministry reported a 17 per cent increase in r*pes and a 20 per cent increase in other forms of sexual violence, including harassment"

"In Germany, there was a striking increase in r*pe cases after 2015. The number of victims of r*pe and sexual coercion (Vergewaltigung und sexueller Nötigung) had ranged between 7,000 and 9,000 a year between 2000 and 2015, with no discernible trend. In 2016, it was 8,102, but in 2017, it was 11,444—a 41 per cent increase."

"Sweden's crime statistics show that s*x offences against women were at relatively stable levels between 2005 and 2011 but trended upward after that and doubled between 2014 and 2016"

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is adamant that we are not dealing with a case of correlation - the causal relationship between immigration from Muslim countries and the increase of r*pe in Europe are directly connected. In a radical moment of noooticing, she states the following when discussing the refugee r*pe crisis in France:

"Though they account for only 7 percent of the population, they are suspects in 14 percent of s*x crimes."

The R*pe Game

Perhaps the most interesting part of the text comes when Ayaan Hirsi Ali dives into the cases of r*pe that erupted in Europe during the 2010s. It is here that we learn that Muslim immigrants are coomers of the highest order, and they'll stop at nothing for a crumb of kitty. They have no regard for the law or for the sexual autonomy of women, at least according to Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Do you agree? It doesn't matter what you think actually, don't bother commenting with your response. Now stop interrupting me. Anyway, here are some of the cases Ayaan Hirsi Ali brings up:

"In 2016, a 45-year-old woman jogging in a Munich park was attacked from behind. Her assailant strangled her so tightly with her headband that he lacerated her neck and she collapsed unconscious. He r*ped her, then left her in a bush."

"Four Eritrean asylum seekers r*ped a 56-year-old woman in Dessau that same year. She was collecting recyclable bottles behind a school near where the men were drinking. They lured her with the promise of giving her their bottles to recycle, but instead they smashed one of the bottles, cut her face with it, and gang-r*ped her. "

"In August 2018, a 19-year-old Somali broke into a retirement home in Halle, Central Germany. He sexually assaulted one of the residents, a 74-year-old woman, simply "because he wanted s*x."

Coomer!

"Eighteen-year-old Franziska W. left a Freiburg nightclub in October 2018 with a Syrian asylum seeker she had met inside. What she did not know was that her new acquaintance was wanted by police for drug offenses and as a suspect in a gang r*pe. Majid H. was 21 at the time. It appears that he drugged the girl, dragged her behind a row of hedges, and r*ped her. He then phoned his friends, inviting them to join him. According to the court prosecutor, Majid told them there was a woman outside "who can be fricked." Over several hours, eleven men—eight Syrians, one Iraqi, one Algerian, and one German—between 19 and 29 years of age either r*ped or provided cover for the male feminists"

Pathetic.

"In March 2017, a 27-year-old Nigerian living in an asylum reception center in Bagnoli near Naples sexually assaulted a 41-year-old woman. In 2018, a 20-year-old Somali, who had just received a subsidiary protection permit from the Italian authorities, sexually assaulted a 68-year-old woman sunbathing at a beach"

What Ayaan Hirsi Ali is concerned about is that authority figures are not taking action. The migrants committing these crimes are often granted light sentences that do not reflect the severity of the crime. Furthermore, governments aren't acknowledging that s*x crimes by migrants have reached intolerably problematic levels. Some of these attacks are the consequence of taharrush gamea or the "r*pe game". Ayaan Hirsi Ali points to Islam as the basis for the game, and she has the following to educate us on:

"Accounts of taharrush gamea have been recorded in Algeria and Tunisia since the 1960s. "In 2006, Egyptian bloggers witnessed hundreds of men thronging the streets to celebrate the end of Ramadan, harassing women with or without hijabs, ripping off their clothes, encircling them, and trying to assault them. Girls ran for cover in nearby restaurants, taxis, and cinemas. As protests continued in Tahrir Square in 2012, mob attacks against women became more organized. Men formed concentric rings around individual women, stripping and raping them."

Ayaan Hirsi Ali highlights that the game has taken root in the West:

"The r*pe game crossed the Mediterranean in December 2015. During New Year's Eve celebrations in Cologne, as we have seen, more than a thousand young men formed rings around individual women, sexually assaulting them. When the victims identified the perpetrators as looking "foreign," "North African," and "Arab," they were pilloried as racists on social media"

Ayaan does not merely point out the problem. She also attempts to determine it's cause. One of the issues she highlights is that in the global South, women are taught not to draw attention to themselves. This is not the case in the West where women are not afraid to flaunt their bodies and sexuality. Ayaan believes Muslim migrant men who move to the West do want to assimilate, but they encounter a culture clash upon arriving in places like Europe where they are suddenly faced with emancipated women and don't know how to react or deal with their sexual desires.

She also considers the fact that Muslim migrants are resentful of the West. They arrive in Europe seeking success and stability, but very few find it. Instead, most are relegated to the lower class where they find themselves with reduced status, lower than women even! Hence, the misbehaviour may be a form of lashing out at society.

Failure to Assimilate

One of the issues brought up is that Muslim migrants are failing to integrate into Western society and adopt secularist liberal worldviews. Instead, researchers are finding that migrants are clinging hard to their religion and culture, even as they run away from the countries where they are most prevalent. Ayaan Hirsi Ali divides Muslim migrants into four categories

1. Adaptors

These are Muslims who come to the West and adopt liberal values. Such people usually immerse themselves in Western literature and education, and they take advantage of all the opportunities the West has to offer.

2. Menaces

These are mostly young men who are antisocial. They don't have much of a moral framework - they just want s*x and drugs. They are unemployable, land up in trouble with the law, and they take advantage of the welfare system.

3. Coasters

Coasters arrive in the West and follow the rules, but they don't exhibit ambition. Instead, they leech off the welfare system, invite other family members over into the West, and never take up employment that would not pay them much more than what they get in benefits.

4. Fanatics

The last group is comprised of devout Muslims who have no desire to abandon their faith. They are traditionalists and they would like to destroy the liberal West and replace it with Sharia.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali argues that while the dream is to have all Muslim migrants be adaptors, the truth is that they are the minority. When immigrants don't assimilate, they form parallel societies that exist within the host country but feature the culture of the global South. Such communities are problematic. They make Muslim migrants unemployable, as many young men do not want to work in places that serve alcohol, men and women mingle, and they will certainly not work for a female boss.

Solutions

One of the last topics Ayaan Hirsi Ali discusses in her explosive book is whether there are solutions to the r*pefugee crisis. One of the hinderances to finding a solution is that Europe is engaged in victim blaming. Instead of admonishing men who r*pe, they instead turn to women and blame them for egging on the attack. Police and headmasters will ask women to dress more modestly, lest they set off Syrian refugees, and bad behaviour from migrants will be excused with weak explanations appealing to the fact that many are traumatised after travelling from warn-torn regions. Ayaan Hirsi Ali applies her brains to the problem and comes up with the following solutions:

1. Repeal the existing asylum framework

2. Address the factors that lead to mass immigration

3. Address the factors that lure migrants to Europe in particular (e.g. welfare)

4. Reinstate the rule of law

5. Listen to successful immigrants

6. Provide s*x education to all children

4. Conclusion

Ayaan Hirsi Ali has come a long way from her humble beginnings. Despite being circumcised, she has started a family and became a prominent figure in the West. She is brave and she has not given up her viewpoints even when her life is threatened. We should all strive to be more like Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Unfortunately, not everyone appreciates her genius and in recent years she has been labelled an Islamophobe and a bigoted member of the alt-right. This is interesting, as she began as a figure the atheist left championed. This goes to show how much the Overton window has shifted and how the left has went from staunchly opposing Islam to considering it bigotry to criticise it. It's brutal.

So what do you think of Ayaan Hirsi Ali? Do you think she makes valid critiques of the migrant crisis? Or is she unfairly biased against Islam? Do you believe her rhetoric helps women, or is it inviting more discrimination toward Muslim women in the West? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this fascinating woman.

Totsiens!

OP

Canadian here. Not sure if this is PreperIntel worthy but just reporting something I've honestly never seen in my life. Canadians woke up today feeling super patriotic. And super pissed. Not that we aren't usually patriotic but we aren't a bunch of flag wavers. It's more a quiet patriotism we keep to ourselves. And we are generally a polite and reserved bunch in general.

Not today. Holy... the mood in Canada is ... PISSED.

Most of the anger is aimed at your current head of state but also at your country as a whole. Not so much individual Americans. You will be perfectly safe traveling through Canada or visiting. But there is outright anger directed at any product with a "Made in the USA" flag. Every store in Canada is going around with maple leaf stickers marking the "Made in Canada" products. Consumer boycotts are springing up organically across the country. The talk is really sort of ... ugly.

I get the sense there has been significant damage done to the US Brand in Canada. And I don't think it's confined to Canada. I have friends in the UK who say the same. They are also just frankly pissed beyond all reason. I expect it's the same across Europe.

Hopefully it dies down. It's absolutely non-productive and unCanadian. America and Canada have been ride or die BFF's for a century or more. I live in Arizona 1/2 time and I love LOVE it here. I have yet to personally meet an American I didn't genuinely like. You are good people. You do not deserve any of this.

Unless of course you voted for this. In which case... hope you get everything you voted for and then some.

also RIP to /r/prepperintel, it has turned into just another 'Drumf le bad' subreddit