I think what has happened is that the story coming in from Social Media has normalised hate. Musk and Zuckerberg control the narrative. The billionaires are covering their trail.
Immigration is a problem. Mass immigration has become too much. Wars, repressive regimes, poverty and global warming has created a huge problem. Trump and Social Media have focussed on this (same with Reform in the UK). It is a problem, but the real problem is the Billionaires. Society has become totally unbalanced. The billionaires are clawing far too big a slice. They are costing us far more than we spend on migrants – particularly when you consider most migrants are hard-working people doing hard work in fields, hospitals, care homes and catering for low pay – jobs that the rest of us don’t want to do.
Immigration is not the problem; billionaires are the problem. They are exploiting us!
Social Media has scapegoated immigrants. There is a problem and they have exaggerated it. They’ve demonised socialism, caring, empathy and compassion – these things are seen as weakness. It’s all about strength, winners and losers, black and white. The real culprits – the billionaires who have been siphoning off more and more of the wealth – are controlling the narrative. The result is to empower racism, white supremacy and Nazis. Where these groups were a small minority they, due to the fear narrative of immigrants, Muslims and terrorism, soaked in conspiracy, deliberate undermining of authority, science, education and the media, have been sucking in more and more of the desperate, stupid, gullible and displaced. They blame immigrants instead of billionaires. Trump is orchestrating the fear and hate and targeting liberals. They like that. They have an enemy. It’s black and white. Trump puts forward a simplistic answer and a consistent set of lies. He’s in it for the power and money and is creaming the system – making millions. His family are raking it in. Draining the swamp!!! He’s created a whole new swamp!! He’s tapped into the white supremacists, gun lobby, evangelicals, Nazi groups and ‘We Will Not Be Replaced’ movement. These deprived idiots who make up MAGA just hate. They see themselves as strong, macho types who despise the educated. They think the educated look down on them. Trump gives them a voice and simple answers they can understand. The fact that it’s populist nonsense doesn’t matter. They’ve bought into it. If it doesn’t work they deflect the blame on to sabotage from ‘liberals’. Vance is an opportunist who bought into a road to power and wealth. He changed his tune and has become the attack dog, the sounding bell. He’s positioning himself to mimic Trump with more virulence. He’s going to take over MAGA and displace the old man. Vance has seen that the more extreme his shit the more the MAGA nuts lap it up. Whereas Trump is a narcissist with psychopathic/sociopathic tendencies, Vance is a calculated psychopath. The ambush in the White House showed his nature. He’s cruel and nasty.
I, personally, feel ambivalent. Mass immigration is undoubtedly a problem. I do have problems with the way certain groups of immigrants have taken over various areas of Britain. It creates a feeling of having been displaced. I do have a problem with intolerant, exclusive religions (Muslims, Christians, Hindus and Jews are, to my perception, all guilty). I detest the brainwashing of kids.
I would like immigrants to integrate and fully accept British values.
On the other hand I greatly value the cosmopolitan richness of culture, art, dress, dance, theatre, music, food and architecture that other cultures bring to our society.
I’d like a good balance.
Too much immigration creates a feeling of being overrun and I believe this is exactly what Trump and Reform have been tapping into. They have exacerbated this by demonising immigrants. They portray them as scroungers who come here to live off the dole, and, paradoxically, people who are ‘stealing’ our jobs. They are portrayed as evil drug dealers, murderers, rapists, paedophiles and killers of our pets. They are taking up places in our schools and hospitals, receiving preferential treatment with housing and putting great strain on our systems.
The reality is far from that. Until they have been processed immigrants are unable to work. They receive a subsistence level of support of £47.36 a week (try living on that!) and a room – usually in a hostel.
Immigrants are brought in as a ‘cheap’ workforce. They work in the fields, factories, care and hospitality on very low pay! They work hard and do the jobs that others really do not want to do.
Populist politicians portray them as dangerous, work-shy, scroungers who are costing us a fortune and getting preferential treatment. The truth is far different. They are hard-working and greatly contribute to the economy.
One only has to look at the reality. An immigrant before being processed costs us £2,464 a year. The VIP lane of the Tory Party gave out lucrative contracts of billions to their chums. Eg. Lady Mone received £200 million for PPE! Her scam alone would have supported 81,184 immigrants.
The problem with the country is not immigrants. Brexit alone is costing us an estimated £37 billion a year! That’s enough to pay for 15,015,221 immigrants! That’s right 15 million!!
The problem with BROKEN BRITAIN is not immigration; it’s government corruption, Brexit and billionaires/millionaires scamming us! Yet we support the very scammers who have ruined us – Johnson, Farage and Trump!!
Mass immigration needs solving for social cohesion reasons. You don’t solve it with walls; you solve it by dealing with the wars, corrupt regimes, repressive regimes, climate change, poverty and social situations that create it.
Mass immigration didn’t break Britain – the corrupt wealthy along with the Tory and Reform parties did that!
There is a problem with mass immigration. We all know that. It’s how you deal with it that is the issue.
Do we go for a simplistic, populist, fascist option and build walls, send those without documents to concentration camps of ship them out to El Salvador or Guantanamo Bay? Or perhaps gas them?
Or do we try to understand the complex underlying situation and attempt to create the sophisticated solutions that may take time and money?
Do we try to stop the wars that are driving people out?
Or address the extreme poverty that causes people to seek a life elsewhere?
Or can we solve the persecution of extreme governments on their own people?
Or the global warming making land unfarmable?
Or deal with the gangs who are terrorising people?
There are no easy solutions but we do have to bear in mind that these are human beings with real reasons for what they do. They are not mindless blobs of evil. They are people! They don’t deserve scapegoating or treating like criminals.
This is a return to Nazi policies!!
Holy sh*t! Watch this incredible 90-year-old holocaust survivor go off on Trump's border car Tom Homan over their deportation policy. "History will not be on your side!" This is epic.pic.twitter.com/B7XjJoTr3y
The rise of right-wing fascism is due to mass immigration and muslim extremism.
People find the presence of large numbers of foreigners extremely threatening.
People find the usurping of their endemic customs and ways threatening.
In general I don’t think they mind seeing a few people in ethnic garb. It’s when this becomes a mass and they start taking over areas and displacing the locals. They resent the situation. They do not want to see mosques springing up all over the place. They do not want to see their culture displaced in their own country.
Couple this with terrorism, hate speech and fire-brand extremists spouting about taking over and we have a recipe for disaster. It fuels thugs like Tommy Robinson and right-wing parties.
Populists like Trump and Farage have been quick to jump on this bandwagon and inflame the fears. The extreme right has been painting a vivid picture of immigrants being scroungers, rapists, murderers and criminals. They stir up the fear to create hate.
This results in knee-jerk responses. All across the Western world right-wing politicians are whipping up fear and hate, proposing mass deportations and building walls. It gets them elected.
We don’t need fear and we don’t need hate. We don’t need populist right-wingers creating isolationist policies.
We do need understanding, intelligence, compassion and solutions.
We have to end mass immigration.
We have to end muslim terrorism.
We have to integrate immigrants into our culture. If they want to live in our country they live by our rules. That isn’t to say they have to abandon their own culture and religion but we have to find ways to live together in peace without fear, suspicion and hatred.
To end mass immigration I believe we have to look at the causes of mass immigration (not build walls). The causes are war, political chaos, extreme poverty and climate change.
Until these are addressed we will have mass immigration.
The cause of muslim terrorism is war, poverty and chaos. Muslims perceive that the West is attacking them, their culture and religion.
It is obvious that we cannot take all the millions in need from impoverished countries. We do not have the room or facilities.
In my opinion the problem with the world is that far too much wealth and power is in the hands of a handful of billionaires. We need to help solve the Third World problems so that there isn’t this disparity. We need to stop the wars.
We need to solve climate change.
Mass immigration, in my opinion, is the product of greed. We need a fairer world.
I want to live in a diverse, tolerant multicultural society. I think that is enriching for both myself and my family.
I do not have a problem with immigration as long as the number of immigrants does not reach a level that usurps endemic populations. That means that the level of immigration needs limiting.
I am totally opposed to all forms of racism.
I believe all people, regardless of their colour, creed or heritage should be treated equally. Everything should be based on merit.
I believe that there should be no place for hate.
I believe that immigrants should be assimilated into our culture while being free to honour their own cultures.
I believe that the law of the land supersedes everything. We all live in the UK and should be subject to this law. I do not want to see ANY religious courts.
In order to facilitate full integration I would ban ALL religious schools and make the indoctrination of children a crime. This would apply to Catholic, Christian, Jewish, Hindu and Islamic (and other) schools. I believe this religious indoctrination of young minds is child abuse.
I believe that all unBritish misogynistic practices should be outlawed and strongly enforced. That would, in my opinion, include female genital mutilation, forced marriages and the burqa.
I believe any person spreading hatred should be deported.
I believe that people who come to live in Britain do so because they want to live here; to take advantage of our freedoms and the opportunities our society provides. They should fit in and abide by our laws.
I do not understand why anybody should want to come here and then attempt to change this country back into a replica of the country they came from. If that kind of society is how they want to live they should stay in that society.
This country is a secular country and I would fight to keep it so. Religion should have no place in government. Religion should be a personal choice for those old enough to decide. Theocracies are the worst of the worst. All types of theocracy are hideous.
I want to be free to criticise all religion and religious leaders! Nobody should be above criticism. There should be NO blasphemy laws.
I do not mind causing offence.
I want to live in a multicultural country, colourful, diverse and energetic. I want people integrated and welcome. I do not want backdoor apartheid.
Multiculturalism is working to an extent but needs a lot more clear thinking It is being undermined by religious leaders, by political policies and the far right. The level of immigration and the poor level of integration, coupled with officials not wishing to impose the law for fear of upset, is playing into the hands of far right agitators like Tommy Robinson, Nigel Farage and Elon Musk.
What a huge mess created by that nincompoop, self-serving idiot Boris Johnson with his stupid side-kick David Davis!
They really broke Britain! It’s costing us a fortune – £30 Billion a year! It’s destroyed our public services in the process and is drowning us in red tape. Instead of migrant EU workers we’re importing masses of more permanent workers from Africa, China and India. Insane! Immigration has gone through the roof! We lost the cooperation of France, Germany and the rest of the EU.
The ERG are to blame. They forced through the most extreme version on ideological grounds. With such a close vote they had no mandate for an extreme Brexit. It is obvious that we should have gone for a soft Brexit, stayed in the customs union and single market and avoided all the red tape and loss of trade. Immigration would have been much less and we could have paid doctors, nurses and teachers properly!
Instead, we allowed profiteers like Rees-Mogg, to dictate terms. They made a killing. We pick up the tab!
The ERG, with their nationalistic, patriotic, xenophobic/racism, have created havoc for decades. These extreme nutcases have brought down government after government and introduced a Brexit (through lies) that is destroying the fabric of the country.
It’s time that Labour grew some balls and went back to negotiate the mess that the opportunist Johnson and repugnant ERG left us with. Rejoin the Single Market and Customs Union. Get us back into a good growth market!
It is obvious to me that with a shrinking population and skill shortage, coupled with a great reluctance of the endemic population to do the poorly paid menial tasks, we need to import workers.
The question is what skills and from where and how can this be achieved without causing problems for the indigenous population.
Last year just short of one and a half million people entered the country. Most of them were legally ‘imported’. They are either coming to study (bringing the brains and high-level skills to the country) or to carry out jobs for which we do not have the labour force or skills (carers, field work, NHS, catering, hospitality, building, electricians, plumbing, dentistry etc.). We need them for the economy and to make sure that services operate smoothly. We have big shortages!
The trouble is that an influx of such large numbers creates a host of knock-on problems. They all need to use the facilities and support:
Housing
Schooling
Infrastructure
Doctors
Roads
Services
Policing
Food
It puts a strain on areas that are already suffering due to 14 years of Tory cuts.
On top of that the indigenous population feel increasingly displaced as they find themselves in a minority, surrounded by unfamiliar customs, religions and languages. They find this threatening and feel ousted from their own homes. This builds an antagonism that grows into anger and resentment.
So, how do we find the balance to control immigration at a level that does not cause resentment and anger, does not overstretch our facilities, but does supply the needs of the economy?
One thing is quite clear: we are all the offspring of immigrants. At one time or another, our ancestors gave up everything to move here. Britain is a mongrel nation. There are numerous nationalities present in our genetic stock – historically German, Norse, French, Italian and Spanish make up the bulk of our genes. Later we include African, Chinese, Indian and others, as the trade routes grew. There is no such thing as a pure Anglo-Saxon breed (and, in my opinion, we’re all the better for that!).
Immigration has enriched our genes (hybrids are sturdier than pure breds) and our culture in so many ways:
Language. The English language is so expressive because we have enriched it with words from so many other cultures – from pyjamas, bungalows and anoraks to canoes, art, beef, café and liberty – all purloined along with thousands more.
Food – where would we be without currys, pizzas, spaghetti, beefburgers and sushi?
Clothes and fashion – colours, costumes and frills – pyjamas, robes, fashions, colours, adornments to anoraks and protective gear.
Art – art has found its way into all corners of our experience – particularly cubism and surrealism.
Music – imagine life without Blues, Reggae, Rock ‘n’ Roll, Gospel, R&B, Jazz, Ragas, and all those African and world rhythms.
Culture – the impact on the old stiff upper lip culture is immense! We’ve lightened up! We even dance, sing and go crazy!!
Our economy – we need the workers!
Our carers, NHS, catering, hospitality and agriculture – all crying out for immigrants!
To be British is now black, brown, yellow and white! We’re richer, wiser, more expressive, stronger, full of flavours with an enhanced life experience. All due to immigration!!
The only thing about immigration is to find the balance. We need it but not too much or too little! Getting it right, with the right integration, is an art!
