In 1945 bums were there to be whacked.

medici

I agree for the most part and it is generally the case unless someone uses such terms to incite or discriminate, which is and should be a crime. It is like the Nazi/Neo-Nazi (debunked) conspiracy term "Cultural Marxism" (or even the Geman "Kulturbolschewismus") which people seem to like using. People can keep using it and implying there is a conceited effort by Marxists to destroy western society as much as they like but I can still view them as being throwbacks and conspiracy theorist and say so. At the same time if I said I know they eat cats and sacrifice children and state this in a nice advert to run in the national newspapers, the, I'd be in trouble.

Goodgulf


You are correct. I don't think it is offensive to Muslims to depict a Muslim terrorist personally although for accuracy we should probably move away from 98% being Muslim in pop culture. I would like to add that you rarely see the non-Muslim far-Right depicted as terrorists despite some of worst cases in Europe (Soho bombings, Breivik's killings) being from the far Right. The left are a little more depicted in pop culture and official historiography.


As far as a great many of us up North are concerned the latter wouldn't have been murder!

Goodgulf

Are you a Clash fan Goodgulf? I was listening to them yesterday. I am and I wasn't a fan of much of the music of the 1980s but I they are one of my favourite bands. I think the songs that (for me) sum up modern society the most are 'Something About England', 'This is England', 'Know Your Rights', their cover of Junior Murvin's 'Police and Thieves' and 'Spanish Bombs' and every other one of their songs

Caesar



Ah, the irony of someone who thinks cultural Marxism is a "conceited" (you mean concerted) conspiracy theory and yet dismisses the humanity of someone whose politics he hates ...

I think you should have freedom, as long as what you do or say doesn't hurt anyone. Kindness in a society is just as important as freedom. Governments, including our own, like to interfere, politicians like nothing better than control. That little surge of power when the lights go dim, is I believe, why most of them entered politics in the first place. We are a long way from 1984 and North Korea but who knows what the future holds. This is why we should be vigilant when governments suggest things like identity cards. Once you lose a freedom you will never get it back.

The only time I remember Mrs T exhibiting signs that she possessed any humanity was when her despicable son was lost for several days in the Saharan desert on the Dakar rally. She destroyed whole communities and didn't as much as bat an eyelid. A ruthless dreadful woman if ever there was one but murder is murder. Every human being is sacred. You can't go making exceptions to that rule.

I'm not sure I'd say I'm a fan. I enjoy some of their songs, especially the ones where they point out injustice. Even their biggest hit - Rock the Casbah - dealt with cultural oppression of those who wanted freedom to enjoy music. Alas, most of those songs are as relevant today as when they were written - society moves so slowly when rights are concerned.

Blimp said this: "We are a long way from 1984 and North Korea but who knows what the future holds. This is why we should be vigilant when governments suggest things like identity cards. Once you lose a freedom you will never get it back."
Yes we are still a ways from those extremes but have to insure that governments don't continue their march in that direction. We know the old maxim about how absolute power corrupts.

Often123
Could not agree more.And just not government. Employers requiring drug tests is a fine example. Yes, there are certain situations where that might be justified,for example athletes being tested for steroids. But not across the board, for everyone and every job.
There's an old country song that had the line "tell the boss any old time. Daytime's his,night time's mine" . As long as one shows up to work on time, sober, and does what he is told, not the boss's business if I smoked a joint on the weekend! Alcohol which is legal certainly causes its share of problems, but I don't think many would tolerate being told they can't go down to the local pub or bar and have a beer after work!
Certainly agree that Orwell would be a good book for our kids to read. They might not as readily accept all the prying and spying done by those in authority. Thats the real danger,that people will acquiesce to whatever Big Brother or the Nanny State says is necessary.

I see someone is offended. It is called a typo (and is a common one). Although "conceited" has been vaguely appropriate to the main proponents of the theory.

Where is the irony? Also knowing (not thinking) the idea of "Cultural Marxism" is a conspiracy theory and "dismiss[ing] the humanity of someone whose politics he hates" aren't mutually exclusive. Next you'll be saying someone can't know that man has been to the moon and yet would happily see Pol Pot plugged between the eyes. So I am not sure where you are going with that argument.

Something that is ironic is someone saying you should say what you want and no one should be offended, and yet, getting offended when someone makes a joke (with some truth; ask many a miner or dockworker or 70% of Northern England whether they would have been sad if Thatcher was assassinated by the IRA) about someone they, and many, others find to be utterly vile and repulsive. Is she a prophet now? Is it blasphemous to say things against St. Margaret Peace-Be-Upon-Her.

blimp

But even then used this countries resources when she should have spent her private income looking for her worthless son. I otherwise agree.

Saying that I can admit that there are many people I wouldn't be sad if they die or were killed. I can admit this and I'm sure many people can. Is anyone here sad that Pinochet or Mussolini died?