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Deborah Hawk's avatar

Is controlled political apathy spreading like a virus? Probably in North America.

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James Graham's avatar

Apathy and rage well stirred : it's quite a cocktail. Fearsome. I'd be afraid to have a sip lest a horn grow in the center of my head.

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Deborah Hawk's avatar

Truly a drink for the new politics.🍸

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James Graham's avatar

Did I hear someone say 'drink' ?

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Macha Palemo's avatar

This article is not only a pleasure to read for the writing but a perceptive analysis and gives some perspective for optimism in face of the the current advances of the extreme right wing in France.

(Not only the recent experience with the politically ambiguous movement of "gilets jaunes" despite some progressives attempt to claim it as progressive... We are now seeing a presence of QAnon in disaffected "counter culture circles" here in France ! ) How various elements of the Left and ecologists ally and organise is more urgent than ever !

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James Graham's avatar

Thanks for your comment, MG. Since you are new to the crowd, I'll let you in on a secret : I revise incessantly. I think the article is okay now, after about 37 edits. So much for instant punditry. Where we maybe disagree - to go straight to the punch - is what the future looks like, where I'm hoping for a rise in independent candidates. The ecologists have yet to prove themselves something more than a suburban cult and now that the hegemonic Socialists are waning, the "other" left has to get local traction. Political replays are a sign of exhausted systems.

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Macha Palemo's avatar

Well I guess I read it too hastily... and replied too hastily also... since I actually do respect some of the gilets jaunes I have encountered personally. I shouldn't have mentionned them so close to QAnon which is blatantly there to confuse and mystify and stir up hatred. Ecologists may be an "urban cult" (they surely are divided in their alliances with the other parties!) but the global ecological crisis has become as urgent as the poverty and war that capitalism has wrought up to now. I am not so sure about "independent candidates" since they often seem just as apt to say they stand for one thing and do the opposite when elected. I think people in groups who can discuss in person with each other and work together knowing who they are organising with and according to what goals are more reliable.

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James Graham's avatar

Yes, I left that stone unturned re the Gilets. Establishment lefties have a terrible fear of them. I hope they come back in style, fully vaccinated.

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Deborah Hawk's avatar

Anyone new to this group should read past articles. James brilliantly. Although he works on his articles feverishly, always wanting to get the words right, they always appear fresh. He is no novice.

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James Graham's avatar

Now there's an idea ! Change my last name to Brilliantly. James Brilliantly. Absolute genius. Sounds like a line by Gertrude Stein. I'll sell a million with a moniker like that. I wonder how much it costs to do that in France ? Thanks, Fan Numero Uno.

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