I really hope the Democrats have a decent candidate lined up for 2024
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On Fox and such they are eating him alive, while also trying to wage a culture war over the Supreme Court nomination Biden put up. On CNN and such they look on the trip a bit more kindly, in that he went to show support.
Basic analysis, but that’s about it.
My take? He is a bumbling old man, way past his sell by date.
And magnitudes better than what preceded him.
Strange business American politics. Lots of sprightly people, lucid sentence-speakers, some with ideas in their heads too! But to date they aren’t close to the front of the line in getting the big gig.
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AOC (not the Liverpool footballer!) would be the one I would go for, to give a clear choice to the American people. She is attractive and photogenic (irrelevant, but perhaps not so in the TV age, especially coming after too many old men) and she is also clever, articulate, Hispanic.
I think she would lose, as the country might not be ready for it, but that sort of shake up is needed.
I believe more left wing policies would be voted for here, if they were explained and understood. The level of political discourse is among the worst I’ve seen though, with things getting shouted down and policies not actually being discussed or debated, much less understood.
My fear is 2024 will go to the Republicans, as it has been such a slog for Biden with the difficult hand he has been dealt.
A lot of your post I have no issues with, overall I sympathise with it and understand you well. It’s a good post. I concur with much of it. But I have big issues when you start pulling up the racism stuff and comparing to Syrians etc. And that is what I take issue with here (not the rest).
Because some of your claims just aren’t true. I realise it is popular these days to peddle around claims (many well meaning people do so) that Ukrainian refugees are getting too much help compared to for instance Syrians and see it often in the media. Is it factual though ? You and a lot of other people completely miss the fact that it is still early days in the war. It is still fresh. Attention is at the maximum. Then you have the geopolitical angle.
People seem to have completely forgotten the massive attention Syrian refugees got in Europe, you included. And Syria is not next door.
Some headlines from the past that a friend who works in a refugee organisation posted to me on messenger yesterday, because she too, like me, was fed up at having to read how Ukrainians are getting too much attention (she usually works in the Moria camp, but now works in Poland because it’s there the immediate crisis is right now that takes priority). Lest everyone forget:
Norway alone took in 70 000. Yes, 70 000, which is far from insignificant given our population. Sweden 260 000 (!!!) Over a very few years when there was high intensity warfare in Syria.
The criticism of Europe, which some bad sourced modern day criticism of how much attention Ukraine is getting is making, should be aimed at only the select few Eastern European countries. Not Europe, now the West. The picture you paint with your sources paint a completely distorted picture not based on actual facts.
Wait and see how much help Ukraine gets in 5-10 years, because that is the comparison you must make. Initially, Syrians were welcomed with open arms here in the West. Merkel in Germany, took a massive political hit, Germany took in 800 000. And then you post those sources ? They are frankly dubious and opinion-heavy.
Some of your sources , like the American satirical tv show, speak of open borders to Ukrainians, as if that is a marvel compared to for instance Syrians were treated. Well, have you heard of Schengen ? Ukrainians have the right to travel freely in Schengen and there is no border control for Ukrainians, it is not in any way comparable at all. It is completely taken out of context. It is bad information, have you forgotten how much aid Syrians got in Europe 10 years ago ? Really ? Again, to compare with Ukraine? Ukraine which is in eastern Europe, critical to Europe, a war of far higher intensity, 3.5 millions and counting refugees already ? The situation isn’t comparable at all, and those who compare, well meaning or not, do so not from a foundation of facts but of the frustration they feel because of perceptions. Those perceptions are wrong. They are only correct when it comes to Hungary, Poland and some other central and Eastern European countries. Your post is frankly unfair.
Obviously, when Europe supports Ukraine actively in the war, obviously we seek also to aid their refugees. And this is compared to Syria ? Really ? Makes no sense what so ever. The racism “debate” is frankly so unhelpful and so stupid, that I don’t know where to begin. It is the world’s least helpful debate right now during this crisis. . The people pushing these angles have completely forgotten everything about the Syrian war, about the march of refugees to Europe. Forgotten absolutely everything as to how they were welcomed in western and northern Europe.
So when I see absolute dubious stuff like this story and the Daily Show clip, I frankly get perplexed (this one is absolute dubious): Ahmed Twaij: The Ukraine-Russia conflict highlights a racist double standard
See for instance here: “These same missiles from Russian President Vladimir Putin also landed in Syria and Chechnya, but reactions were subdued.” This is just an absolute lie, or the writer has no memory what so ever
. He goes on to speak of whiteness, it is irrelevant and it annoys me off that this sort of crap gets published, since it is hardly helpful. Of course there is a difference in how the countries neighbouring Ukraine treats Ukrainians compared to Iraqis or Syrians, of course. It is about geopolitics, history, culture. The reasons are blatant and obvious. While it is true that Hungary and Poland want to take in no Syrians and are quite immigration hostile, other European countries took in a lot. It should also come as no surprise that Poland takes in a million Ukrainians. Syria’s neighbours took in a lot (many of whom are not at all treated as well as they are in western and northern Europe) and naturally so. This is the reality of geopolitics.
There is little reason to be frustrated that Ukrainians are getting too much help compared to others (they are not, not at all).
But maybe I misunderstand you, but I see so many of these “oh look at Ukrainians, they get all on a golden platter compared to Syrians” and it is bullshit.
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Well, I definitely don’t follow the Anglo-Saxon line.
I do follow French politics (French is my nationality and native language, and up to recently I have mostly been living in France/Belgiun) and I believe Macron is nothing more than a well connected (in French circles) opportunist.
I am quite certain he’s not going to make any difference in the current situation and certainly not going to convince Putin of anything.
I am open minded and will be happy to be proved wrong.
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Excellent post but just to say, Ukraine is definitely Eastern Europe rather than Central Europe, and isn’t within Schengen.
But otherwise I wholeheartedly agree.
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Yes, that is true. But Poland, Czechia and Hungary is Central Europe. But absolutely, Ukraine is eastern Europe.
I see I wrote that Ukraine was in Central Europe. Ah, I get it. Oh, well, I meant eastern Europe. The countries not wanting to take in non-European immigrants are central and/or central/eastern Europe though.
Thanks for the heads up.
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Interesting piece on refugees in India.
59 Syrians.
That’s not a typo.
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To be fair, India is suffering from extremely bad distribution of wealth and extreme poverty and more. It’s socio-economical problems are vast. Millions upon millions have little education and are very ignorant as a result. I expect very few refugees want to go there and the country does not have the social programs available to take care of any either. Like we read about here.
I don’t blame them for not taking in many refugees, but I do blame them for choosing neutrality in this conflict (de facto siding with Russia). I hope they will suffer consequences for that.
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I agree but I think more interesting than the numbers of Syrian refugees in India was the observation that India isn’t a signatory to the UN Convention on the Status of Refugees and the anecdotal way in which many are treated.
Also, reading some comments about Russia doing more for building industrial infrastructure in India than any other country and how it was unprecedented did have a slight smattering of “what have the Romans ever done for us” about it.
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India still suffers under the caste system. They have laws on the books to prevent it, but it’s so ingrained in their social tradition that it’ll take many generations to completely eradicate it.
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