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In India What We Are Seeing Is the Symptoms of Fascism: Noam Chomsky

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Re: In India What We Are Seeing Is the Symptoms of Fascism: Noam Chomsky

#11

Post by saq7 »

amriksohata wrote: post #7
wtmt wrote: post #5

> NC: One thing that’s happened is the press has been pretty much muzzled. They are very uncritical. This is a big issue with mass media in India that many don’t realize or want to realize. Between — a) most of the mainstream media houses (except a few) not asking tough questions (but supporting the government for everything), b) the Supreme Court ignoring important cases and not hearing them for years and c) the amo…

Can you give examples of being muzzled?

One example is looking at the coverage The Hindu gave the BJP, RSS, and Modi before he came power and after. Before they were critical of BJP when it warranted, but since they came into power the coverage has been fawning.

This sort of comparision can be made across the spectrum of the news media. They are smarter than outright jailing journalists.

Re: In India What We Are Seeing Is the Symptoms of Fascism: Noam Chomsky

#12

Post by vondur »

weirdstuff wrote: post #4
cptaj wrote: post #3

This guy is a joke. He spent decades supporting the Chavist revolution in Venezuela. He has absolutely no idea what he is talking about.

After a long and respected career at MIT he’s no joke.

Did he really support the Chavez regime? That’s something I’d like to know.

Re: In India What We Are Seeing Is the Symptoms of Fascism: Noam Chomsky

#13

Post by kbenson »

Despegar wrote: post #2

Excellent New Yorker piece about this (I submitted it to HN when it came out but it didn't get any traction): https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/12/09/blood-and-soil... Fascism is gaining in many parts of the world today. But the 'other' this time aren't Jews, they're Muslims.

With such a large percentage of the population of not just the country in question in the article, but also the entire world, I'm not sure they can be seen to be "the other" to the same degree as the Jews were, given how common they are.

In 1933, there were an estimated 15 million Jews worldwide[1], 9 million or so in Europe. In Germany, with the largest Jewish population, they accounted for less than 1% of the populace. In India today, Muslims account for close to 15% of the population. According to wikipedia, they're very close to 25% of the entire world population. There may be some vilification going on, but when the other group is as large as that, I doubt you can expect a similar outcome or as much of a one sided narrative in the places where it's attempted.

1: https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/jewish-pop...

Re: In India What We Are Seeing Is the Symptoms of Fascism: Noam Chomsky

#16

Post by trhway »

coldcode wrote: post #8

Fascism rose in popularity 100 years ago as a political option. Perhaps it is undergoing a renaissance. I have no idea why anyone thinks its a good idea unless you are the person in charge but it seems to attract support.

>Fascism rose in popularity 100 years ago as a political option.

more generally totalitarism rose as that option with 2 major branches - either political class/party based, i.e. communism, or national/ethnical identity based, ie. fascism

>Perhaps it is undergoing a renaissance.

giving the increased technological opportunities for the totalitarism (and some, who didn't learn history, even argue - need - as totalitarism entice with seemingly easy solutions to a lot of modern issues) combined with knee-jerk "hide back into national village with good old traditional lifestyle" reaction to globalism it would be strange if we don't see the rise of nationally/xenophobically colored totalitaristic style tendencies.

> it seems to attract support.

populism is extremely natural and foundational to fascism as fascism panders to the perceived core identity of the subject mass of people.

>why anyone thinks

that is the point. Looking at videos and reading about the Nazi rallies, China Cultural Revolution events, USSR Great Purge and whole Stalin period, ... - it is pretty clear that it isn't the higher, the "thinking", level of the brain that gets to drive, it is that lizard part.

Re: In India What We Are Seeing Is the Symptoms of Fascism: Noam Chomsky

#17

Post by des_t »

It is actually happening for a while but for the last 5 years, it was done under the disguise of progressive leadership. Now that the economy is down the drain the people are waking up to see the true face of our leaders.

Thanks to the uneducated buffoon at the helm who faked his degree, didn't listen to Reserve Bank/Chief Economic Advisors and ruined the economy.

Re: In India What We Are Seeing Is the Symptoms of Fascism: Noam Chomsky

#18

Post by _4ziu »

coldcode wrote: post #8

Fascism rose in popularity 100 years ago as a political option. Perhaps it is undergoing a renaissance. I have no idea why anyone thinks its a good idea unless you are the person in charge but it seems to attract support.

It preys directly on human psychology by creating myths about how life used to be great and invoking nostalgia and frustration in broken people who just need guidance. No one who likes fascism sees it the way normal people do, because it's designed to trick people and weed its way into collective society and psyche.

This is why we must make a continuous effort to stomp it before it spreads and never listen to people who call us silly for saying Modi is a fascist just because he isn't Hitler's level yet.

Re: In India What We Are Seeing Is the Symptoms of Fascism: Noam Chomsky

#19

Post by wtmt »

amriksohata wrote: post #6

Site seems dead. India is home to many minorities, infact the second or third largest Muslim population so it could have not been that without being tolerant to them. Meanwhile Sikhs and hindus are fleeing pakistan. Radesh Singh Tony, the serving president of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Pakistan Minorities’ Alliance, has been reportedly forced to leave his city in Pakistan https://twitter.com/aoepoeRadesh/status/12202384268…

I see this same kind of response quite often when people question the government and its policies and laws. Instead of addressing the questions and concerns — the government, all the ministers and party members, and its supporters — they deflect it and switch to any topic where Pakistan or some “outsider” is questioned or condemned. Until they have the honesty to look people in the eye and address the questions directly, how could anyone expect a democracy to survive?

Re: In India What We Are Seeing Is the Symptoms of Fascism: Noam Chomsky

#20

Post by spaceman_2020 »

I really struggle to understand the Indian right wing perspective. There is absolutely no practical way to achieve their goal of a theocratic nation with the country still being intact.

As much as they might want to fantasize about it, you can't wish away 200M minorities. Nor can you economically progress if 200M minorities are ghettoized.

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