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A filmmaker and a crooked lawyer shattered Denmark's self-image

theguardian.com

101–110 of 188 posts

Re: A filmmaker and a crooked lawyer shattered Denmark's self-image

#101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

*)limiting ILLEGAL immigration, emphasis on the word illegal. Nobody in Europe has a problem with LEGAL immigration, but the left wing parties and MSM keeps ignoring this and sweeping illegal immigration along the legal immigration banner to drive the narrative that Europeans are racists who hate all immigrants in order to justify (social) media censorship and restrictions on free speech to fight the "right wing extr…

They always say that, until you talk about legalizing more immigration, then you find out that no, they don't want any more immigration period.

>until you talk about legalizing more immigration

Maybe because people have been duped so much in the last 10+ years to know that the loaded statement of "more immigration" from the government only means legalizing more ILLEGAL immigration, driving them to hate all forms of immigration because the governments have proven themselves useless at enforcing border controls and depurations of those who brake the law.

That's the result that you get when you maliciously sweep ILLEGAL immigration under the same political banner used for legal immigration, as the liberal European governments have done, so you end up hurting the image of legal immigration as well but this is the fault of politicians, not the people whoa have suffered form illegal immigration and have next to no channels of changing this other than voting far right.

Re: A filmmaker and a crooked lawyer shattered Denmark's self-image

#102

I'm fully aware that Sweden and Denmark are different countries (I lived in Denmark for 3 years), but this reminded me of the reel of Swedes playing every time I visit IKEA, where they talk about how corruption is absolutely unthinkable in Swedish society. And there's also this tidbit from the article: > Other Scandinavian nations also reeled upon watching The Black Swan. After the series premiered in Sweden, a crimi…

Here's an interesting question: If most people in a society believe corruption is at level X when it's actually at X+N, is it better to expose the reality or not?

Being a member of a society that you believe has low corruption disincentivizes you from being corrupt yourself because people generally want to follow the surrounding norms. So it's probably good for people to believe that corruption is better than it is.

But exposing corruption is also necessary to root it out and actually punish the people involved.

How does one make the trade-off for when disclosure is net helpful for reducing overall corruption? Does it depend on X and N?

Re: A filmmaker and a crooked lawyer shattered Denmark's self-image

#103
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why say "four out of five dentists" instead of "80% of dentists"?

Because that is just what we do. Expressing things as percentages was a late arrival; when until the mid 70s folks had to be able to cope with, and mentally manipulate vulgar fractions.

"four out of five" has the same number of syllables as "80%". "Three out of four" has even fewer syllables than 75%, for that matter. So I can see why those stuck around. Meanwhile "one out of two" is wordier than just "half". Are you saying British people still use it in such an inefficient case anyway?

Re: A filmmaker and a crooked lawyer shattered Denmark's self-image

#104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They always say that, until you talk about legalizing more immigration, then you find out that no, they don't want any more immigration period.

>until you talk about legalizing more immigration Maybe because people have been duped so much in the last 10+ years to know that the loaded statement of "more immigration" from the government only means legalizing more ILLEGAL immigration, driving them to hate all forms of immigration because the governments have proven themselves useless at enforcing border controls and depurations of those who brake the law. That'…

Ummm... At least in the US, they are absolutely not worried about law breaking at all. Look who they just elected president? "Law and order" is basically dead here.

Re: A filmmaker and a crooked lawyer shattered Denmark's self-image

#105
post #26

Its just people. People are the same everywhere, and are fundamentally unpredictable systems. How large groups behave does depends to a certain extent on context: by compared to others and your socio-economic situation. How they publicly expressed their values are entirely different from their behavior. This is to the dread of incumbent governments and pollsters. If you starve a wealthy man for 2 weeks he will be rea…

> People are the same everywhere That is absolutely not true. People aren't the same even in adjacent neighborhoods sometimes. Some create great environments, some create hells on earth. Source: I lived in 3 different countries + an isolated island. But you don't even need my biased opinion on the matter. We have cultures that throw gay people off the roofs, and cultures that celebrate them.

Distribution of Culture is way different now that internet enables virtual cultures to exist which have less physical barrier.

Re: A filmmaker and a crooked lawyer shattered Denmark's self-image

#106
post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some of them, maybe. Some others are just not tolerant of LGBT lifestyles and equality at all. Also, I don't think someone who wants limited immigration is necessarily far right.

*)limiting ILLEGAL immigration, emphasis on the word illegal. Nobody in Europe has a problem with LEGAL immigration, but the left wing parties and MSM keeps ignoring this and sweeping illegal immigration along the legal immigration banner to drive the narrative that Europeans are racists who hate all immigrants in order to justify (social) media censorship and restrictions on free speech to fight the "right wing extr…

A lot of people in Europe absolutely have a problem with legal immigration, with asylum seekers particularly maligned.

Specifically, the rise of far-right parties in Scandinavia, Germany and France is very much a reaction to legal immigration from Arab and African countries. The argument is not "they're stealing our jobs", but "they're abusing our welfare benefits, driving up crime and raping our women".

Re: A filmmaker and a crooked lawyer shattered Denmark's self-image

#107
post #3

For all its excellent marketing, of course Denmark has issues much like any other country. It's still a great country, just take the marketing with a hint of salt - a self certain smugness / hubris can easily make you blind to real problems.

It's mostly marketing. Danes, and other Scandinavians, love the idea that they are more honest then others. It's not correct in Denmark. I find Denmark to be a quite corrupt country

Tax-evasion in small scale called "sort arbejde" is quite common.

Former primeminister and current foreign miniater Lars Løkke Rasmussen is a interessant figure. He's famous for not even being able to pay for his own underware.

Re: A filmmaker and a crooked lawyer shattered Denmark's self-image

#108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'll have to watch "Cold Case Hammersjold

"Though the filmmakers present Mr. Jones as a self-assured whistle-blower, their notes from several interviews they conducted with him before the final taping reflect that he repeatedly denied that his group was involved in an AIDS project." "As the interviews progressed, the filmmakers posed additional questions that introduced details of possible militia activities. Mr. Jones’s responses evolved and, by the time he…

>a documentary that claims western powers were intentionally spreading AIDS in South Africa

It does not. Its a supposed South African plot to poor infect South Africans and neighboring countries.

Re: A filmmaker and a crooked lawyer shattered Denmark's self-image

#109
post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's funny that reel is at IKEA, given IKEA's sketchily engineered tax structure, and that it's also the same company that paid off Romanian secret police under Ceaușescu.

What's sketchy about their tax structure? Just curious what you think. I think they are pretty open about it? The original purpose of IKEA was to foster self reliance, essentially making everyone a bit handier. IKEA brings decent quality furniture to people who otherwise wouldn't afford it. I think it's a noble goal, hence why I ask. As I understand it, and I could be wrong, IKEA is owned by a non-profit organization…

The Economist did a famous analysis of IKEA's tax structure:

https://www.economist.com/business/2006/05/11/flat-pack-acco...

TL;DR: The only beneficiaries of INGKA's charity are the owner and his family.

Re: A filmmaker and a crooked lawyer shattered Denmark's self-image

#110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

*)limiting ILLEGAL immigration, emphasis on the word illegal. Nobody in Europe has a problem with LEGAL immigration, but the left wing parties and MSM keeps ignoring this and sweeping illegal immigration along the legal immigration banner to drive the narrative that Europeans are racists who hate all immigrants in order to justify (social) media censorship and restrictions on free speech to fight the "right wing extr…

A lot of people in Europe absolutely have a problem with legal immigration, with asylum seekers particularly maligned. Specifically, the rise of far-right parties in Scandinavia, Germany and France is very much a reaction to legal immigration from Arab and African countries. The argument is not "they're stealing our jobs", but "they're abusing our welfare benefits, driving up crime and raping our women".

1) Not all asylum seekers are legal immigrants. Legal means you have obtained an entry visa before crossing the border.

2) Even huge amounts of legal asylum seekers can end up straining the already thin welfare state, so it's only normal that taxpayers paying for the welfare state, ask their politicians "where are you goanna house all these newly arrived asylum seekers when even citizens and taxpayers are struggling with housing?" or "how do you know all those unvetted people you're letting in aren't criminals or if they're compatible with our culture and values so that we and our children can feel safe in public?"

So when politicians provide no answers to those questions, how are you surprised voters aren't taking this well and choosing the extreme right?

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