Our FactCheck editor details the internet trends seen by a thirty-something-year-old man.
It Started With an image posted to a far-right Facebook page.
I spotted it while I was scrolling early on Saturday afternoon: a map of Ireland with six red dots in a ring outside Dublin, and a caption in block capitals that read “National fuel protest assembly points Tuesday 7am”.
Soon I saw others share the same map, or AI slop pictures of trucks with the same details about assembly points for Tuesday morning, almost exclusively on pages that usually share far-right and anti-immigrant content.
Plans for a protest had, of course, been building in the days beforehand, but the images were my first glimpse into this online callout for people to go to Dublin.
They appeared in my feed because of the types of pages I monitor for work, but their reach extended far beyond those spaces over the course of the weekend.
It’s never easy to tell how big these things will be from early on, though it quickly became clear from my social media feeds that the protest was underway virtually – even though roads and motorways were clear.
Continue @ The Journal.
Seems like every protest against the state is to be branded and tarnished as the work of ‘far right’ by pompous rags and journalists, who can all surely afford to absorb the fuel and energy costs with ease.
ReplyDeleteGowain, we are used to more thoughtful reflection from you. Whether they can afford to or not detracts not in the slightest from what is in front of our eyes.
DeleteIt would be ill advised to ignore the far right phenomenon at play in this.
Just as it would be foolish to ignore the very real grievance that the far right tries to exploit.
I have thought about it.
ReplyDeleteI agree there will be unsavory elements attracted to such things. That doesn’t mean it has to destroy the intent. But it is clear the main stream media will use ‘Far Right’ as a buzz word and sweeping statement to discredit totally. There is never any attempt to recognize or empathize with others involved and often on the periphery of society. I suppose the FF/FG coalition and heavy tactics of Gardai and Army are worthy of more support and sympathy than protestors. I don’t think so.
The far right are all over it with tactics straight out of the MAGA far right play book. There is no reason to believe that the intent of protestors and the intent of blockaders are necessarily synonymous. In the Journal article there is a clear understanding of what motivates many people - good intent. When the Garda clear Love Ulster mobs of the streets people don't complain much. Clearing the blockades seems much less heavy handed than imposing them. Why are Shannon airport, the Israeli and US embassies, Trump's golf course not blockaded? The Coalition, which I am very much opposed to over the Gaza issue, did not start this war which led to the fuel shortage and price hikes. The US and Israel did but they are getting a pass from the protestors and the blockaders.
DeleteRead a Previous article on here. Can the Left March to Victory while Losing the Working Class?
ReplyDeleteThe answer is No!
The Left is not going to march to victory any time soon. They will not do it if they leave the working class behind. But this is not a working class blockade. How many working class people have the money to own these vehicles? This more resembles a dispute between various strands of capital. My own hunch on the basis of data-short observation is that it is what the Marxists have long defined as a petty bourgeoisie putsch type thing. This stratum historically and sociologically is the birth canal of fascism. I would refrain, however from describing this situation as a fascist one. But we should resist any temptation to glamorise or romanticise it as a working class revolution. It is anything but.
DeleteStill, it is always good to have your input. You have long been a voice against injustice and have never defended the far right.