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Being happy/relieved that the far right didn't win in Austria is now gloating apparently.

 

Strange times.

 

Cy2c0R1WQAAOVJs.jpg

With the best, thats a good bit of PR, though I would say the Bedford team, theres, like, you know, 13 blokes who can get together at the weekend to have a game together, which doesnt point to expansion of the game. Point, yeah go on!

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I think Van der Bellen will be a disastrous president as he is the epitome of the smug elite politician, but on the other hand it is a relief they haven't got a fascist president. Ingrid Griss who was 1% off getting into the second round would have been a lot better. I can't help but feel like the Freedom Party will get a boost next general election A. from getting people to vote for them this time and B. from Van der Bellen antagonising people

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Being happy/relieved that the far right didn't win in Austria is now gloating apparently.

 

Strange times.

 

Cy2c0R1WQAAOVJs.jpg

It's time the men in white coats called to collect Dacre

“Few thought him even a starter.There were many who thought themselves smarter. But he ended PM, CH and OM. An Earl and a Knight of the Garter.”

Clement Attlee.

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As much as I'm happy the Far right candidate didn't win, looking at electoral data coming out of Austria suggests this is only the beginning. Whilst Hofer is at the head of a largely united political movement, Bellen is the representative for a coalition of views that are summed up by being 'not Hofer'. Hofer's party are now polling higher than all the other parties as a result.

 

Calm before the storm? Maybe an over-exaggeration, but this is not over yet by any means. After all, Hitler lost a presidential election which formed part of his parties rise to become the largest minority in the Reichstag.

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Van der Bellen? Who he?

 

Ian van Bellen would be a better bet than any of the Austrian candidates.

 

Or May, or Cameron, or Corbyn, or Farron! Now, how many more people can I upset? :tongue:

Rethymno Rugby League Appreciation Society

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Isn't the president a largely ceremonial post in Austria?

 

If so, does it make much difference who holds the post in real (as opposed to symbolic) terms?

Indeed.  But a far-right candidate being voted in would be seen to give legitimacy to nasty racist actions.

"You clearly have never met Bob8 then, he's like a veritable Bryan Ferry of RL." - Johnoco 19 Jul 2014

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Cy21w9tXUAIvB6U.jpg

 

He followed that up by cheering the Italian vote with some bizarre rhetoric about the fall of Rome being the fault of immigrants.

 

Few too many sherbets.

Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett)

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He followed that up by cheering the Italian vote with some bizarre rhetoric about the fall of Rome being the fault of immigrants.

 

Few too many sherbets.

 

 

He then tried to tell Mary Beard how the Roman Empire fell....

With the best, thats a good bit of PR, though I would say the Bedford team, theres, like, you know, 13 blokes who can get together at the weekend to have a game together, which doesnt point to expansion of the game. Point, yeah go on!

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He followed that up by cheering the Italian vote with some bizarre rhetoric about the fall of Rome being the fault of immigrants.

Few too many sherbets.

It actually was to be fair. German refugees fleeing the Huns carved up the Roman Empire amongst themselves
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How very progressive.  It was Dick and Dora in my day :)

 

You've got to keep up with the latest trends, mate! :P

Rethymno Rugby League Appreciation Society

Founder (and, so far, only) member.

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It actually was to be fair. German refugees fleeing the Huns carved up the Roman Empire amongst themselves

 

Except 'immigration' and 'refugees' from a 21st century mindset mean less than nothing when talking about fourth and fifth century Europe.

Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett)

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Except 'immigration' and 'refugees' from a 21st century mindset mean less than nothing when talking about fourth and fifth century Europe.

To be fair, the collapse of the Western Roman empire in the 4th and 5th centuries is almost always academically linked to the so called "barbarian migrations".

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To be fair, the collapse of the Western Roman empire in the 4th and 5th centuries is almost always academically linked to the so called "barbarian migrations".

 

Linked to, not caused by (I presume, I'm not a historian of the collapse of the Roman Empire).

 

And in this exchange it was the academic saying one thing (or rather saying lots of interconnected things) and the obsessed amateur talking that opinion down.

Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett)

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Actually the "barbarians" were sustainers of the Roman Empire for many years, for at least the last 100 years of its existence it's armies were almost 100% Germanic

"Freedom without socialism is privilege and injustice, socialism without freedom is slavery and brutality" - Mikhail Bakunin

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Actually the "barbarians" were sustainers of the Roman Empire for many years, for at least the last 100 years of its existence it's armies were almost 100% Germanic

That is a matter countless historians have debated and discussed in a multitude of books and expresses only one of the many opinions that existed. As indeed is the word barbarian.

A contrasting view would be that repeated pressure from migrating tribes forced the roman empire to engage in a series of pragmatic solutions. This in turn led to a subversion of the Empires authority to the point where (in conjunction with other factors such as economic downturn and climate change) the Empire in the west collapsed.

As I said there's more than one perspective.

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That is a matter countless historians have debated and discussed in a multitude of books and expresses only one of the many opinions that existed. As indeed is the word barbarian.

A contrasting view would be that repeated pressure from migrating tribes forced the roman empire to engage in a series of pragmatic solutions. This in turn led to a subversion of the Empires authority to the point where (in conjunction with other factors such as economic downturn and climate change) the Empire in the west collapsed.

As I said there's more than one perspective.

I think that 'barbarian' was a word invented by the Greeks to describe the Persians. The Persians were in many ways a very advanced society.
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