Ways of Seeing is a 1972 television series of (four) 30-minute films created chiefly by writer John Berger and producer Mike Dibb.

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Cake day: December 29th, 2021
  • culprit@lemmy.mltopolitics @lemmy.world•The left is coming for Democratic incumbents. In primary challenges, Mayor Zohran Mamdani is trying to install allies in Congress
    13·
    25 days ago

    “During the cold war, the anticommunist ideological framework could transform any data about existing communist societies into hostile evidence. If the Soviets refused to negotiate a point, they were intransigent and belligerent; if they appeared willing to make concessions, this was but a skillful ploy to put us off our guard. By opposing arms limitations, they would have demonstrated their aggressive intent; but when in fact they supported most armament treaties, it was because they were mendacious and manipulative. If the churches in the USSR were empty, this demonstrated that religion was suppressed; but if the churches were full, this meant the people were rejecting the regime’s atheistic ideology. If the workers went on strike (as happened on infrequent occasions), this was evidence of their alienation from the collectivist system; if they didn’t go on strike, this was because they were intimidated and lacked freedom. A scarcity of consumer goods demonstrated the failure of the economic system; an improvement in consumer supplies meant only that the leaders were attempting to placate a restive population and so maintain a firmer hold over them. If communists in the United States played an important role struggling for the rights of workers, the poor, African-Americans, women, and others, this was only their guileful way of gathering support among disfranchised groups and gaining power for themselves. How one gained power by fighting for the rights of powerless groups was never explained. What we are dealing with is a nonfalsifiable orthodoxy, so assiduously marketed by the ruling interests that it affected people across the entire political spectrum.”

    ― Michael Parenti, Blackshirts and Reds: Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism

  • culprit@lemmy.mltopolitics @lemmy.world•The left is coming for Democratic incumbents. In primary challenges, Mayor Zohran Mamdani is trying to install allies in Congress
    42·
    25 days ago

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Zenz#Criticism

    Zenz is a lapsed Catholic-turned-born-again Christian, and he has stated that he feels “led by God” in his research on Chinese Muslims and other minority groups. He co-authored a book in 2012 with his father-in-law, Marlon L. Sias, titled Worthy to Escape: Why All Believers Will Not Be Raptured Before the Tribulation.

    https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/Adrian_Zenz

    Adrian Zenz has many ties to imperialist organisations, notably being employed as a “senior fellow” by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation

    In his 2012 book Worthy to Escape: Why All Believers Will Not Be Raptured Before the Tribulation,[3] which he co-authored, Zenz wrote some of the following quotes:

    "Through notions of gender equality...the enemy is undermining God’s unique but different role assignments for men and women"
"Another important God-given authority structure that Satan is attacking through the postmodern spirit is that of gender authority structures"
"It is very likely that the global persecution of true believers will center on the charge that they promote ‘intolerant views,’ especially related to preaching against homosexuality”
“The Antichrist is dependent on the harlot, because he must seize upon humanity's desperate craving for all that the harlot offers in order to achieve world domination. The world will worship him because he will promise them all these things, promoting sexual ‘freedom’ (the unrestrained and godless practice of all sexual behaviors, including homosexuality), control over their affairs (independence from God), and he will vow to maintain people's standard of living”
"... anti-discrimination laws put in place throughout the European Union ... forbid employers to discriminate based on gender or sexual orientation. That way, it becomes illegal for churches or Christian organizations to refuse to hire homosexuals into important positions"
“Hate crime and anti-discrimination laws will likely play a major role in the suppression of biblical Christianity”
“Rising numbers of countries are banning all forms of physical punishment of children, the primary scriptural method for instilling respect for authority in the young generation and protecting them from rebellious tendencies… But true scriptural spanking is loving discipline and not violence, and neglecting the wisdom of God makes the church increasingly vulnerable to the schemes of the enemy”

    Notably, he claims that “God’s refining process will wipe out all unbelieving Jews” which raises questions as to probable anti-Semitic views.

    his initial assertion that up to 1.5 million Uyghurs were interned in “concentration camps” came from an Uyghur separatist group who interviewed 8 people, asking them how many people from their village they thought were in such centres, and averaging the results to the whole population of Xinjiang. This is presented as and unquestionable fact by Zenz.

    https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/Xinjiang_Uygur_Autonomous_Region

    Today in the Xinjiang there are 12.7 million Uyghurs, and 9 million Han, and 3.1 million people in other ethnic groups, or 51%, 36%, and 13% respectively.[8] The population has doubled since 1978, and the Uyghur population increased by more than 5.6 million in the same time period.[2]

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xinjiang#Demographics

    In 2010, the population of Xinjiang was 45.84 percent Uyghur and 40.48 percent Han. The 2020 Census showed the share of the Uyghur population decline slightly to 44.96 percent, and the Han population rise to 42.24 percent

    Uyghurs have also emigrated to other parts of China, where their numbers have increased steadily. Uyghur independence activists express concern over the Han population changing the Uyghur character of the region though the Han and Hui Chinese mostly live in Northern Xinjiang Dzungaria and are separated from areas of historic Uyghur dominance south of the Tian Shan mountains (Southwestern Xinjiang), where Uyghurs account for about 90 percent of the population.