@metaphil @fj

like this:

in the beginning of 1963, the town of Elten was Dutch, but on August 1, it became German

Dutch and German traders moved their trucks into Elten with all sorts of cargo in late July that was usually subject to import tax (butter, coffee, etc)

so when the borders shifted Aug 1, there was no import tax, because the goods hadn't moved

the event became known as "Eltener Butternacht": Butter Night

it was so huge they had to do road repairs

https://duitslandinstituut.nl/artikel/539/eltener-butternacht-maakte-exporteurs-rijk

@benroyce @metaphil @fj

and that is exactly *why* the EU exists (and why it was a daft idea for folk in the UK to vote to leave it and now we are all in a mess because of that decision)

@vfrmedia @metaphil @fj

The US and the UK are alike in suffering vast consequences for this far right upwelling of stupidity. We both have a lot of fixing to do. I'm pretty sure the UK will slowly rejoin the EU piecemeal

Like this:

https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/17/uk/britain-erasmus-european-union-student-intl

All the ignorance and lies but what makes sense still and always will make sense and never goes away. Time and clearer minds will do their thing

@benroyce

If the UK held a second referendum on rejoining the EU tomorrow then 'Rejoin' would win, but the same dark forces that campaigned for Brexit in the initial referendum haven't gone away and their reasons for leaving the EU haven't changed.

@vfrmedia @metaphil @fj

@ReggieHere @vfrmedia @metaphil @fj

"the same dark forces that campaigned for Brexit in the initial referendum haven't gone away"

and how do we fix it?

this plutocrat-bigot political axis

i'm not asking like i know the answer. it's a huge problem

@benroyce @ReggieHere @vfrmedia @metaphil @fj

Me neither but this map of it has stayed with me https://mastodon.social/@urlyman/114437610906205685

@urlyman @benroyce @ReggieHere @vfrmedia @metaphil @fj

It occurs to me that it's a bit odd that this graph has an axis equating authoritarian to traditional and progressive to libertarian.

Is it so hard to believe in traditional liberties now? If the questions were framed from that perspective it might affect the outcome.

(I am reminded of a ceramic tile I saw, in about 1988, as part of a fireplace in a house in Stornoway, with the text: "A RETURN TO TRADITIONAL VALUES: CLASS WARFARE ✊")

@electropict @urlyman @ReggieHere @vfrmedia @metaphil @fj

i don't really like this graph. there's other dimensions of ideology. but what use is a 16 dimensional graph? and even then "you're forgetting the ideological divides of a,b,c,d,e,f..." so then you have a 738 dimensional graph. and even then...

left and right is fine

because that's the usual political axis across which people think. it's extremely rough, but we can't capture ideology this way so the approximation of 1 dimension is fine

@benroyce @electropict @ReggieHere @vfrmedia @metaphil @fj

All models are wrong but some are useful. And this one usefully shows a significant distance between where people place themselves and the positions taken by the representatives they vote for. Irrespective of values, that’s concerning

@urlyman @electropict @ReggieHere @vfrmedia @metaphil @fj

to be honest with you what i'm really saying is i resent the authoritarian - libertarian axis

1. libertarianism (in the usa) is not social libertarianism it's right wing economic libertarianism. useful fools for plutocrats since less economic control means the rich win

2. i don't believe in an authoritarian left. yes it's a thing but i see only fascists who haven't fully worked out the contradictions in their thinking. tankies suck

@benroyce @urlyman @electropict @ReggieHere @vfrmedia @metaphil @fj

We have local, Welsh and Scottish elections here on May 7. I got a leaflet from the Independent Socialist candidate for my Scottish constituency. It's full of the usual things you might expect, but clearly also pro-Russian.

Ukraine can't win and 'the Russian threat isn't credible' (in bold). We should 'negotiate a non-aggression pact with Russia. Buy cheap Russian energy.'

Definitely tankie. I'm voting SNP1, Green2.

@riggbeck @urlyman @electropict @ReggieHere @vfrmedia @metaphil @fj

i don't quite understand why people don't immediately see that tankies aren't on the left. they are obviously fake in some cases. in other cases, extremely deluded people who are somewhere on a midpoint in their ideological journey from a left background to becoming outright right wing fascists. a scam or future MAGA, that is all tankies are