You've been looking in the wrong direction, the dangers are coming from the right.

Blaming every attack by thugs on “the fash” isn’t even Fresher level debate. It’s Junior Cert Inter Schools Round 1, where earnest bubble enclosed teenagers are confronted by calls for logic, evidence and facts for the first time.

The same posters who were dismissing a mini riot in an asylum centre which led to multiple hospitalisations as “handbags” are suggesting a handful of thugs attacking people who were literally sh1t ting in the neighbourhood is some extreme right wing attack on democracy.

Is it now unreasonable to ask people to back back up their claims with evidence? Or is the correct slogan, “fash”, “racist”, “far right” etc, enough to settle the debate?

Whoever these thugs are, I condemn them. It was an appalling attack on vulnerable people and can never be minimised or justified.

However if one is to label this as an attack motivated by ideas of the far right, such as racism. Let’s see the proof. If they are far right scum who carried out this attack, I will condemn them as strongly as if they were non politically motivated thugs. Violence is wrong. The way to avoid violence is talking. Discussing. Honesty. Proving your point, convincingly, with facts. Not ending the conversation with empty slogans and insults.

If you could explain what “the fash are well known” means. Do you mean the people involved are well known racists? Have they been identified as such? Was this done at the scene or by viewing social media postings etc?

I will absolutely accept that the fash were involved but if you could elucidate your reasons for believing so, it would be more convincing than simply stating it’s “the Fash” in’it.

Oh ffs! The UK is not a fascist state.

It was a mess without a doubt but it wasn't a fascist state.

So the United Kingdom was a fascist state during the troubles?

And your proof is?

Don't get me wrong, the way the United Kingdom dealt with the North, and how they continue to do so is far from ideal but labeling it as fascism is just not accurate.

Was is not is!

The poster claimed the UK was a fascist state over the last 4 years.

Northern Ireland was an apartheid state.

The United Kingdom was and remains empire (albeit much smaller these days). I find their behaviour during the troubles abhorrent but the United Kingdom was not a fascist dictatorship, there was not a fascist party that came to power in the United Kingdom that introduced changes that made Northern Ireland what it was. Partition and the mess that was made of it was to blame for the apartheid state that was Northern Ireland.

Literally nobody believes that the UK has ever been a fascist state nor by extension Northern Ireland. You're ignoring the facts and going with your feelings which is your perogative but just you shouldn't expect your opinion to hold up to scrutiny when it isn't supported by any evidence.

Arrest without trial? Like in the USSR? So by your definition the USSR was a fascist state as was the US in the 1940s, Ireland in the 1940s etc, etc. All a bit silly really.

Oh yes, yourself and Tell Me Know with the “well x shares traits with y so x must be y argument”.

What next? Arguing that whales are fish because, you know, it’s obvious, they live in the sea and swim!

Might these two not be mutually exclusive but in fact have many similarities? I would argue a lot of communists are facists.

Oh I agree to an extent.

Extremism typically results in the same behaviours.

Far left and far right ideologies are extremely dangerous and harmful, but to say that communists are actually fascists whilst doing bad things is a bit of a cop out.

Sickening stuff, we've allowed scumbags to take over our society.

There was a video doing the rounds recently of a foreign guy working in a shop in town trying to deal with a skanger who was shop lifting and getting abusive it ended up getting physical and the foreign lad took the skanger down beautifully and then the skanger turned into the classic victim( "I can't breath") after telling the foreign lad he was going to rip his head off a minute before hand.

That foreign guy working for a living was worth a thousand of that skanger but who'll end up in more trouble?

No doubt the issues in the link above will be ascribed to the far right by some but the reality is different and that should be obvious.

It doesn't matter if the government is right wing when the judge lets a criminal go free with a suspended sentence for their 80th conviction.

As for the US, it depends. Some cities and states send their criminals away, some others are like Detroit and SF. US is a whole different world but even there right wing places are the safer ones.

If you believe that a country can gradually become fascist over thirty years I've got a bridge to sell you as well.

Are you saying that people living in communist regimes became fascists because of their mistreatment at the hands of their communist masters?

The defining problem and challenge of and for the left is it's deep problem with enforcing conformity and control of society, others and themselves.

Socialist dogma is riven by disagreement, differing analysis and this drives the splits, faction hatred within the party etc. The absolute moral certainty of the believers drive that on.

Is it any wonder that division, collapse, murder and savagery is the natural conclusion of the Left.

The people involved are the problem, the mindset.

Fascist regimes begin in opposition to an existing order.

Fascist political parties use intimidation and force to drive changes in society on their way to gaining power typically via the ballot box.

Russia doesn't fit the criteria for being a fascist regime and all of its current behaviours are things that the Russians were well practiced at during the days of the USSR, but lets forgot Russia was home to the largest far left empire in history and label them as fascists because that's easier and doesn't call into question the cuddly image the left wants to project into the world.

The traits of facist regimes you and others have mentioned on this thread come afterwards, they are also traits of left wing totalarian regimes so aren't inherently fascist although they are things that happen under fascist regimes also.

This is basic stuff, to the point that having to say it should be embarrassing.

The world hasn't had an active fascist regime for almost fifty years but somehow, I'd have to assume as a result of the "culture wars" the world and his dog can be labeled as fascists at any time.

For the crime of pointing this out I've been called right wing, far right an apologist for the far right. All this coming from people who don't understand the basics of what ideas like fascism actually are.

You need a new insult to hurl at people you disagree with because fascist isn't cutting it.

We've already been through this. The USSR never reached a Communist state. No nation has.

..............

The smoking ban was introduced in Ireland by Fianna Fail in 2004, you know Fianna Fail, the exact type of centre right conservatives you've been blaming everything on in this very thread.

Not everything revolves around America. Especially not on Irish discussion forums.