The world’s richest man, also a key adviser to President-elect Donald Trump, has clashed for months with Prime Minister Keir Starmer at a time when the U.K. is concerned about its standing with the incoming U.S. administration.

Summary

Elon Musk labeled Britain a “tyrannical police state” on X, criticized Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s leadership, and questioned the imprisonment of far-right activist Tommy Robinson.

Musk’s comments coincide with his role as a key adviser to Trump, raising concerns in the U.K. about its relationship with the incoming administration.

Musk also criticized Starmer’s policies, including increased farm inheritance taxes, and boosted far-right content on X.

This follows similar clashes with other U.S. allies, including Germany and Australia, over their domestic policies.

  • LustyArgonian@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    18 days ago

    Well, this is back from Plato’s Republic days, sorry I thought we all were up to date on thousands of years old references. The argument is that democracy always fails to bad faith actors, and democracy always fails. Arguments against democracy are fascist at their core. Democracy itself can be defended from bad faith actors of course, so it’s a simplistic, stupid statement made by someone who is advocating for one thing only: anti-democracy, or fascism.

    • TheEighthDoctor@lemmy.worldEnglish
      12·
      18 days ago

      Democracy itself can be defended from bad faith actors of course

      How? Please elaborate don’t just say of course

      • LustyArgonian@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        16 days ago

        Oh, you need me to look up what arguing in good faith is, all the way back to Socrates? You want me to explain the history of our modern court system and how it is entirely based on Western philosophical reasoning which are based on Arabic, Indian, and Chinese philosophical reasonings via the Silk Road? That this idea that democracy will always have a dictator has been confronted by people for thousands of years so they can live in a government with both freedom and safety, and thus modern philosophical ideas about democracy spring from that.

        Things like what ‘sophistry’ is. Or do you just want me to post a fallacy chart? Or maybe you just need to read book recommendations like “Stop Caretaking the Borderline or Narcissist.”

        We give each other information in a way that is democratic- individually consensual. Each person must then be taught skills to learn bad faith advances. However, here in the US, we let people be taken advantage of by marketing and capitalism and we neglected this in schools. This is why we aren’t doing well and why Russian propaganda worked so well - it relies on heuristics that most people recognize once they get a philosophical education in fallacies.

        If democracies always failed, then there would literally never be a stable democracy. That there are, indicates that the simplistic idea they will always fail to bad faith actors is incorrect.

        • TheEighthDoctor@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          16 days ago

          I bet the Romans thought their empire and system was very stable, everything is stable if you choose the right timeframe. Our democracies may seem stable, for now…

          Also history is not a good indicator because mass media and the internet changed the playing field in ways that are not comparable to any other period in history.