I thought the US or Canada would be first, I am so confused.
That's never been my impression. Discounting countries that are already unstable, like South Africa, the countries most at risk seem to be Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK. The US is in a ton of danger, but we're not first on the chopping block. I'm not at all surprise to see Australia falling first. I imagine New Zealand is next, then the UK or Canada. Then the US. That's my guess, at least.
South America and much of (mostly Western) Europe would like a word, lol...
Also Russia. Also quite a bit of Asia. This seems to be... Fairly widespread. But then again, like you say, stability plays a role, of course, lol...
I wouldn't argue Samoa, Chile, Peru or fucking Indonesia as examples of "stable", or hell, even functioning, societies, at this point...
Then again, Australia being so "stable" is partly how we got to this point: via complacency and hubris of course...
"She'll be right, mate" - I've always hated that saying...
When applied to anti-safetyism - great. When applied to tolerance for authoritarian overreach, and ridiculous police state bullshit, or indeed the state of our politics and/or the media..? Not so much... :-/
Also, I think there's more to this than just stability, or the Anglosphere...
Just look at the Middle East: it's one of the few places that can rival Australia's oppression levels, and they're, well, they're primed for it... So culture obviously plays a role (they're also notably not-at-all feminist, so... Sorry TheImpossible1, but in this case... That doesn't seem to be the cause).
Even Israel, though... Like, you would think they would know/expect better, at this point, but umm, nope. They're literally one of the worst in the world, in that regard. Fucking lol. So I dunno, I can't explain it. When Sweden is almost the freest, and Israel tied with Australia and the Gulf as the most oppressive... It's hard to pin this down to a single logical cause, unfortunately...
I think you misinterpreted what I said; I said discounting places that are unstable. As in, they're already in trouble, and I wasn't counting them. I think Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, and maybe the USA fall to tyranny (or the resulting chaos from attempted tyranny) before Russia/Asia/etc..
My examples seem more totalitarian left leaning already, and thus more susceptible to this particular brand of authoritarianism. They're already primed to accept government rule, by and large.
Fair, but no, I get ya. I just... Feel like Qatar, for example, is fairly stable, arguably up there with Western nations, yet it is already right up there for ridiculous "corona overreach"...
Also Chile, which is theoretically the richest, most "stable" (post-Pinochet) country in South America, but quickly descended into near martial law, when this kicked off (yes, I know about the anti-government protests, even prior to coof)...
And finally Japan, which is definitely seen as "stable", but is behaving just as horribly towards its citizens as we are (well, in my state, anyway. NSW and Victoria are arguably worse. Arguably)...
So... I dunno, hey. It just doesn't seem to hold. Like, this weird authoritarianism is similarly everywhere, but also... Not?
I never thought Sweden, of all goddamn places, would be the most reasonable about all this. Like, I talk to Swedes who are living there, and they just... Can't even understand how the rest of the "West" is behaving like this... And I never thought I would say that about fucking Sweden. Or Iceland, for that matter. It's weeeeiiiirrrdd, man.
That's never been my impression. Discounting countries that are already unstable, like South Africa, the countries most at risk seem to be Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK. The US is in a ton of danger, but we're not first on the chopping block. I'm not at all surprise to see Australia falling first. I imagine New Zealand is next, then the UK or Canada. Then the US. That's my guess, at least.
South America and much of (mostly Western) Europe would like a word, lol...
Also Russia. Also quite a bit of Asia. This seems to be... Fairly widespread. But then again, like you say, stability plays a role, of course, lol...
I wouldn't argue Samoa, Chile, Peru or fucking Indonesia as examples of "stable", or hell, even functioning, societies, at this point...
Then again, Australia being so "stable" is partly how we got to this point: via complacency and hubris of course...
"She'll be right, mate" - I've always hated that saying...
When applied to anti-safetyism - great. When applied to tolerance for authoritarian overreach, and ridiculous police state bullshit, or indeed the state of our politics and/or the media..? Not so much... :-/
Also, I think there's more to this than just stability, or the Anglosphere...
Just look at the Middle East: it's one of the few places that can rival Australia's oppression levels, and they're, well, they're primed for it... So culture obviously plays a role (they're also notably not-at-all feminist, so... Sorry TheImpossible1, but in this case... That doesn't seem to be the cause).
Even Israel, though... Like, you would think they would know/expect better, at this point, but umm, nope. They're literally one of the worst in the world, in that regard. Fucking lol. So I dunno, I can't explain it. When Sweden is almost the freest, and Israel tied with Australia and the Gulf as the most oppressive... It's hard to pin this down to a single logical cause, unfortunately...
I think you misinterpreted what I said; I said discounting places that are unstable. As in, they're already in trouble, and I wasn't counting them. I think Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, and maybe the USA fall to tyranny (or the resulting chaos from attempted tyranny) before Russia/Asia/etc..
My examples seem more totalitarian left leaning already, and thus more susceptible to this particular brand of authoritarianism. They're already primed to accept government rule, by and large.
Fair, but no, I get ya. I just... Feel like Qatar, for example, is fairly stable, arguably up there with Western nations, yet it is already right up there for ridiculous "corona overreach"...
Also Chile, which is theoretically the richest, most "stable" (post-Pinochet) country in South America, but quickly descended into near martial law, when this kicked off (yes, I know about the anti-government protests, even prior to coof)...
And finally Japan, which is definitely seen as "stable", but is behaving just as horribly towards its citizens as we are (well, in my state, anyway. NSW and Victoria are arguably worse. Arguably)...
So... I dunno, hey. It just doesn't seem to hold. Like, this weird authoritarianism is similarly everywhere, but also... Not?
I never thought Sweden, of all goddamn places, would be the most reasonable about all this. Like, I talk to Swedes who are living there, and they just... Can't even understand how the rest of the "West" is behaving like this... And I never thought I would say that about fucking Sweden. Or Iceland, for that matter. It's weeeeiiiirrrdd, man.