TheBossRoss
@thebossross.bsky.social
6.8K followers 4K following 16K posts
🇩🇪🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Friendly & wordy. Work-from-home knitter. Kind, not stupid. Ally of decency. *** Team Science. Team Democracy. Team Diversity. *** Based in Germany. In love with Scotland. At home in more than one place.
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thebossross.bsky.social
In country after country, far-right populists offer easy solutions to often non-existent crises, fuelling xenophobia, jealousy, rage for votes. Once in power, they (ab)use their position, serve themselves, & keep people angry while solving nothing. Those who have not yet realised this don't want to.
Reposted by TheBossRoss
thebossross.bsky.social
How to...
...resist an authoritarian takeover.

Many ask: What can we do? And as we see in real-time, in America, encouragingly, there isn't just one answer. There are many ways to resist. I have collected a few. Be inspired. 🧵

#resist
thebossross.bsky.social
"This is Britain. We are each other. Lets stick together."
- lambethgreenparty on Insta

This heals me.
thebossross.bsky.social
Nice try, Amazon.

[seen at flea market today]
A big, black, square Amazon bag, commonly used to transport smaller packages. It says:
"Property of Amazon Logistics Not for resale/unauthorised use:

In it, many more bags like it, folded.

A handwritten cardboard sign taped to the rim says: "10€".
thebossross.bsky.social
Actually, this is how majority rule and the rule of law work.
thebossross.bsky.social
Indeed. As a fmr Migration Officer it incredibly frustrating how uninformed people are. No stricter rules will now pacify them, they'll only confirm their anxiety. They want nothing short of 'getting rid of these people'. We need to argue against it. A majority our countries still want diversity.
thebossross.bsky.social
2/There's no choice, there is no appeasement. You can only argue with facts and for policies that are right and will benefit the country.
thebossross.bsky.social
I disagree. That is exactly the narrative the far-right wants to create. You could argue that this public opinion was created by right-wing populism, much like British endorsement of Brext. Before the campaign, there was no majority for it.
...
thebossross.bsky.social
thebossross.bsky.social
🧵 This is an extraordinary piece on Channel-crossing refugees, or #SmallBoats as we dub it. Really extraordinary.

"The picture that emerges pertains not just to a failure of policy, but a failure of humanity."

www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...
The truth about the small-boats crisis
What Nigel Farage won’t tell you
www.newstatesman.com
thebossross.bsky.social
There was an extraordinary piece in the New Statesman last week. Proper journalism. A report from Calais. Where, this is why I say it, smugglers knock on tents every night & there's downright competition to sell places on boats. Deterrence doesn't work. It doesn't keep people away or curb smuggling.
thebossross.bsky.social
The degree to which governments of ageing societies bow to right-wing populist pressure & curb immigration across the board is entirely irresponsible & maddening. They are actively hurting their own country, its people, its economy, its health & social welfare systems.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Sir Sadiq Khan calls for pause on new immigration rules
The mayor of London said the changes had "moved the goalposts".
www.bbc.com
thebossross.bsky.social
2/ Dass Labour (GB), Demokraten (USA), SPD sich durch die öffentl Meinungsmache im Zugzwang fühlen, kann ich nachvollziehen. Dass sie mitmachen anstatt dagegenzuhalten, finde ich dennoch unverzeihlich & ein Stück weit dumm, denn der erhoffte Effekt (vom Wähler honoriert zu werden) bleibt überall aus
thebossross.bsky.social
International die gleiche Strategie:
-populistische Übertreibung (Sozial-/Asylbetrüger = winzige Minderheiten)
-Schüren von Ärger/Sozialneid
-drakonische, sinnlose Maßnahmen, die Aktionismus vortäuschen, häufig kostenintensiv
-Ausweitung der Maßnahmen (Sozialleistungen/Visa werden massiv reduziert)
thebossross.bsky.social
"For the 11 town councillors who backed the motion to grant papers to undocumented migrants – from Núñez Pérez’s People’s party to the Socialists and the United Left – this reality took precedence over party lines."
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
‘It’s a question of humanity’: how a small Spanish town made headlines over its immigration stance
Mayor explains why Villamalea unanimously backed call to regularise undocumented migrants – across party lines
www.theguardian.com
thebossross.bsky.social
Mobiles are both a gate to the world & a wall separating us from it. We can explore or keep ourselves to ourselves, talk or avoid conversation, seek confrontation or shut it down. Like most things, mobiles aren't all good or all bad. They're what we make of them.
#GoodMorning, everyone.
Cartoon by steinbergdrawscartoons (Instagram). In a black space, a row of planets: the sun, the moon, the stars,  and a huge rectangular white field with the description: "My phone when I check it at night"
thebossross.bsky.social
Today's random #German word of the day is this.

📢 m.dict.cc/deutsch-engl...

Be kind. #LearnALanguage
Illustration of the German word 'die Verrohung', from 'roh' meaning 'raw' or 'crude', translation: brutalisation, coarsening.
thebossross.bsky.social
8/

Be inspired. #FrogsRock
thebossross.bsky.social
7/

Those who wonder whether peaceful protest achieves anything: Research of both violent & non-violent protest has shown that -across time & borders- peaceful protest is the more effective of the two. From a sceptic who found herself convinced by her own research:
youtu.be/YJSehRlU34w?...
The success of nonviolent civil resistance: Erica Chenoweth at TEDxBoulder
YouTube video by TEDx Talks
youtu.be
thebossross.bsky.social
5/

Build networks. Help your neighbours, friends, colleagues by warning them, protecting them, looking after their family members, homes, etc.
thebossross.bsky.social
4/

Withhold / delay your taxes:
thebossross.bsky.social
3/

Isolate the perpetrators: