There are growing suspicions (set out here some weeks ago & now gaining traction in the mainstream media) that people close to the Tangerine Tyrant are using insider knowledge to place bets on political actions/developments....
Are are we surprised?.... of course not; the Court of the Tangerine Tyrant is only out for itself & is seeking to maximise the financial returns of the Tyrant's remaining time in the White House.
#politics #betting #corruption
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/18/iran-war-bets-ethics-concerns
@ChrisMayLA6 We are not surprised, and it is important to note, that this is common practice all over the "democratic" west. I bet you a beer that if you were to compare the returns on investments of politicians vs the people, you would find that the politicians somehow perform a lot better than the people.
But it doesn't stop there. Compare wealth, and accumulated pension benefits, and you'll see that todays "democratic" politicians are our new lords and masters and they live like it too.
You'd find a lot of agreement in the UK with that clearly stated description.
@ChrisMayLA6 But this is dangerous! Because the ones who use this argument to the fullest tend to be leftist extremists or nationalist extremists. At the core, it is nothing strange, the ones we chose to govern should do so out of care and not out of greed, and therefore their salaries and conditions should be the same as for the ones they govern.
But the fact that it is not so today, opens the door to demagogues, and not to true democratic forces.
I agree; this is the dangerous place that out political class have got us; a very real (and reasonable) suspicion of the 'establishment's use of the system to their advantage has prompted support for those who point this out (even if they do so in bad faith).... interestingly in the UK, the Green Party of England & Wales has linked this position to a green agenda as opposed to a nationalist one, with at the moment what looks like some success
@ChrisMayLA6 Well, I hope that the UK will now graduate to a 4 party system. It would be much better for democracy than the old 2 party system.
I'm also waiting for a green party that focuses on Björn Lomborgs win/win green, and which does not only talk about one-sided sacrifice.
I think there are a few % of right leaning voters that might be tempted to vote for a right leaning win/win green party. I do not think any such party exists. Usually to me, the greens seem to be on the left.
Well in 'market' terms we are already over-supplied with Right parties (even the so-called Labour Party can hardly be said to be on the left any longer), so at the very least in the interests of choice, the rise of a Left Green party enhanced democracy in the UK by expanding choice & allowing those on the left to have a party to vote for that more accurately reflects their views
@ChrisMayLA6 I think that this is perhaps telling us that socialism, in its current form in europe, is kind of a spent force? From my point they are of course leftists, _but_, looking at the swedish version, they have moved right. Gone are the days of trying to implement 100% tax on the rich.
On the other hand, there are the norwegian ones, who managed to increase the wealth tax leading to a record exodus of billionaires from norway, so maybe it isn't a trend?
In sweden, there's always
@ChrisMayLA6 the communist and green parties who are pretty extremist, and sit comfortably at 6-7 % each. They exist to cover the extreme left flank, so that the socialists in sweden can move in towards the middle.
Yes, its an interesting issue; if we had (in the UK) a media that was essentially balanced & views from the left could as easily be articulated in mainstream conversation, I might agree... but this is very much not the case; the political agenda of possibility is largely (though not exclusively) set by a right wing press & media that offers little real space for leftist politics, making it harder (but not impossible) for voters to see this as a viable alternative....
@ChrisMayLA6 Has there ever been a study of the political opinions of journalists in the UK?
In sweden, one or two studies have been made, and they showed that around 80% of the journalists in sweden hold center-left opinions.
@ChrisMayLA6 What is interesting here is the stark contrast with sweden. With this media landscape, the UK currently has a "labour" government, while sweden has a center/nationalist one.
What is also interesting, if I may speculate, is how this is reshaping the media consumption habits of voters.
I know many swedes who no longer watch or read news from the public TV. They think it is way too biased to be taken seriously, and instead flock to alternative news and freelance journalists
@ChrisMayLA6 individual blogs.
I think that this is possibly a global trend. A fracturing of the news landscape.
50 years ago, more people would "trust" the public news, and thus a bigger part of society had a shared narrative and a shared understanding of the world.
Today, with independent freelance journalists, we see multiple view of the world, and reduced communication between media islands, and polarization (I think) is the result of this.
yes, very clear also in the UK - the rise of partisan but 'independent' news is a key shift in the political communicative environment
@h4890
Well, interestingly, the majority of journalists *do* identify as Left but what is notable is that the majority of outlets are on the Right - leaving one to suspect that many journalists are spending a lot of time compromising their views for their employers... here's a link to a report on a study from last year:
https://pressgazette.co.uk/media-audience-and-business-data/who-are-uk-journalists-2025-age-gender-class-ethnicity-politics/#:~:text=The%20survey%20of%201%2C130%20UK,extremely%20influential%20on%20their%20work.