Syrian Refugee situation (Last Week Tonight)

[Julius Seeker]

This is a good one, and it covers what is probably the single largest humanitarian issue of current time.



Turkey's reason for having problems accommodating refugees is obvious, they have taken in well over a million. Saudi Arabia, Israel, the UAE, and Kuwait have taken in none. Jordan, I am very much impressed with, I wonder if their total population of Palestinian and Syrian refugees now exceeds Jordanians?

These are human beings, and Oliver is absolutely right that this sort of dehumanizing language is repulsive.

[Shrinweck]

It's a good piece (if a bit one-sided) and that camerawoman in Hungary is scum. Her defense is that she was in a panic and did what first came to mind. In my eyes, if your first instinct is to kick a child, you're probably an asshole.

But on the topic of migration, it's a difficult subject and while the United States gets a lot of flak for its right wing extremists... the European right wingers are basically Future Nazis just waiting for the next opportunity to do extremely evil shit. Hungary and the like do deserve some nods for the places that are trying to do the right thing here, but these are the places that are 100% shitting on the United States every chance they get for our vocal minorities so I'm not really giving a shit.

Hoping this leads to a realization that refugees/migrants/immigrants deserve to be treated better in general - but I'm going to go ahead and not hold my breath.

[ManaMan]

I think it stems from white supremacy. The idea that whites are the best and brightest "race" in the world (same for their culture and religion). Also that non-whites are usually flawed (potentially sub-humans), violent, lazy, and have flawed cultures and religion. They think that bringing in these Arab & North African refugees will "pollute" their pristine white European nations.

I think most Germans have learned the error of this line of thinking... and it's refreshing to see how the migrants were treated getting off the train.

But on the topic of migration, it's a difficult subject and while the United States gets a lot of flak for its right wing extremists... the European right wingers are basically Future Nazis just waiting for the next opportunity to do extremely evil shit. Hungary and the like do deserve some nods for the places that are trying to do the right thing here, but these are the places that are 100% shitting on the United States every chance they get for our vocal minorities so I'm not really giving a shit.

Yep. I think that this kind of white supremacy shows itself in a different way in the US than it does in Europe and elsewhere. In Europe, they want to keep the non-whites out but in the US the non-whites are already here and have been since the beginning. In Europe, even the right-wingers support strong welfare states, they just want to ensure they keep out immigrants. The US was right along with them for many decades, the Progressive era and the New Deal, white supremacists were on board with "big government" as long as they could shape the government programs to primarily or exclusively benefit whites. This all fell apart starting in the mid-60s with the civil rights movement when blacks and other groups demanded inclusion as well. Now the white supremacists view the government institutions as tainted and as vehicles to take from the "good" and give to the "bad".

[Julius Seeker]

Many European countries have done a lot of good taking in refugees, including: Sweden, Norway, Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, and Switzerland.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_c ... te-UNRWA-2

Interesting to note is that Syria held 1.2 million refugees in 2012.

[ManaMan]

Many European countries have done a lot of good taking in refugees, including: Sweden, Norway, Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, and Switzerland.

Yep, it's good to clarify that in light of the one-dimensional John Oliver video "Europeans are racist!".

[Flip]

Last Week Tonight has been on point since it started, their in depth main stories are always amazing. In this instance, though... Americans dont care.

[Shrinweck]

I think the thing Oliver should have harped on more was Europe's low birth rate. Part of what keeps America growing even when it's in the shit and immigrants are being treated like garbage, is the idea that we're still always accepting a shit ton of immigrants. A big part of European stagnation is that it's just European people doing European people things. Diversity is what brings change and innovation. In fact, a lot of the really great shit Europe has actually done for itself and the world has been after bringing back a slice of knowledge from somewhere else.

I mean, it's either that or keep making these creepy fucking commercials begging young people to procreate more