Yes, these tendencies towards right wing authoritarianism are concerning but, as with other topics, it's complex. Remember Trump didn't actually win the popular vote in the US, Clinton did by a marginal amount and it was the US system that just tipped the electoral college in Trump's favour; I know from US friends and acquaintances on FB there's a lot of push back so, hopefully, all is not lost there yet. More worrying is manipulation of text books as noted in Hungary but one good thing about the internet and satellite TV is that globalisation of media does water down such propaganda and also makes it harder to lie about topics such as climate change. And, the Canadian example about sex education is hopefully a glitch, it's not so long ago the Thatcher Tories introduced Article 25, is it? I don't want to sound complacent, the far right shift and links between Trump, Putin, Bannon, Farage, Banks, Rees-Mogg, etc - even if only sounding out ideas or speculative in nature - are of concern; however, what I've felt over the past decade or two and which I find more worrying is the lack of importance which certain segments of western countries seem to place on education. Contrast that with India and China whose schools seem very competitive and whose technology is on the rise - India has launched UK satellites, develops good software, operates many call centres and owns UK steel works, and I still expect the Chinese (who don't let their authoritarianism get in the wat of technological progress) to put the next person on the moon.
Michael Ixer ● 2824d