Good point. Two entirely different things that rarely go hand in hand.
I'm with Rob on this one. It's been pretty well established that penalizing abortion in Poland simply pushed it underground or (for the better situated) abroad. There is really no way to know if there has been any drop in the number of abortions, or perhaps increase thereof, because there are no reliable statistics (never mind the official ones, which have nothing to do with reality). My point is the same as Rob's: sweeping garbage under the carpet does not a clean house make. On the contrary, things are more likely as not to grow and ferment there, out of sight, with no one in the mainstream the wiser. Until the rot eats through the carpet and... somebody gets himself an automatic rifle and vents his quietly accumulated frustrations on innocent people in a mosque. Or a catholic church. Or a public school.
Extremist narrative is not the problem. We've got bigger problems. Unwelcome and dangerous narratives are pushed upon us by various governments every day, or haven't you noticed? One good example in the US is the narrative about "dirty, criminal, rapist latinos invading good, clean America" and how America will not survive this unless there is the wall. In Poland, the PIS goverment is hard at work winning hearts and minds (read: votes!) with classic scare tactic narrative about "dirty, criminal, terrorist migrants, most of them bringing with them dangerous diseases" and how they are the only ones in the 1,000+ year history of Poland who are ready, willing and able to stop this "invasion". Rob has already mentioned the "Social Credit Score" system in China, but not living in China, he wasn't subject to the accompanying propaganda campaign, narrative about how successful and good for the People this system is and... how it will be expanded. Do you think this is bad, but nothing to do with you? Just wait till a future US government takes a page from China's Playbook. And in the meantime, worry (or applaud!) the narratives being pushed by more than one candidate running for President about the need for major wealth redistribution, how else, by taxing the hell out of the rich, so as to allow, who else, the government to more fairly distribute the wealth amongst the People...
I'm just picking and choosing. There are many other such dangerous ideas and narratives pushed upon us every single day. I'm really more concerned about these narratives, government sanctioned, or likely to be sanctioned and implemented in the near future. My point is: compared to this, marginalized right wing, or left wing extremists, foaming at their mouths are of no concern whatsoever. By all means, allow them to vent; let them push their narratives upon us; give the "Five Eyes" a better chance to invigilate them and forestall tragic incidents like the one in Christchurch. Instead of scrambling to save their collective asses by, what else, a new narrative... guns are very bad! We are pushing for new legislation to further curtail peoples' freedoms, but for the good of the People... we're banning all rifles in the country, legislation to be introduced within 4 weeks! Wow, ain't that somethin'?
