8 OPINION AND DEBATE
THE FOUNDER September 2021
Continued from the front page:
W
hile we are becoming attuned to the consequences of global warming in Europe, facing tragic floods and scorching heat simultaneously this summer, the rest of the world has been taking a battering for the better part of a decade. We are now, as a society, playing catch-up with the consequences of our own development, and we need to work fast. The UK and European Union urgently need to prepare for an influx of climate refugees, and our civil societies need to recognise our responsibility to accept people. It is entirely possible to house and protect many more people than our nations currently accept. With an urgent restructuring of the housing systems in our country, multilateral efforts to introduce higher wealth and corporation taxes, and investment in green and efficient systems, this challenge could be met. It will take great change, of course, and will be met with large opposition, but these efforts will provide the UK with a desperately needed opportunity to demonstrate world leadership.
to form relationships with them, but the fact of the matter is that these beliefs have had growing support since they first emerged and has serious supporters who are willing to take up arms due to what is perpetuated by this theory. California, Toronto, and Florida have all had killings with motivations tracing back to this sinister form of misogyny. So, why aren’t we doing anything to tackle it? The Plymouth shooting itself had very limited coverage and only recently have the police even started looking into reclassifying the attack as terrorism. Even the attacks in the States and Canada have not resulted in any long-term government initiatives or policies to combat this radicalisation of young men, and that is what it boils down to at the end of the day. Inceldom is a radically hateful theory that endangers not only women’s lives but everyone’s the longer it is ignored. We need to change that mindset otherwise the Plymouth shooting will not be the last tragedy, but rather the first in a long list of lost lives.
It is possible that the unpredictable hand of fate will allow cooperation on this issue to repair the cross-channel relationship, as the UK’s eternal indecision on its relationship with the world goes full circle once again.
The Growing Terror of Incel Culture
AELIYA RAZVI | CONTENT WRITER
T
he recent tragedy in Plymouth has led to an increased scrutinization of the way in which young men are engaging with a certain corner of the internet known as ‘Incel Culture’. Inceldom is an online subculture that is filled with men who describe themselves as involuntary celibates, in other words men who desire sex but are unable to get it due to the way society has supposedly conditioned women to find them conventionally unattractive, therefore barring them from having an intimate relationships. The dangers of this culture have been recently flagged after an analysis of Jack Davison’s, the Plymouth shooter, internet usage and history which found a strange fascination with this ideology. From active participation in perpetuating harmful theories from the Incel culture on his social media to making reddit posts three months before his attacks admitting to reading about the blackpill, it is safe to say that Davison was very familiar with the intricacies of Inceldom and may have even felt understood by it.
This is perpetuated by the supposed Blackpill. This is the belief by some in the Incel community that some men are born at a genetic disadvantage to other men due to a premade social hierarchy. It is an extremely isolating theory that otherises men who may relate to the experiences it describes. More insidiously, it removes any hope someone who may believe in this has for an intimate and romantic relationship with a woman. This can lead to a hatred of women themselves by some of these men, as the blame for the societal hierarchy that has placed them at the bottom is traced back to all women and the idea that women are shallow minded, only going for “chads”, another Incel term referring to conventionally attractive males. It is clear to anyone who reads into the Incel ideology that it is entrenched in misogyny from men who believe women are at the root of all their problems, and who refuse to take accountability for their behaviour. In all likelihood it is these men’s refusal to change that is the real reason women are not inclined
Withdrawing the Troops: How This Adds to the History of Failed Conquering Afghanistan ANANYA KRISHNA | CONTENT WRITER
B
iden's decision to withdraw troops has been the most pressing international news over the past couple of months. Most media outlets have concluded that this choice, leading to Taliban comeback, has contributed to the rising human rights violations now occurring, especially to women and children. Yet, what does Afghanistan's history of failed invasions from empires play, and how does this shed light on Biden's decision? The Financial Times (June 16th) states that the withdrawal of troops adds to "a long list of the world's greatest powers whose missions in Afghanistan failed" and re-establishes the country as a graveyard of empires. But how exactly did the country earn this title? Alexander the Great is one of the more well-known early conquerors to have invaded Afghanistan; the first account was Darius the I of Babylon in 500 B.C. The list grew to add others such as Genghis Khan in the 13th Century, Britain in the 20th Century, the Soviet Union throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, and the United States. Unlike any other country on Earth, Afghanistan still lives off the same tribal ideals built upon, and its history almost mimics the land itself; stubborn and robust. This tribalistic quality is brought out when discussing the history of Afghanistan and is always the reason for no signs of long-term change in the nation.
