PhilipTheBucket

On September 27 and 28 in Lima, Peru, police violently attacked protesters demanding an end to corruption, greater security, an end to extortion by criminal groups, and the end of Dina Boluarte’s government in general.

Boluarte was the vice president of Pedro Castillo, who was removed from office in what many have called a “coup d’état”.

After that, Boluarte led a government that harshly repressed protesters demanding the return of Castillo. Nearly 60 deaths were recorded during the protests that lasted for months between 2022 and 2023.

Harsh repression in Lima

Early on September 27, transport workers announced a 48-hour strike and closed several roads in the north of the capital. They then joined protests in downtown Lima led by young people, which ended in clashes with the police.

It appears that the executive branch has decided to continue its heavy-handed approach rather than engage with protesters’ demands. According to some figures, around 74 people were injured during the protests this past weekend. Among them were 26 journalists and nine reporters who were covering the events.

This was reported by the National Association of Journalists of Peru, which denounced that the police attacked journalists who were reporting on the repression against thousands of protesters by pushing them and using tear gas. In fact, a video shows how journalist Victor Castillo was pushed by the police. Once the police had dispersed several journalists to the vicinity of the Rimac River, they prevented them from moving freely around the city.

In this regard, the Foreign Press Association in Peru expressed concern about the attacks against journalists; according to the organization, rubber bullets were also used against journalists.

Taking these and other complaints into account, the National Human Rights Coordinator reported: “During the day of social protest on September 27, we recorded 18 people injured, including a journalist and a brigade member. We condemn police repression and demand an end to the attacks. We urge the Human Rights Prosecutor’s Office, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, and the Attorney General’s Office of Peru to ensure the safety of citizens exercising their right to protest. Considering the demonstration called for tomorrow, Sunday, September 28, it is urgent that guarantees be put in place to ensure a safe protest. Protesting is a right, not a crime.

Who are they and why are they protesting?

The protesters have been dubbed “Generation Z”, meaning those born between the late 1990s and 2010, especially students who initially marched to protest pension system reforms.

However, the demonstrations have been joined by various sectors. One of them who joined the protests last weekend was transport workers, who have repeatedly demanded that the executive branch act efficiently to stop extortion by organized crime and corruption.

As experts have pointed out, the protests are increasingly taking on an anti-government tone, especially against President Boluarte and Congress, who, according to the latest polls, are currently facing almost universal rejection.

In other words, the protesters are more than just young people, and they are protesting about more than just specific measures.

In fact, there seems to be a widespread feeling of discontent, as social movement expert Omar Coronel told the BBC: “There is widespread rejection of President Boluarte and her allies in Congress due to the growing authoritarianism that has been imposed in Peru.”

You don't need to watch JD Vance's response; he doesn't really say anything at all beyond some nonsense, and Theo doesn't return to the topic.

My point in posting this, to the degree that I'm even trying to say something in particular with it, is this: People have this picture of this "conservative-y" comedian grouping as friendly to fascists. They are, in their impact, but it's not because they are okay with those politics. They're just not educated and they are not in an environment that allows or is structured to support reality in politics. Their viewpoint is usually completely fine. They just don't know enough about what's going on to connect that viewpoint into who to support and what policies and people are going to produce what impact. And, of course, the media ecosystem they exist in is so wild and corrupted that it would be hard for them to do anything productive even if they did (they would no longer get on TV if they made the attempt.)

And the result of all that you can kind of see it in this clip: They're both just morons talking to each other. Honestly it is painful. The format defeats what Theo is trying to say. That background and style is okay for a comedy show, not so much for the VP but that's a separate issue, but these "regular Joe" guys now have been elevated to this journalistic status, because their audience is morons too, and they feel way more comfortable watching this moronic format of conversation than they would a press conference or a tough interview. The whole world of objective structure, academia and hard journalism, has left them behind. They don't feel comfortable with it, they feel like it's fake and just a way to lie to them (which... there is a reason for that...). But that also means they can't really have anything to grab onto to make a strong argument that's based on facts instead of a firm tone of voice, or to reject something that's crap, and trust that their audience will recognize the validity.

(Of course JD wouldn't agree to an actual journalism interview of this length or format anyway. The right has figured out how to exploit the moronity of our media and their audience. Theo actually really emphasized, when he had JD Vance on before the election, that he also invited Kamala Harris and Tim Walz to come. Bernie Sanders went on Joe Rogan, and he killed, and some people I know really started to like him because he went on and made sense.)

Anyway, I posted this just because of Theo Von and Bill Burr in the news now, and YouTube just showed me a short of Theo telling JD Vance Israel was committing a genocide, and I was startled enough by that to dig up the full interview, and so here it is.

At the core, it is a problem of education. You cannot make a democracy out of a country full of uneducated people making and existing in education-free systems, and that's what we're trying to do. And it's going horribly which is the only possible outcome. This stuff is a symptom.