David Klemperer
@dmk1793.bsky.social
Historian, researcher, and co-editor of @renewaljournal.bsky.social
Pinned
David Klemperer
@dmk1793.bsky.social
· Oct 26
NEW EPISODE OUT NOW!
In today’s episode David & @dmk1793.bsky.social try to answer some of the hundreds of questions, comments and suggestions we have had about this series. How do we know if democracy is broken? Have we ever had a real democracy anyway?
Find us at...🎧 ppfideas.com
In today’s episode David & @dmk1793.bsky.social try to answer some of the hundreds of questions, comments and suggestions we have had about this series. How do we know if democracy is broken? Have we ever had a real democracy anyway?
Find us at...🎧 ppfideas.com
Really enjoyed recording this discussion with David Runciman, covering threats to democracy, early 20thc theories of oligarchy, how algorithmic social media is changing politics, the problem with 19thc approaches to suffrage - and much, much more!
Disappointed by this rather superficial treatment of an important idea. Compulsory voting isn't an alternative to political parties making better offers - the whole point is that it forces political parties to pay attention to the interests and preferences of those who don't currently vote!
Should voting be compulsory in the UK?
To hear Nish and Coco answering listener questions in our mailbag special episode, catch up with the latest PSUK now. Link in bio.
#PodSaveTheUK #Politics #UKPolitics #UK #Election #NishKumar
To hear Nish and Coco answering listener questions in our mailbag special episode, catch up with the latest PSUK now. Link in bio.
#PodSaveTheUK #Politics #UKPolitics #UK #Election #NishKumar
January 4, 2026 at 10:59 PM
Disappointed by this rather superficial treatment of an important idea. Compulsory voting isn't an alternative to political parties making better offers - the whole point is that it forces political parties to pay attention to the interests and preferences of those who don't currently vote!
Reposted by David Klemperer
greetings from hell
January 4, 2026 at 7:11 PM
greetings from hell
Reposted by David Klemperer
This part in particular struck me as worrisome. A “veteran loyalist activist in Ballymena in his 60s” is no one’s idea of an out of touch liberal, and even he’s scared by the direction of public sentiment. And it’s driven by social media which spreads hate for profit, with no seeming end in sight
January 4, 2026 at 4:54 PM
This part in particular struck me as worrisome. A “veteran loyalist activist in Ballymena in his 60s” is no one’s idea of an out of touch liberal, and even he’s scared by the direction of public sentiment. And it’s driven by social media which spreads hate for profit, with no seeming end in sight
Reposted by David Klemperer
Important to track these perceptions about possibility of "civil war" + what drives them. Threat perception of possible violence includes some fear (hope to avoid it) & reach/links of narratives of inevitability + regrettable necessity + desirability of violence
www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
‘Once whispered, now discussed’: the rise of dubious claims of civil war in the UK
Dystopian warnings once reserved for the far right have found a wider audience – but there are good reasons for scepticism
www.theguardian.com
January 4, 2026 at 1:43 PM
Important to track these perceptions about possibility of "civil war" + what drives them. Threat perception of possible violence includes some fear (hope to avoid it) & reach/links of narratives of inevitability + regrettable necessity + desirability of violence
www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
Reposted by David Klemperer
You do get the impression that some of the people 'warning' of civil war, actually desire one huh
Good article this. Racism really is the reverse of a performance-enhancing drug, the mad, stupid shit it leads people to believe in and to do:
‘Once whispered, now discussed’: the rise of dubious claims of civil war in the UK
Dystopian warnings once reserved for the far right have found a wider audience – but there are good reasons for scepticism
www.theguardian.com
January 4, 2026 at 12:57 PM
You do get the impression that some of the people 'warning' of civil war, actually desire one huh
Reposted by David Klemperer
the photographer was definitely like, "ok everybody, look tough!" but we know they're all just reading tweets with their arms crossed in a country club dining room divided up by bedsheets tacked to the beams
January 3, 2026 at 6:36 PM
the photographer was definitely like, "ok everybody, look tough!" but we know they're all just reading tweets with their arms crossed in a country club dining room divided up by bedsheets tacked to the beams
Reposted by David Klemperer
babe wake up, they're doing insider trading on war crimes
“What appears to be a newly created account appeared to invest $30,000 Friday in Maduro's exit. After Maduro went into custody Saturday morning, that same investor netted $436,759.61.”
Someone made $400K by predicting Maduro's capture. Here's what happened
The winnings come as the rules governing prediction markets are still evolving.
www.axios.com
January 3, 2026 at 8:38 PM
babe wake up, they're doing insider trading on war crimes
Excellent substack post from @sianushka.bsky.social on the hybrid threat from Russia and on how Britain and Europe must resond:
sianushka.substack.com/p/what-are-w...
sianushka.substack.com/p/what-are-w...
January 3, 2026 at 9:18 PM
Excellent substack post from @sianushka.bsky.social on the hybrid threat from Russia and on how Britain and Europe must resond:
sianushka.substack.com/p/what-are-w...
sianushka.substack.com/p/what-are-w...
Reposted by David Klemperer
I have said to the Blue Labour boys that we should run an event where some labour movement women set out feminist economics and how a modern working-class-first politics can’t ignore women, as part of a dialogue on Blue Labour. Maybe this year we’ll make it happen
January 3, 2026 at 6:32 PM
I have said to the Blue Labour boys that we should run an event where some labour movement women set out feminist economics and how a modern working-class-first politics can’t ignore women, as part of a dialogue on Blue Labour. Maybe this year we’ll make it happen
Reposted by David Klemperer
The split-screen here is unbelievable - first from yesterday, the others from 2017. Musk’s Twitter has truly driven us mad. People absorb far more of their beliefs from their social environment than they realize, and we’ve created an environment where being a gutter bigot is the baseline expectation
January 2, 2026 at 7:21 PM
The split-screen here is unbelievable - first from yesterday, the others from 2017. Musk’s Twitter has truly driven us mad. People absorb far more of their beliefs from their social environment than they realize, and we’ve created an environment where being a gutter bigot is the baseline expectation
Reposted by David Klemperer
China. Russia. *Rubbing hands with glee*.
Useful idiot.
Useful idiot.
January 3, 2026 at 11:03 AM
China. Russia. *Rubbing hands with glee*.
Useful idiot.
Useful idiot.
Reposted by David Klemperer
What is the mechanism to prevent Putin from taking out Zelenskyy or Xi Jinping from taking out Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te in the same way Trump has just done with Maduro? Moscow and Beijing saw Venezuela as an ally, but they’re also noting the silver lining for them here.
January 3, 2026 at 10:51 AM
What is the mechanism to prevent Putin from taking out Zelenskyy or Xi Jinping from taking out Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te in the same way Trump has just done with Maduro? Moscow and Beijing saw Venezuela as an ally, but they’re also noting the silver lining for them here.
Reposted by David Klemperer
it's impossible to overstate the risible stupidity of the sentence 'Trump's attitude to American military power is almost indistinguishable from that of, say, Jeremy Corbyn'
'inside the red-faced hawk is a dove, with an almost physical horror of violence'
'Trump is as close as a pacifist as we've seen in the White House'
Pure pundit brain from Ian Leslie in March 2025
'Trump is as close as a pacifist as we've seen in the White House'
Pure pundit brain from Ian Leslie in March 2025
January 3, 2026 at 10:58 AM
it's impossible to overstate the risible stupidity of the sentence 'Trump's attitude to American military power is almost indistinguishable from that of, say, Jeremy Corbyn'
Reposted by David Klemperer
If this was just about drugs, Trump would not have pardoned the ex Honduran president convicted of drug-trafficking
Rubio has confirmed (via BBC) Maduro will stand trial in the U.S.
Fucking hell, call your reps.
Fucking hell, call your reps.
Chatham House expert has just declared the possibility that Maduro has likely been flown out of country to stand trial in the U.S. "in a violation of national sovereignty."
"The U.S. will morally own what the outcomes are."
"The U.S. will morally own what the outcomes are."
January 3, 2026 at 10:52 AM
If this was just about drugs, Trump would not have pardoned the ex Honduran president convicted of drug-trafficking
Reposted by David Klemperer
Britain needs to condemn this for the obvious legal and moral reasons but at a strategic level you really don't want to accept anything that would legitimise another Argentinian push on the Falklands
January 3, 2026 at 10:35 AM
Britain needs to condemn this for the obvious legal and moral reasons but at a strategic level you really don't want to accept anything that would legitimise another Argentinian push on the Falklands
Reposted by David Klemperer
Marco Rubio is reportedly saying Maduro will stand trial in US courts.
Which means it’s now the US administration’s position that US courts can hold foreign presidents, but not the US president, accountable for crimes.
Which means it’s now the US administration’s position that US courts can hold foreign presidents, but not the US president, accountable for crimes.
January 3, 2026 at 10:52 AM
Marco Rubio is reportedly saying Maduro will stand trial in US courts.
Which means it’s now the US administration’s position that US courts can hold foreign presidents, but not the US president, accountable for crimes.
Which means it’s now the US administration’s position that US courts can hold foreign presidents, but not the US president, accountable for crimes.
Reposted by David Klemperer
Lost amid the discussion of why the Government should get off X is its utter uselessness as an engagement tool and the fact departments are wasting vast sums making content for it. Take this:
January 2, 2026 at 11:15 PM
Lost amid the discussion of why the Government should get off X is its utter uselessness as an engagement tool and the fact departments are wasting vast sums making content for it. Take this:
Reposted by David Klemperer
100% seriously, European leaders and Commission officials should plan on the basis that the US might do this to them too, about Greenland, about tech regulation, about “Christian values”, about “free speech”, whatever.
Fucking hell.
Think the referance to US Law Enforcement here is quite telling as well: a huge extension of how far the US feels its laws reach.
Apparently its fine to now attack and kidnap a head of state because of 'US law'. Fucking hell.
Think the referance to US Law Enforcement here is quite telling as well: a huge extension of how far the US feels its laws reach.
Apparently its fine to now attack and kidnap a head of state because of 'US law'. Fucking hell.
Trump says Maduro is in US custody.
January 3, 2026 at 9:59 AM
100% seriously, European leaders and Commission officials should plan on the basis that the US might do this to them too, about Greenland, about tech regulation, about “Christian values”, about “free speech”, whatever.
Reposted by David Klemperer
X/grok creating and platforming sexually explicit material of children isn’t just a lapse, it’s criminal.
Elon Musk and his companies should be held to account.
It’s been over a year since I dumped X. It was the right decision then and even more so now. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Elon Musk and his companies should be held to account.
It’s been over a year since I dumped X. It was the right decision then and even more so now. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Grok Posts Sexual Images of Minors After ‘Lapses in Safeguards’
Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence chatbot Grok said “lapses in safeguards” led to the generation of sexualized images of minors that it posted to social media site X.
www.bloomberg.com
January 2, 2026 at 11:48 AM
X/grok creating and platforming sexually explicit material of children isn’t just a lapse, it’s criminal.
Elon Musk and his companies should be held to account.
It’s been over a year since I dumped X. It was the right decision then and even more so now. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Elon Musk and his companies should be held to account.
It’s been over a year since I dumped X. It was the right decision then and even more so now. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Reposted by David Klemperer
The Government coming off X is the bare minimum and realistically at this point I think we should seriously be looking at taking enforcement action against the company, in line with the Online Safety Act and VAWG Strategy. I will be pressing the Government on this when Parliament returns next week.
January 2, 2026 at 9:26 PM
The Government coming off X is the bare minimum and realistically at this point I think we should seriously be looking at taking enforcement action against the company, in line with the Online Safety Act and VAWG Strategy. I will be pressing the Government on this when Parliament returns next week.
Reposted by David Klemperer
I used to love Twitter, even if I had to really reign in my shitposting when I got elected. It used to be genuinely useful professionally too. It has long ceased to have any positive net benefit, either individually or societally, and anyone in public life who thinks otherwise is kidding themselves.
January 2, 2026 at 9:24 PM
I used to love Twitter, even if I had to really reign in my shitposting when I got elected. It used to be genuinely useful professionally too. It has long ceased to have any positive net benefit, either individually or societally, and anyone in public life who thinks otherwise is kidding themselves.
Reposted by David Klemperer
There is, to my mind, no justification for the continued use by the UK Government of X as a platform for official comms. There hasn't been for some time, in fact, but if the latest developments around AI-generated image abuse and CSAM don't change the policy I really don't know what will.
NEW: People are using Elon Musk's chatbot, Grok, to alter images to depict real women being sexually abused, humiliated, hurt, and even killed.
futurism.com/future-socie...
futurism.com/future-socie...
Grok Is Being Used to Depict Horrific Violence Against Real Women
People are asking Elon Musk's Grok chatbot to alter images to depict women being sexually abused, humiliated, and even killed.
futurism.com
January 2, 2026 at 9:18 PM
There is, to my mind, no justification for the continued use by the UK Government of X as a platform for official comms. There hasn't been for some time, in fact, but if the latest developments around AI-generated image abuse and CSAM don't change the policy I really don't know what will.
Reposted by David Klemperer
I've written about why there is a arguably a political incentive for UK ministers to try and ignore the case of Shamima Begum, but also reasons why this might not be possible forever.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
Ministers cannot go on ignoring the Shamima Begum case, for two important reasons
The fate of the woman who left the UK at 15 in search of Islamic State raises wider questions about citizenship
www.theguardian.com
January 2, 2026 at 6:34 PM
I've written about why there is a arguably a political incentive for UK ministers to try and ignore the case of Shamima Begum, but also reasons why this might not be possible forever.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
Reposted by David Klemperer
Now everyone is (rightly) all aerated about the nudity AI shit on X, can we please do something to stop the Pervert Glasses that will soon be in wide circulation?
January 2, 2026 at 6:03 PM
Now everyone is (rightly) all aerated about the nudity AI shit on X, can we please do something to stop the Pervert Glasses that will soon be in wide circulation?