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Louis Staples
Feb 28, 2019
YouTube / Stephen Fry
When calm thinking and rational analysis are in short supply, Stephen Fry is normally a safe place to turn.
After Fry posted two myth-busting Brexit videos last year, he’s back to set the record straight on the common misconceptions surrounding "nationalism" and "globalism".
At the start of the video, he poses a question:
Are nationalists just racists and fascists? Are globalists all elitist corporate sell-outs?
He then explains that voting numbers for "nationalist parties" are at their highest level since World War 2.
Fry explains that, according to polls, 70 per cent of those who identify as English (rather than British) voted to leave the EU in 2016. Worryingly, of those who define as English rather than British, 28 per cent showed overt racism, believing that some races are born cleverer or more hard working than others.
Fry says that, for decades, the top one per cent of earners in the US and UK have grown richer, leaving the bottom 50 per cent behind.
He then poses another question:
Is Trump truly a nationalist?
Fry ponders whether Trump can truly claim to be working in America's interests first when he sided with Russia over his own intelligence agencies such as the FBI.
On top of this, a recent study found that 47 per cent of US jobs are at risk of automation over the next two decades. Trump has shown little signs of addressing this, despite the fact that it is currently the number one cause of job losses in America. Trump is also sceptical of climate change, which is expected to push 100m people into poverty in the next 2 decades. So who is he really looking out for?
Next, Fry takes on Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric, explaining that half of America’s billion-dollar startups, such as car maker Tesla and Uber, were founded by immigrants. As immigrants struggle for a better life, Fry says that they make life better for everyone.
Referencing the UK's diminishing status on the world stage, Fry says that overcoming these challenges requires a truly global approach, saying:
If Brexit passes without a public vote, it will be Britain’s bungled hour.
Watch the full video here:
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