Darian Meacham

Bruxellois. Philosopher. Europe, technology, politics, and complaining. Tweets personal. RT not (always) endorsement.

[Darian Meacham @PostEurope]

This is so deeply shameful. We have seen this race sink to levels of racism and hate mongering that should absolutely shock us. And yet, nothing shocks us anymore. Bannon's strategy has worked, flood the zone with shit till we're all inured to the smell.
https://t.co/DaaZu09Bmv

[Enzo Rossi @enzoreds]

The 🇫🇷 protesters are complaining to the manager. But the manager just does what the shareholders tell him to do. The rioters want to be seen, but identity & representation do nothing when distant moneymen call the shots. It’s sad how we’ve forgotten basic lessons of the… 1/2

[Alec Torelli | Poker & Decision Making @AlecTorelli]

I see the protests in France are trending.

Since I just spent 10 days there during the heart of them, I figured I'd chime in with what's actually going on.

The news and clickbait accounts on X will show you the outlier events: burning buildings, raging violence and everything that triggers you.

I was in the heart of Aix en Provence during the biggest protest day and filmed the center where it was happening. (See below)

This is right the University, across from the church, dead center of town.

The students are dancing, singing, kicking soccer balls and have comically barricaded the entrance doors to force the school to close.

I visited many cities in France during the protest period, and saw zero violence or malpractice of any kind.

More broadly, I spent more than a month this year in France across 3 trips and 10+ cities, including Paris, Bordeaux, Aix en Provence, Nice, Antibes, Biarritz, and others, and it's incredibly safe, charming, peaceful and beautiful.

Every city I visited is nicer than almost every American city, and there's zero comparison.

So much that it wouldn't even be insulting to France to try, because nobody who has spent significant time in both countries would take this comparison seriously.

I spoke with the students at length about their views. I also spoke with waiters, drivers, merchants, staff and whoever.

They were all civil, well articulated and genuinely wanted to see change.

We can disagree about their reasoning, logic or whatever, and it's true that France has fiscal problems, but to chalk up the France protests to raging extremist violence from "pick your favorite group to blame", is a laughable misrepresentation of what's actually going on.

If you exclusively watch the news and believe the top 1% extreme situations, you have likely been psyoped.

[Darian Meacham @PostEurope]

2. Students express a real anxiety about environmental destruction that members of older generation seem idiotically blind to. 3. AI is putting into question the entire enterprise of knowledge creation and transmission...not in the future but now!

[Darian Meacham @PostEurope]

Three very good points made there about the malaise of protesting students. 1. Many University students live in a condition of financial precarity, working one or two jobs to support themselves. 1/2
https://t.co/rOaGFFEQBw

[Agnes Callamard @AgnesCallamard]

France, Education, Thomas Piketty ecrit:

“des centaines de milliers de jeunes ont travaillé dur pour obtenir leur baccalauréat, mais que rien n’a été prévu pour les accueillir dans le supérieur. En particulier, le nombre de bacheliers technologiques et professionnels a fortement progressé, mais les places en IUT et BTS n’ont pas suivi, si bien que beaucoup se retrouvent affectés dans des filières universitaires surpeuplées et moins coûteuses, et souvent totalement inadaptées à leurs besoins et aspirations. Le gâchis humain et économique est gigantesque,…”

Pas d’argent pour l’Education?

“le pouvoir en place et ses soutiens expliquent que la France n’a pas les moyens d’investir davantage. Ils commettent une double erreur de raisonnement. La dette publique est certes passée de 20 % du PIB en 1970 à 120 % aujourd’hui. Mais dans le même temps, les patrimoines privés ont augmenté beaucoup plus fortement : ils sont passés de 300 % à 600 % du PIB, avec une concentration extrême au sein des plus grandes fortunes financières. Autrement dit, le patrimoine national de la France – somme du patrimoine privé et public, après déduction des dettes privées et publiques – n’a jamais été aussi élevé, non seulement en montant absolu, mais aussi en pourcentage du PIB (qui lui-même n’a jamais été aussi élevé).”

“Autrement dit, la France n’a jamais été aussi riche : le problème que nous avons à régler est uniquement une question de répartition…”

C’est pourquoi @Amnesty considere que les impots equitables constituent un enjeu de protection des droits humains. C’est pourquoi nous plaidons pour l’adoption d’une Convention sur la coopération internationale en matière fiscale.

https://t.co/CbqXXXVpd3

[Nicholas Kristof @NickKristof]

Israeli settlers are out of control, because the Israeli government allows them to be. And while attacks on diplomats or journalists command attention, as they should, this happens unnoticed to Palestinian farmers all the time.

[Darian Meacham @PostEurope]

These are pretty empty words unless you recognise that settler terror against Palestinians is done with the knowledge, cover and often support of the IDF. So you know precisely who is responsible and who could make it stop. @prevotmaxime

[Maxime PREVOT @prevotmaxime]

🇵🇸 I condemn in the strongest terms the attack by masked settlers in Taybeh, in the occupied West Bank, against Palestinians, our Consul General, French and Polish diplomats as well as catholic representatives. A French mayor was assaulted and a Belgian vehicle damaged. Our team is safe.

Palestinians face this violence every day. Settlers also target journalists reporting on it and diplomats. Harvesting olives, reporting the news or carrying out diplomatic duties should never put anyone at risk of attack.

As the occupying power, Israeli authorities must protect Palestinians, ensure the safety of diplomats and journalists, and bring those responsible to justice. Impunity for violent settlers must end.

Belgium will continue to press for EU sanctions against those responsible for this violence and those who support them.

This violence cannot be separated from Israel’s illegal settlement policy. Belgium condemns settlement expansion and attempts to forcibly displace Palestinians from their land. The occupation of the Palestinian territory must end.

@BelgiumMFA @BelgiumJRS

[Darian Meacham @PostEurope]

Alhamdulillah, I'm glad I have teenagers to explain these things to me. For the rest, @RTBF is here to help. #BismillahCestLesTenebres
"Bismillah, c'est les ténèbres" : pourquoi les lycéens en ont fait un slogan - RTBF Actus

https://t.co/0PrGMpUVh7

[Kenneth Roth @KenRoth]

"Gaza has exposed how Europe’s supposedly universal commitment to human rights is now conditional on whose suffering is recognized, whose resistance is considered legitimate and whose demands for justice are considered worthy of attention." https://t.co/cizy55Mf6J

[Darian Meacham @PostEurope]

"I am convinced that the question of Palestine has become a stress test for European democracy itself." I think it's clear that Europe's political elite have by and large failed this test (with some notable exceptions).
https://t.co/DBPFw1IGEI

[Darian Meacham @PostEurope]

Sally Rooney said Wednesday that her novels will no longer be sold in the United Kingdom because of her support for Palestine Action. Read that twice. https://t.co/XiUdP6c2EQ

[Darian Meacham @PostEurope]

Please listen to this interview. What Seydou Ba tells us is that at the heart of the student movement is a politics of time. The right to be bored, to enjoy the company of friends face to face without other aims than the pleasure of friendship, a bit of conviviality.

[Patrick Champagnac @PatChampagnac]

Il est l'un des visages de la contestation lycéenne, Seydou Ba était l'invité de Ccesoir sur France 5. Dans ces interventions très écoutées, il y en a une qui a surpris, c'est lorsqu'il a mis en avant la question du temps, du rapport au temps, au temps de vie d'un lycéen aujourd'hui, un temps compressé par des horaires imposés qui comprime sans cesse les esprits et les corps, un temps scolaire et de transport qui ne tient pas compte de la vie tout simplement. Cette question est aussi dit-il au cœur du mouvement lycéen.
#MouvementLyceen

[Patrick Champagnac @PatChampagnac]

Il est l'un des visages de la contestation lycéenne, Seydou Ba était l'invité de Ccesoir sur France 5. Dans ces interventions très écoutées, il y en a une qui a surpris, c'est lorsqu'il a mis en avant la question du temps, du rapport au temps, au temps de vie d'un lycéen aujourd'hui, un temps compressé par des horaires imposés qui comprime sans cesse les esprits et les corps, un temps scolaire et de transport qui ne tient pas compte de la vie tout simplement. Cette question est aussi dit-il au cœur du mouvement lycéen.
#MouvementLyceen

[Darian Meacham @PostEurope]

A Maastricht University student from Gaza has been slandered, libeled, threatened, forced into hiding. Cleared by the prosecutors office, he remaimed a target? Why? Because no one bothered to verify what he had actually said? That and more @RahmaBavelaar

https://t.co/JYGMcbd1Q6

[Darian Meacham @PostEurope]

The self-abasement of Europe is complete. I'm sure Rutte and VDL will call for more grovelling more obedience, but the kids seem to know better.

[Dominique de Villepin @Villepin]

Donald Trump a violé la souveraineté du Venezuela pour un accord pétrolier. Nous n’avons rien dit.
Donald Trump a exigé la souveraineté sur le Groenland, où l’on espère aussi du pétrole. En espérant que ça passe, nous n’avons rien dit.
Donald Trump a choisi de déclencher une guerre absurde avec l’Iran et les prix du pétrole ont bondi pour tout le monde. Nous n’avons rien dit.
Donald Trump a menacé d’interdire l’exportation de gazole américain vers la France, au risque de faire bondir les prix du gazole au-delà de 2,50 euros jusqu’à 3 euros. Nous n’avons rien dit.
Donald Trump a exigé que les pays du G7 vident leurs réserves stratégiques de gazole pour faire baisser les prix avant les élections des Midterms. Nous n’avons rien dit et nous avons obéi.
Donald Trump noue un pacte de fait avec Vladimir Poutine, pour s’approvisionner en gazole en Russie, au mépris des sanctions imposées par les Etats Unis et il exige un « nouveau président en Ukraine », songeant qu’une élection américaine vaut bien l’abandon de la sécurité européenne. Nous ne disons rien.

Quand l’Europe agira-t-elle pour s’immuniser aux sanctions américaines, s’affranchir de l’emprise des entreprises technologiques, mettre en branle l’Instrument Anti-Coercition ? Quand parlera-t-elle clairement et d’une voix ?
Car lorsqu’on écrira l’histoire de ces années folles, on ne se souviendra que d’une chose : l’Europe, elle, n’avait rien à dire.

Dominique de Villepin

© White House, 18 August 2025

[Joshua Landis @joshua_landis]

Iran’s Theory of Victory

By @vali_nasr & @nargesbajoghli

..."The vast majority [of Iranians we have interviewed over time] expressed deep distress and anger at their government after the massacres that took place in response to January’s mass protests.

But we found that political opinions have shifted drastically as the war has dragged on and as Trump has upped his annihilatory rhetoric. “We believed so much in the American promise,” Ali, a 45-year-old long-time dissident who has spent years in prison for his activism on social and political issues, told us. “Yet with this war and everything that Trump and his administration have said and done, it’s obvious the Americans sold us a false bill of goods. They want nothing but Iran’s total submission, and that’s not acceptable to us.”

Mahsa, a writer and artist in her 30s, relayed similar sentiments. “Everything we believed the [United States] stood for, freedom and respect and democracy, I now see as lies,” she said. “As angry as I’ve been at our state over the years, this is our homeland, and no outside country has the right to kill our leaders and drop bombs on our children and attempt to destroy us.”

Little wonder, then, that Khamenei’s July funeral procession drew millions of mourners, even though the country was in the midst of conflict. At the event, people handed out red flags, symbolizing their desire for bloody vengeance. Shortly after, Iran attacked commercial vessels crossing the Strait of Hormuz, unraveling the precarious cease-fire the country had struck with the United States three months earlier.

Many U.S. officials seem to think that stiff economic pressure will ultimately prompt a shift in opinion—that if they suffer enough, Iranians will decide to try overthrowing their government or that the Islamic Republic, fearing for its survival, will submit to American demands. But this is magical thinking. Iran has spent the past 15 years developing an economy specifically designed to withstand American economic warfare. Iranian officials, for instance, have forged strong relations with neighboring traders and made the country nearly self-sufficient when it comes to food. As a result, even though Iran’s economy is hurting and inflation is high, cities and towns have had no shortages of important goods or services to date. “It’s incredible how well-run everything has been inside of the country,” Hamid Reza, an engineer who regularly travels between Isfahan and Tehran for work, said. “Things are expensive, but there have been no shortages whatsoever across the country. Everything has been managed internally with a lot of care.”

"That is not to say that Iranians feel optimistic about their country. They are anxious about the future, and they yearn for a return to calm and economic relief. But they do not see the U.S.-Israeli war as liberating. Instead, they see it as gratuitous aggression, and the resulting nationalism has blurred the lines between political factions and diminished the likelihood of another political uprising. The war, then, has strengthened the Islamic Republic."...

https://t.co/PwcSxjts4E via @ForeignAffairs

[Fatemeh Shams @ShazzShams]

Mr. @SecRubio, I write this as an educator at one of your Ivy League schools, the University of Pennsylvania, and as someone who has spent years teaching Persian history and culture and their intersections with Greek and Western history and culture.

Your dangerously Eurocentric account of Perso-Greek history is not only distorted and misleading; it also ignores the most basic facts about centuries of cultural exchange between civilizations you frame as fundamentally opposed.

Greek civilization did not develop in isolation from its eastern neighbors, nor did what we now call Western civilization emerge independently of the intellectual and cultural worlds to its east. The Persians and Greeks were not simply enemies locked in an eternal civilizational struggle. They were also neighbors whose worlds intersected through diplomacy, trade, art, religion, literature, philosophy, science, and political thought. The Achaemenid Empire itself was a vast, multicultural world connecting the Mediterranean to Central Asia. Greek thinkers lived and traveled in the wider Persian world, while Greek knowledge, art, and political ideas circulated across the eastern Mediterranean and beyond. These encounters were complex, reciprocal, and often shaped by both conflict and cooperation.

Yes, there were imperial wars between Persians and Greeks, just as there were wars between other ancient empires. But reducing their history to military invasions while erasing centuries of cultural contact and exchange is not historical analysis. It is ideological mythmaking.

Had you engaged seriously with the histories of Persian and Greek philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, mythology, art, and literature, you might have recognized how inadequate and dangerous it is to reproduce the crude civilizational binaries popularized by the notoriously racist movie 300. Invoking this caricature of ancient history to mobilize support for contemporary military aggression is not an innocent historical error. It is a way of manufacturing an enemy by presenting an entire civilization as an existential threat.

History shows us where such rhetoric can lead. The Nazis exploited myths of national humiliation and betrayal after the First World War, scapegoating Jews to legitimize exclusion, persecution, and ultimately genocide. The historical circumstances are different, but the broader warning remains: the deliberate construction of civilizational enemies can help normalize dehumanization and mass violence.

When a senior US official selectively weaponizes a complex history he demonstrably misrepresents, he does more than spread misinformation. He helps advance a worldview in which war between civilizations appears inevitable and aggression becomes defensible. That is how dangerous political narratives are built, and how human catastrophes are made easier to justify.

Your speech is historically uninformed, aggressively Eurocentric, and deeply troubling. At a moment when the consequences of military escalation are measured in human lives, we need historical literacy and intellectual responsibility, not racist caricatures dressed up as civilizational history.

[Darian Meacham @PostEurope]

This is so cringe and shameless that I maintain my theory that there is a saboteur in @vonderleyen Social Media team! https://t.co/XAqQy8zTKF

[Ursula von der Leyen @vonderleyen]

Congratulations to lawyer and human rights activist Navanethem “Navi” Pillay on her Nobel Peace Prize.

Few have devoted their lives to justice, peace and human dignity like she did.

From the violence of apartheid in South Africa to the horrors of the Rwandan genocide, she has confronted some of humanity’s darkest chapters.

She has looked the brutality of injustice in the eye and never looked away.

She is the defender of the persecuted, the vulnerable, the voiceless and the excluded.

Of the rule of law over the right of might.

In a world that needs justice more than ever, her courage and moral clarity are a precious compass.

[Darian Meacham @PostEurope]

One day everyone will have always been against this. @nytimes #Nobel
https://t.co/XAqQy8zTKF