It might be hard to remember the old days, before every scandal and snafu was shoved down our throats by the tiny newsfeed machines in our pocked and purses, but there used ot be a time when we didn't have to think about politics every day. Those were peaceful times for sure, but were they better? Is being ignorant truly the wisest way to be?
Take a look at these political scandals from all over the world and decide for yourself if living in the dark is the best.
Reddit user, u/IanKean32, wanted to hear about:
What was the biggest political scandal in your country?
Public Funds Are Not Your Personal Piggy Bank
homer simpson money GIF
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After the sub-prime crisis in the 00's, portuguese prime minister Socrates was charged with white collar crimes for hustling public funds to finance void contracts in public construction and for changing laws to benefit certain friends and party members.
He got jailed and is currently in house arrest. High profile people of our political enviroment still visit him on a regular basis. Ever since than, no majority was achieved during votings and the country has since been ruled by party coalitions.
At Least It's Got A Cute Codename?
O nothing too big, just a simple investigation of a Car Wash being used to launder money that snowballed into the uncovering of a major political plot that stole/laundered something between 2 and 13 BILLION DOLLARS.
The investigation was adequatly named as Operation Car Wash
Summertime Sadness
In Puerto Rico. Our governor had a chat with other government officials and some of his close friends where they discussed corruption plans, they admitted to manipulating the press, they made fun of the victims of hurricane Maria, they made sexist and homophobic comments. And it all got leaked to the public. Everyone was pissed and we formed the biggest protest in our island's history, which forced him to resign.
That was a fun summer.
Just, No Government?
My country has been without a governement for more then a year... twice.
The first time my country has been without a government was for 541 days. A Guinness World Record !
At the moment we are without a governement for the second time. Our elections were on the 26th of May 2019. So at the moment we are at 479 days without a governement.
Here's to hoping we achieve a world record for a second time !
I live in Belgium btw.
And how has it affected people's lives?
Belgium
Belgium has several devolved governments (like state and federal government). Even without a federal government, there is still a state government in place to execute on state policies.
Furthermore, we don't have no government, the government is in "current affairs" e.g. it can only deal with urgent stuff and on-going business. A government shut-down like in the USA is impossible in Belgium.
It'd Be A Shame If Something Were To Happen...
season 6 legs GIF
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Slovakia. A journalist got killed 2 years ago in February.
Mafia was involved and it's still not resolved.
In my country (Ukraine), every month there are attacks on journalists/activists which will never be investigated.
Serious murders usually take place once in 1-2 years.
How Dare You? Apologize For These Deaths I'm Responsible For.
South Africa. Our health minister left coronavirus patients to die in tents and when he got questioned he demanded an apology from the broadcaster
Add to this the rife corruption and how R500 billion has been stolen... no one is accountable, no one ends up in jail, they get put on suspension for years on full pay while people starve... let's not get started on the rapes and murders every day. The list goes on and on and on
Definitely Not A Bond Villain. Nope. Not. At. All.
A previous Taoiseach of ours (Prime Minister Charlie Haughey in the 1970's/80's) illegally bought an island off the coast of Kerry & built a mansion there, lording over it like a Bond Supervillain.
OMG, where did it happen?
He bought one of the Blasket Islands off the Irish coast, County Kerry, to use as his personal pleasure island.
Here's an article from the Independent, which has most of the facts outside of wikipedia, be warned, though. The 'Ind' is a noted Fianna Fail supporting rag of toolishness, complicit in their crimes, but it's a good read nonetheless.
I'm not heavily critical of Haughey, he's not in power now. But his outright chancery and crookedness set the foundations for years of crookedness in Irish politics, which became like a political mafia.
That's So Many...
Couple years ago in Chile journalist found that 1113 kids living under the tutelage of the state were already dead. Their deaths were not reported, nor investigated. When the news got out the minister of Justice, Javiera Blanco, who was in charge of the SENAME (National service for minors) was then destituted only to be given a life time job in the State Defence Council.
This was never talked about again.
Montenegro
Our president tried to create a law that would require all churches without paperwork to get owned by the government. Of course many of the churches in Montenegro were created way before paperwork was needed when Serbia and Montenegro were the same country. So basically the government would be getting tons of land that isn't even Montenegrin so massive protests followed.
Keep in mind this was all during the Covid lockdown so massive protests just led to more people getting infected. Also this caused tons of cultural hate between Montenegrins and Serbs when in retrospect we're all the same slavic people. Idk how to explain it very well since I myself do not understand the situation the best.
Poland
Poland. Technically there is no year without scandal.
One of the former Prime Ministers was accused for being Russian spy in 90s.
Leaked recordings which ended governments.
Minister of Health bought respirators for Covid patients... from arms dealer.
Entire scandal with elections.
Now the parliament votes for bill which allows politicians avoid punishment for anything if they prove they acted against Covid.
Oh McDonald
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The Prime Minister and his associates in the Conservative Party took $360,000 in bribes to award one company the right to build the railway to the west coast.
The scandal was uncovered and Sir John A. McDonald resigned as Prime Minister in disgrace in 1873. McDonald was elected PM again in 1878 and continued serving in that position until 1891.
Pick one....
Pakistani here. Not sure reddit has enough space to cover our political scandals. We've got PM (sitting and ex) assassinations, military takeovers, PM tried and hanged for murder, president plane crash, mysterious murders of PM's brothers, entire thing with war on terror, PM sacked for refusing to write a letter, PM sacked due to Panama papers money laundering charges. Basically no PM has ever served a full term. And countless other corruption, murder, horse trading and stuff scandals. So pick one and I'll give you the details.
Too many to name....
Malaysian here, where do I even begin?
Haha I'm a Malaysian too! we just had one some time ago, about a durian plantation. to all non-Malaysians reading, here's a list of some of the scandals that have happened here in this year alone:
MP caught vaping in parliament.
Minister practically shaming a high schooler.
Company wanting to force durian farmers off their land.
And those are just the ones that i could list off the top of my head. there are more, I assure you.
Hail Queen....
sarah burke queen GIF
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The Queen fired the Prime Minister (who was democratically elected) - Australia, 1975.
Also, in 1967, another Prime Minister went swimming at a beach, and was never seen again.
"death squads"
Venezuela. I don't think the reddit servers have the memory space for a reply that does this justice.
But still, here's a taste from Reuters (July 2019):
"GENEVA — Venezuelan special forces have carried out thousands of extrajudicial killings in the past 18 months and then manipulated crime scenes to make it look as if the victims had been resisting arrest, the United Nations said on Thursday in a report detailing wide-ranging government abuses targeting political opponents.
Special Action Forces described by witnesses as "death squads" killed 5,287 people in 2018 and another 1,569 by mid-May of this year, in what are officially termed by the Venezuelan government "Operations for the Liberation of the People," United Nations investigators reported."
Onions got you
paparazzi GIF
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Australian here. Ignoring the constant leadership spills, most recent one I remember was when a news channel ran a doco exposing the One Nation party for trying to cozy up to the NRA (US) and probably some other stuff I don't remember, after apparently running a sting operation for the previous three years. A little while later a candidate for the party resigned because footage of him in a strip club was aired.
EDIT: The leader of the One nation party also pulled a stunt where she walked into the senate dressed in a burqa to try get it banned, and recently has been feuding with Australia Post over stubby holders.
Then there was the one time a minister called the leader of the opposition a witch in the middle of parliament.
And then there's the prime minister that just straight up disappeared into the ocean one day. I could go on.
Thieves....
1MDB, I'm from Malaysia and God has this scandal destroyed my country. If u guys don't know about this, basically Malaysia's ex prime minister (Najib Razak) created a company called 1mdb and was aimed at generating extra revenue to fund development around my country. He ended up funneling all the money to his bank account. He was convicted recently but some idiots still believe in his innocence.
Bare in mind this is a very short summary of the scandal.
Bombed Out
Luxembourg.
De Bommeleer. Years ago there were a series of attacks with bombs. Years and years of investigations have brought up nothing, except changing stories and a lot of butt covering. And rumors it was one of the royal family. Allegedly.
I've found also some german articles.
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I once had a guy ask me if I was willing to follow him into the woods, depending on the price of the meal.
Yeah. No steak is worth that.
Plans After...
Wait What Wtf GIF by Saturday Night LiveGiphy"Thanks for the ride but I have a date with someone else, I figured you wouldn't drive me if you knew I was going on a date with someone else and I really needed a ride."
"Online dating, talked to her for a while, finally got the courage to ask her out and then she said that as we got there."
iareyours
Mirror Image
“'You look just like my wife!'”
catalinachild
"I did have a guy tell me I reminded him of his son. I don’t believe English has a word to adequately describe my feelings at that time."
UnicornMagicRainbow
"That would definitely do it."
chaotica78
Third Wheel
"'Hope you don't mind if my mother joins us.'"
ofsquire
"Actually had a girl do this on a first date because she had anxiety issues. Honestly wasn’t bad except that 90% of the time she was silent and her mom talked over her."
"I didn’t mind that much and wouldn’t have minded trying again when she was more comfortable except that she was let go at the company we worked at and she deleted her social media profiles and she never responded on her number. Ah well."
Seightx
Liar
Lying Simon Rex GIF by Simon Rex / Dirt NastyGiphy"'Hey bro aren't you gay? I made out with you last night.'"
"Random dude I've never seen before in front of my (f) date."
JHXC16
Was he lying though?
Filter Issues
"'You looked better on Tinder.'"
waqasnaseem07
"Isn’t it basic knowledge that everybody looks slightly worse than the worst picture you can find?"
no_user_ID_found
The Past
"'My ex used to do that too.'"
xxIvyOF
"Yep. I’ve definitely had two otherwise-decent-guy date-situations sour because the ex-comparisons just would not stop flowing. No woman wants to be seen as interchangeable—I’m not here to perfectly fill that ex-sized hole in your life. Focusing on the present moment and a future we could build together is a courtesy we need to grant each other in earliest dates of dating."
LarkScarlett
Powerless
"'I'm an alpha, you cant handle my top energy.'"
Midnightgay28
"I actually left a dude in the middle of dinner, in part, for saying this. I ordered an Uber under the table while pretending to listen to him. Went to the bathroom, and never came back. That was when I was young. Now I’d just say, 'How about we enjoy this meal in silence, before we head our separate ways.'”
UnicornMagicRainbow
Mommy...
"'Mother says I should be back by 9.'"
"Saying 'mother says' just feels weird."
bunnyrut
"That gives me Norman Bates vibes."
Werewolf_lover20
"'Mother says alligators are aggressive because they have an overabundance of teeth, but lack a toothbrush.'"
sodaextraiceplease
Obvs...
just kidding jk GIFGiphy"'If you were going to be murdered, what method would you prefer. Purely hypothetical. Obvs.'"
Specific_Tap7296
If it looks anything like a Dateline NBC episode... RUN!
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Or so you would think.
Do people still knit to pass the time? Are people actively collecting stamps?
It depends on who's asking.
Curious to hear about hobby trends, Redditor gizehgizeh asked:
"What are once popular hobbies that are slowly dying these days?"
Before we've become conditioned to living on our phones, these activities used to keep people occupied.
Before Texting, There Was This
"Letter writing."
– littlekingMT
Literal And Tangible Joy
"Well the internet killed pen pals for sure. I do remember I had a Japanese girl for a penpal maybe back in 2007 or so. I honestly don't remember how it started, pretty sure some website, but that was a fun experience. But now I can just straight up talk to foreign people real time, lol. But yea getting a physical letter that someone took the time to write and mail still is hard to beat feelings wise."
– skyburnsred
Model Trains
"When I was growing up, every town had a model train store in it. Now I have one in region and everything else has to be bought online."
– Hairy_Effective1172
Pretty Rocks
"Don’t see anyone playing marbles anymore, I had an awesome collection in school."
– sheeple85
"I had some marbles as a kid in the 90s. My grandma got them for me and I had no idea what I was supposed to do with them. I always imagined them as a thing kids in the 40s played with."
– Ryoukugan
People Were Moving Canvases
"Paintball has been dying a slow death since 2006. Sad, really."
– hobo_recycler
Before the general population began hating clutter, collecting was once a "thing."
Precious Coins
"Coin collecting... I'm a silver/gold nut and I'm always hunting for precious metal coins. whenever I go into a shop they get all excited because 'no one under 70 collects coins anymore.'"
– ThatFishySmell99
Post It
"Stamp collecting."
– spooky_scully_mulder
"Collecting in general, really. Of course there are still prominent collectors but it's slipped more into enthusiast and niche territory than being a popular hobby that you might expect anyone to have."
– iuytrefdgh436yujhe2
What A Gem
"Rockhounding was immensely popular back in the 1950's and 1960's. Personally, I think it's a fascinating and fulfilling hobby, but when I go to a meeting at a rock and gem club, I'm usually the youngest one in the room by several decades."
– filthy_lucre
People once enjoyed making things.
Admiring The View
"Stained glass. I learned how to make it from my old man, and my junior high art class teacher also taught it. Very few artisans are still around."
– brobeanzhitler
Metal Vocation
"Black smithing."
– kenworth117
"I bought a forge to try. It’s insanely hard work, and crazy expensive. I still haven’t finished a piece."
– DSentvalue
Scrapbooking
"Yeah. I'm watching the arts and crafts stores around me completely uninstalling their racks for specialty paper. Now the only thing they have is mega packs of repeating colors/images. To boot all the inclusions like papercraft/die-cut things, washi tape, scissors, stickers, etc have gotten so expensive I would rather go buy $5 bags at value village to get an assortment of things versus buying anything new. I really, really miss yard sales for the same reasons."
– Phantasmai
I envy people who have jobs that are basically their hobbies.
Not everyone gets paid doing what they actually enjoy and have a profound level of passion for.
If they do, kudos to them.
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While the process could take time, some people make our jobs much easier after spotting instant red flags.
Curious to hear about our general radar of people, Redditor xxFluffie asked:
"What is something that makes you immediately dislike someone?"
Some people just think they are absolutely hilarious and never realize they're the only ones laughing.
Next In Line
"They laugh about having screwed someone else over. If you think you're not next, well, you'll learn."
– whiznat
Unfunny
"when you mention you don't like a thing and they immediately do that thing 'as a joke.'"
– wayfinder
Playing Devil's Advocate
"Kneejerk contrarians. People who, no matter what you say you like or believe, just have to dismiss it and say they like or think the opposite."
– BubbhaJebus
People who put others down get slammed here.
Bad Parents
"When they treat their kids sh**ty in public. I don't mean handling tantrums, setting a rule, having to hurry to the train etc. I mean perfectly normal-behaved kids getting in trouble for trailing along peacefully, looking at things, asking questions etc."
"If you don't like tiny humans who learn the world, why have them??"
– raxeira-etterath
Public Humiliation
"Treating people sh**ty in public for laughs. Like being rude to service workers because they think it’s funny. Big red flag."
– Ok_Personality_1080
Simply Uncalled For
"Someone who is a d*ck to other people or animals for no reason."
– xebt1000
Those with ulterior motives rubs people the wrong way.
The Scheme
"If they try to get me to join their MLM scheme."
– spazmcgee1
Hard Sell
"A guy I used to be friends with in high school reached out a couple of years after graduating about a business opportunity he wanted my opinion on because 'you've always been smart', then he set up a Skype call and brought some other dude into the call and they started trying to sell me on what was clearly an MLM scheme. The guy went from friend to 'I'm never talking to you again' in a matter of 10 minutes."
– Mental-Afternoon-164
A Timeline
"Good gawd, this! I've had more than one exposure to this abject bullsh**tery..."
- Back in the late 80's/early 90's I was invited to a meeting of literally the OG "Pyramid" where you're recruited to pay in, and then you go out and recruit others to pay in, and the last in line got f'kall.
- In 1995 I had a coworker try to reel me into Amway, which was a hard no.
- In 2000 it was Pampered Chef, though to be fair they did have useful products.
- In 2009 a coworker tried to get me into some stupid video calling service that was obviously stupid from the description. He even got offended when I called bullsh*t.
– Mystical_Cat
Too much ego is a no-go.
I Can Do Better
"Being a b*tch just to stroke their own ego."
"We get it, you can lift 5lbs more than the 12 year old, you don't have to rub it in their face just because you're slightly better"
– Livia_Pivia
Can't Top This
"Oh, you did <story that's been told>? That's nothing! I did <implausible story>.
"I get the whole empathy through relating common experience, and I'm someone who does that (which drives some people crazy on its own), but there's a big different by empathising through common experience, and one-upmanship."
– Tisarwat
Lacking Conversational Etiquette
"Starting to talk over me when I was already talking."
"Stop it you rude, arrogant jerk."
– R33Gtst
If one or more of these traits sound familiar to you, you're not alone.
We don't have time for braggadocios, pyramid-schemers, and conversation interrupters.
And that's just for starters.
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Pleading to deaf ears...
"My dad told me he had hearing loss and couldn't hear me if I whined because my pitch would get too high."
"Would completely ignore me until I asked him questions in a normal voice."
"Trusted him implicitly until I was 12 and he yelled at my younger brother for whining."- Tyrion_Stark.
Get it while you can.
"That they took everything off the shelves when the supermarket closed."- fgyfddg.
venezuela empty shelves GIF by euronewsGiphySilly superstitions.
"My grandfather used to tell me that if I played with the fire, I'd pee the bed."
"I believed him for a while, until I got older."
"I think he was just trying to protect me from the fire."- teddypa1981.
"Rain, rain go away..."
"That if it was raining where I was, it was raining everywhere in the world."- morningshartz.
Age is just a number.
"My parents used to seem really old to me, so much so I believed they grew up like cave people as children, wearing giant leaves for clothes and what not."- Laleena_.
Hammer Floor GIF by VPROGiphySo that's how they're made!
"That smokestacks from the power plant created clouds."- Scaniarix.
An instant cure.
"The sun gives you sunburns, therefore, moonlight should heal them."- velocipeter.
Better safe than sorry.
"Don't drink and drive meant all drinks."
"My dad was super confused when I told him he wasn't allowed to have any soda until we got home."- hulagirlslovetoparty.
Don't believe everything you see on TV.
"There was an episode of Mickey Mouse where Mickey couldn’t reach something at first, so he tried again and somehow his arm was long enough to reach it."
"As a small kid I believed that if I couldn’t reach something, I should just try reaching for it again and my arm would then somehow be long enough to reach it."- That-Dutch-Person.
love him one piece GIFGiphyThe miracle of childbirth.
"That babies are pooped out."
"When I was like 7 I was listening to my aunt as she explained that childbirth was pretty intense and painful for her, and I was all solemnly like, 'yeah, sometimes just my poops are painful, I don’t think I could get a baby out' and she went 'um, WHAT?' and her reaction made me realize real quick that I had f*cked up somewhere and I tried to change the subject while my mind was just reeling lol."- thesoundingfurrows.
Oh to be a child again.
And to believe literally everything you're told.
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