The coming global waves of hates ... and canaries in the mine (~930 words; 3 - 5 min. read)

There are a few articles I have read recently that have triggered some concerns.

One article was about the global spread of right-wing (fascist) religious extremism - neochristian extremism, specifically. This is not the first such warning - I read this one, for instance, in the first decade of this century. (see also here, here, here, here, and this warning.)

We’re now, finally, listening more to those voices in the wilderness who have been crying out that fascism is coming (which I personally consider an near-inevitable outcome of neoliberalism), and the warnings now specifically include the risks to democracy. 

There is an issue, however, that isn’t, in my opinion, being adequately addressed in this debate: 

Why are people choosing self-destructive options such as authoritarian politics?

Most of the analyses I’ve read on this (excepting the link above) have been focused on aspects such as media manipulation, uncertainty/fear, the character aspects in the links in the second paragraph of this post, and so on. 

Fear of the difficulty of personal survival is definitely an issue - and the people who identified as being at risk of job loss in the USA as a result of globalisation (a group of white male, physically-skilled workers) are the ones who have directly attacked globalisation (which has lifted MANY more people out of poverty than it has thrown into that terrible condition) by electing now-former POTUS45. 

Looking at high level numbers is fine, but some economists seem to me to be like generals on the Western Front of World War (part) One - losses of cannon fodder (whether military or economic) are acceptable if the general’s/economist’s goals are advanced towards. It is very much an either/or extremist mentality that is the opposite of the adaptability and nuance that the human species has used to survive and thrive (albeit it in a way and to an extent that we have now put our survival, and that of much of life on the plant, at risk). 

(There  are  exceptions to the above generalisation.)

A better way of viewing these “small”, seemingly “insignificant” outliers from the Goals-Of-The-“Great” is that perhaps they are the canaries in the mine, warning of an imminent disaster?

And that brings me to the second set of concerning articles - those describing the global spread of transphobic violence. 

Transphobic violence, including murders, is, sadly, not new - that is one of the reasons we have the Transgender  Day of Remembrance, after all. 

Personally, someone I knew in the 90s was saved from being knifed to death by a transphobic neighbour by the last second arrival of police. 

But the tools of the Internet have made this continuing problem worse, with one site-hosting service finally blocking a site only AFTER a trans activist had been forced to flee to another nation. 

There is evidence that people who have one form of bigotry will have another, which brings two points to mind. 

The first is Martin  Niemöller’s famous and very much currently applicable poem: 

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. 

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. 

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

The second is: 

Transphobia is not solely a problem for trans and gender diverse (TGD) people.

The digitally-tooled-up, extremely-ready-to-murder version possibly hasn’t reached our shores yet (but see my preceding comments), but it, along with the other versions of it - the fascist, misogynistic, white supremacist, denialist conspiracy fantasist versions, may do so, and may find fertile soil amongst  those who have the weakness of character to have, or be inclined towards, such wrong views. 

What then?

In my home state, we had a bit of a warning call with neo-nazis having weekend  “events” in central/western parts of the state. Now, we have laws banning hate symbols - which were introduced along with training on the religious significance of one such symbol to Hindus, and we’ve had the release of a Parliamentary Committee’s report into far right extremism. 

Nationally, a neo-nazi group was listed as a terrorist organisation - which, in my opinion, was both a correct designation and the right thing to do.

But is that enough? 

We've had forms of de-radicalisation for the last couple of decades or so, but they seem, to me, to be narrowly focused on one or a few forms of extremism. In my opinion, we need to stop playing whack-a-mole based on the latest form of hate (or fear - I’ll stick to using “hate”, as I consider it more apt), and cut the problem off at its source by stopping children being taught to hate/fear.

The forms of hate we’re seeing are NOT natural - they’re happening because humans who have been taught to hate mistakenly think their character warps are natural, and that they therefore “should” pass that evil on to their offspring, without realising it is evil. 

Yes, we need to address current and likely actions by such extremists through laws, education/de-radicalisation, security measures and the like, but, in my opinion, we also need to teach character to our children - by which I mean teach them inclusion & diversity (aka respect - the Universal  Declaration of Human  Rights is a good benchmark on this, I would suggest ... this is a good example), critical thinking, ethics, and things like how not to be socially conditioned into being an economic cog/sock puppet. 

And in addressing the inclusion & diversity aspect of that, we need to be mindful that bigotry towards any minority is a canary warning of a risk to our society’s cohesion and wellbeing, and the values such is predicated on.

I’ll end with a few links I consider worth reading:

• “Why bigotry is a public health problem”, from “The Conversation”; 
• Cure Violence; 
• “What is bigotry? How fear becomes hatred -and bigotry”, from Psychology Today; 
• “We all have a role in tackling bigotry”, an editorial from The Age; 
• “What leaders must do to battle bigotry”, from “Greater Good Magazine”, published by The Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley; 
• “Bigotry is not a matter of opinion”, published on Medium; and 
• “The word ‘bigot’ is back. Here’s why it’s so powerful”.