Tribalism on the Trail: The Politics of Hate in the US and EU

                Tribalism, in all its modern forms, is a societal disease.  Whether it is the unscientific belief of the genetic supremacy of one race over another, the willingness to kill and enslave others in the name of your deity or what side of imaginary lines drawn on a map is the sole determinate of what kind of person you are and the quality of life you will receive.  The bearers of the message of intolerance and bigotry find their home from the right.  Here in the United States, the competition for GOP candidate seems to be one of who can veil their bigotry the thinnest.  Over in Europe far right “Eurosceptic” parties are on the rise, trying to ensure that everyone gets in their daily two minutes hate against the foreigner. 

     Real-estate mogul and professional moron Donald Trump has opened the cellar door and allowed the hate mongers a seat at the table.  The reality television star catapulted himself to popularity by saying gross and unfounded demagoguery against our Hispanic brothers and sisters.  Mr. Trump conjured a conspiracy theory of Mexicans sending only their rapists and criminals to America, or something to that affect.  Much like Mr. Trump’s other positions; it is hard to pin down the specifics.  This is Trump’s grand strategy, he appeals to the basest emotions of the GOP base.  His, “telling it like it is,” amounts to, “saying racist things to get racists to vote for him.”  So it should not be left in doubt, immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than native born Americans, according to a study by the American Immigration Council which can be found here: http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/special-reports/criminalization-immigration-united-states

Recently, brain surgeon Ben Carson attempted to gain the all too important GOP hate vote.  Not wanting to be outdone by Trump in attacking the vulnerable, Dr. Carson attacked the GOP’s other favorite punching bag, Muslims.  Dr. Carson is quoted as saying that a Muslim should not be President because the Islamic faith is irreconcilable with the Constitution.  In fact, Dr. Carson’s bigotry disagrees with the Constitution, specifically the first part of the First Amendment.  Asking if a Muslim would make a good President is an incredibly stupid question, because, to point out the obvious, they are not all the same people.  Muslims, just like any other religion, have different people who believe different things, politics included.  Further, Dr. Carson conjuring up the dread specter of Sharia Law coming to America, which is at exactly zero percent chance of happening, further shows his hopping on the GOP hate train.

Now a shift towards the Atlantic to see how Europe’s xenophobic right is changing the face of European politics.  Far right Eurosceptic parties have been making electoral gains in both the European Parliament and their own nations’ respective legislative bodies.  Though called “Eurosceptic” their identifying trait is hardly being critical towards Europe.  Rather, they are far right populist parties, built on distrust of immigrants, specifically Muslim and North African ones.  Their attacks against immigrants range from the cloak and dagger, “immigrants taking advantage of government welfare by having so many kids,” to outright hate speech.  PEGIDA, from the German acronym meaning Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West, organize rallies that champion their nativist beliefs and demonize Muslim immigrants. As if to not even attempt to avoid the obvious comparison, a photo of their former leader sporting a Hitler mustache and hair cut emerged, causing his resignation.

During the 2014 European Parliament election, the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy group, headed by the leader of the UK’s “Eurosceptic” party the UK Independence Party Nigel Farage, won an additional 16 seats.  Currently, the EFDD has 45 seats in the 751-seat body.   The French National Front Party, headed by the heir to the nativist and xenophobic Le Pen family Marine Le Pen, won 24 of France’s 74 seats during the 2014 European election, a landmark for parties of her ilk.     

Free travel between member states serves as one of the European Union’s greatest promises.  However, xenophobic reactions to recent mass refuges from war torn Syria challenges this promise, with Right Wing Europeans calling for its suspension and heightened border security.  The recent shift towards the right in Europe has particularly changed Hungary’s stance toward immigration.  Hungary is constructing barbed wire fences along portions of their Serbian border and turning back refugees heading to the EU.  On September 1, Hungary shut down its largest train station to prevent immigrants from going to Germany.  The caucus leader of Hungary’s Fidesz Party, the current ruling party, warned of the immigrants seeking to establish an Islamic Caliphate in Europe, despite the fact many are fleeing from one in Syria along with brutal dictator Bashar Al-Assad.  Due to the high number of immigrants entering Europe, Germany has instituted checkpoints along its borders.  Germany, who has agreed to take in 800,000 refugees, has called for other EU members to take in more, but few are heeding the call.

Both cases of nativism boil down to the demonization of the weak by the powerful.  Mr. Trump and Dr. Carsons’ attacks on Hispanics and Muslims only callously degrade these already vulnerable groups of people for pure political gain.  Instead of pandering to hate we should drive it out from our culture.  Undocumented immigrants have to live in constant fear on the fringes of our society.  We fault them for seeking better lives for themselves and their children, their native lands ravaged by Western controlled transnational corporations that wreak labor laws and drain the country’s wealth.  Europeans are allowing fear to empower hate mongers to turn back those fleeing from the greatest humanitarian crisis of the 21^st Century.  They further let the bright promise of a borderless Europe be compromised to keep out the downtrodden.  Let’s make the 21^st Century be defined by human compassion and human solidarity, not hate.