Thursday, June 09, 2005

Orcinus on the classic nature of fascism/racism: "nothing makes me angrier than seeing working-class people suffer, as they seem to do in places like Idaho, where the right has been in control for decades now. The most disturbing feature of this is the way it is self-inflicted; conservatives wrap themselves in these people's 'values' in a way that convinces them they're operating on behalf of their best interests, when policy after policy demonstrates exactly the opposite.

"To me, the real slap in the face is seeing the good will of working-class people being used, manipulated cynically for alterior purposes: for profit, for political gain, for spreading divisiveness and ill will. Xenophobia (racial, religious, and otherwise) has been fanned for generations to make scapegoats to cover the real root of the problems that plague the working class -- namely, economics and class.

"Working-class whites are in this fight not against other races, but with working-class blacks and Asians and Latinos. Jews, Muslims, and gay people aren't their enemies. Their real enemies are the snakes who come hissing lies into their ears to make them blame their black and Jewish and gay neighbors for what's wrong with the world. I've seen the havoc these snakes can wreak among families and communities, and it can be devastating.

"The right of the past two decades, as a clear tool of the wealthy class, has been about widening those divisions, in a kind of divide-and-conquer strategy that, sadly, has succeeded too well. And now the real extremists of the right are pouncing, eager to take the reins as so-called 'mainstream conservatives' relinquish them.

"We're being warned that immigration is going to be Republicans' big re-election issue in 2006, which means we're going to be seeing a lot more of this. A lot more Nazis coming out of the woodwork, emboldened by the realization of their longtime hopes and dreams. They see the political momentum heading their way -- and so far, they may be right."

Orcinus' racist commenter 'Border Ruffian' in comments quotes Kunstler and the coming chaos of peak oil. This is the second occasion I have seen racists clearly positioning themselves to exploit the energy crisis. These people are almost ahead of the Greens on this issue, not to mention the mainstream media and the major parties. Scum like Howard and the Liberal brownshirts will have to be dealt with first, and firmly, before knuckling down to a committed fight in favour of tolerance and multiculturalism as we move to a sustainable society based on renewable energy.

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