We are to believe that this swine flu will kill us all. We are to believe that migrant workers will take our jobs. We are to believe that a mosque will become a terrorist recruitment centre. We are to believe that we, people who earn money and create added value should pay for irresponsible behaviour of those who lived off the interest and other people’s money, otherwise we will all perish. In short, we are to believe and to be afraid.
As some of you know, right-wing and neo-Nazi groups scheduled an anti-mosque demonstration which was to take place on Monday, 27 April. The date was carefully chosen as they wanted to depict Muslims as the new occupators. As a reaction, a number of centre-to-left wing organisation organised a counter-rally, which aimed to confront the rise of neo-Nazism in Slovenia. Pengovsky was there in his professional capacity and had a look around.
This was not your usual anti-globalisation rally. People from around the world came to protest the fact that Fascism is again becoming a viable option, even though Europe (and especially this part of the world) took the full brunt of this silly little ideology which somehow seemed appealing to a disillusioned people. However, according to dr. Rastko Močnik, Fascism today is not the same as in 1930s. He said that what we are witnessing today is actually post-Fascism (a term coined by Tonči Kuzmanić), which on the surface dithced is romantic, Hitleresque ideas of racial superiority and seems to accept the concept of human rights. On the operational level, however, it still resorts to the same ideas and principles than it did eighty years ago.
In the end neo-Nazis didn’t even stage a rally. Offically it was rescheduled “until further notice” due to the fact that they did not get a permit. According to my information, however, they didn’t even apply for it, which shows that they are a bunch of big-mouthed inept bozos. Pengovsky already warned against stupid people in large groups. On Monday Aleš Gulič, former MP echoed that, saying that “in 1920’s no one took those clowns seriously and as a result we had to start from scratch in 1945”
However, the rise of Fascism today is connected to one other phenomenon. The Culture of Fear.
Did you notice that all of the sudden economic crisis is no longer top issue? Turn to any news channel and you’ll see a 24/7 live reporting on swine flu. The fact that so far it killed less people than your average flu does every year is not important. What is important is what it could do. The fact that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction was not important. What was important was that it could have had them. It is also very important that certain corporations make a lot of money in such cases.
Fear keeps people docile and looking for leadership. Fear makes people forget that their governments are accountable to them (and not the other way around). Fear keeps people apart from one another, because in the final analysis everyone is a potential threat to everyone else. Fear destroys two-way communication and creates a one-way highway for propaganda. Fear is an ideal tool for governments to divert attention from their ineptitude and lack of ideas. It is, however, also an ideal breeding ground for Fascism.
And the worst thing is that those who use and create this culture of fear probably don’t do that with malice. I don’t believe there is a dark, smoke-filled room somewhere, where a bunch of sinister-looking people with dark glasses manipulate the society. There is, rather, a reactionary reflex within all of us, aimed at protecting our position within the society. In short, they promise a return to business as usual. But challenges of today are – this must be said – a tall order for anyone who dares to tackle them, the authority of those in charge is being questioned. But rather than answering those questions, short cuts are being taken. Ways to eschew difficult questions. Decoys. Manoeuvres which give those in charge time to breathe. But it is a vicious cycle. Pauses between challenges are ever more rare and ever shorter. And soon a society will find itself plunging from crisis to crisis.
And then a leader will appear, who will claim to have all the answers. And everyone will believe him.
“And everyone will believe him.”
Well, some of us won’t. We have been warned beforehand 🙂 Seriously, a really great rant!
@Mr. P: Can I commend you for a fantastic post. One of your best ever, I think (some Friday Foxies notwithstanding).
Much food for thought there. Keep up the excellent work.
Thank you both! 🙂 Sorry for all the typos. I hope they’re fixed now.
“But rather than answering those questions, short cuts are being taken. Ways to eschew difficult questions. Decoys. Manoeuvres which give those in charge time to breathe. But it is a vicious cycle. Pauses between challenges are ever more rare and ever shorter. And soon a society will find itself plunging from crisis to crisis.”
So what else is new? This is the way human society has been functioning since its recorded beginnings. How is the current situation different from other similar spots in the cycles of human history?
From crisis to crisis can also be seen as from one peak to another.
That’s the problem. There is nothing new. Which is what makes the whole situation so terrifyingly predictable.
Of course there will be peaks. It is the depth of the fall preceding the peak that worries me. Didn’t Marx have something to say about every crisis being much more severe than the previous one?
He and his pal Engels did draft a formidable analysis of history and predict the cycles in the future, but though they failed to offer any constructive suggestions how to resolve the amplification effect of each crisis coming after the previous one.
What people seem to forget is that after each crisis, humanity as a whole arguably did better than before. WWII brought about a nearly universal appreciation of human rights, which – along with particular understanding of the need to protect prisoners of war after WWI – kept growing gradually.
So many things, both material and immaterial are taken for granted today that would have been unthinkable a hundred years ago. And yes, still many issues remain unresolved. Given that people continuously feel they’re entitled to ‘something more’ (life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?), I have no doubt that although in cycles, things will continue to… improve.
Actually, things are not always the same… There is one important parameter that has changed significantly in the course of our history and it is quite important, IMHO: every second, we know much more about our world, ourselves and the possible worlds outside. We thus also know more about mass psychology, historical developments, ways of reporting them (!) … You name it. So it is correct to expect that things can be turned into something more or less positive and beneficial. It is our right to expect our politicians to be better than, say, during the socialist or nazi dictatorship. We should expect government offices to have learnt enough lessons to serve us better, guide us better, help and push us better than ever before. Especially in Slovenia.
We have every right to expect from our neighbours to learn to behave better and to judge more objectively – morals, ethics, judgement… these things we are not born with, we learn them, I guess for most of our lives. It is OK to expect a certain level of them from other people and from ourselves.
To sum it up: I think we should always expect development. And get it.
What a splendid… Pengovsky for president!