As a former activist, when I was involved in the ERW (Extreme Right-Wing,) I would have called myself a cultural nationalist, I was anti-immigration, anti-Islam and I believed I was a patriot. However, the form of patriotism I promoted at the time was wrong, twisted and racist. But at the time, I just couldn't see it.
Never a Nazi, when people would call me that, because of my far-right views, I would hate it, as I saw Nazis as un-patriotic fanatics - fuelled by hate, while I saw myself as a Patriot and pro forces, From talking to my family, I knew I had family members that fought in WW2 against the Nazis and I was proud of that.
But because of my involvement, I also know modern-day Nazis exist.
During my radicalisation into the ERW or far right as some people call it, I knew some people who were Nazis, but I kept well away from them because to me they were just as bad as the Communists and I would never join them.
When someone said I was a Nazi, it would make me really angry, but no matter what I said, people would continue to call me and others Nazis, and this is something we need to think about, as while I never became pushed myself to embrace Nazism, some people do and we need to look at this.
When asked why? many of those who have embraced Nazism have stated it was like they were pushed there by people trying to challenge extremism.
Imagine...................... being called a name like Nazi, time after time and despite you saying you aren't, it just continues, month aftre month, year after year.
In the end, something has to give and in some cases, this can either result in confrontations or for some, this can become the push to move them on from believing in elections to embracing Nazism. So is using labels like Nazi and Racist helpful in challenging extremism and reducing it, I don't think so. Instead the use of such labels, simply sends people further into the political abyss, making people become more extreme, not less.
Looking at this, in some cases it is like someone has just thrown a can of petrol onto a fire.
From being someone worried about migration, grooming and crime, being called a Nazi, again and again, can make someone the ideal Nazi recruit and this is something we need to do everything we can to stop, as when someone becomes a Nazi, they often embrace the belief that the only way forward is violence and this is something we need to reduce happening at all costs, because often when people reach this point, violence is never far away.
So what does this mean? Well, it shows just how much people can buy into the initial simple messages i.e., Stop The Boats and then how people can succumb to extremist grooming or recruitment, whichever definition you prefer. It shows just how angry I, and others can get from being called a Nazi, but also how the use of a simple label can also push people to embrace an ideology that advocates an authoritarian state that would control everyone and even mass murder, depending on which Nazi group potentially gets into power and for those who believe this will never happen, Hitler was number 7 in his party and look where that ended.
As a society, if we want to reduce - extremism, hate and prejudice then we have to think about everything we do to challenge and reduce extremism and if something increases extremism, then we have to stop and look for different ways to reduce hate.
Looking for non-confrontational ways to reduce extremism, if someone is involved in the ERW we need to look at them as individuals NOT extremists, as before they became extremists, they were Individuals and that is where we need to get people back to. Away from the fringes and back into society, away from extremist influence.
Moving forward, let's get people to think about the terms we use for people involved because many of those involved are Victims NOT Monsters and need support, not hatred.
Vulnerable and susceptible to extremist manipulation, the ERW are good at what they do. They market simple messages for complicated problems, they use emotion to mobilise people and they know people are feeling marginalised in society, unheard and that frustrtaion is growing as we have seen.
To counter this we need long-term investment, building resources at national and local levels to offer safe spaces for difficult conversations.
Interested in becoming part of the solution?
Email - info@exithate.org and together we can reduce extremism.
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