Many
societies in 2020 seem more divided than ever, especially as the noise
generated by opposing views is louder, amplified by often anonymous voices on
social media. It appears that those who believe that “might is right” use
positions of power to bully more liberal views into submission. How can those
who do not believe in aggression make their views heard and have them
respected? There are surprisingly similar parallels between Britain, the USA
and Russia.
 |
| A street protest in Moscow in 2015, against the war in Ukraine and the killing of Boris Nemtsov. |
For a small
country, Britain prides itself on having had a remarkable influence on the
development of the world. Britain created the largest empire the world has ever
seen. It gave the world the most international language. And in describing its
ruling body as “the Mother of all parliaments” Britain has apparently provided
a template for governance.
We British
pride ourselves on our tolerance, our cosmopolitanism and our sense of humour,
not least our ability to laugh at ourselves in front of others. At least, we used
to. Since the ill-thought-out and poorly run referendum on Britain’s membership
of the European Union in 2016 not only have divisions been exposed in our
society but a green light appears to have been given to those who promote hatred,
racism and intolerance to express openly their often vicious opinions.
Hundreds of
examples have come to light of hostile behaviour, from crude, insulting and
threatening messages aimed at foreigners, women and the vulnerable, to physical
violence against those deemed to be weaker. Intimidation has taken on a new and
uglier face than ever before.
A similar
process has taken place in the same time frame “across the pond” in the USA. If
Americans had any doubt that they were living in a parallel universe after the
election as President of Donald Trump, this became obvious immediately after
his inauguration, when his then spokesman, Sean Spicer, declared (with a
straight face) that more people turned out for Trump’s ceremony than had for
the inauguration of his predecessor, Barack Obama, in 2009. One glance at the
aerial photographs of the National Mall showed this to be total nonsense; but
Spicer wasn’t joking. Three years later, The Washington Post (which has
been keeping a tally of the President’s lies) reckons that Trump has told over
16,000 lies.
The
Brookings Institute maintains that there would seem to be a direct correlation between
Trump’s lies and his aggressive and insulting behaviour, and the rise in hate
crimes, especially in counties where Trump won the election by larger majorities.
The only other occasion in the last quarter of a century when there has been
such a spike in hate crimes in the US was in the wake of 9/11.
It may seem
strange to compare the situation in Britain and America with that in Russia,
where since Soviet times information has been heavily laden with propaganda and
lies; indeed, the very word “disinformation” came into English from Russian. But
it certainly appears as if both Trump in the US and the Conservative Party in
Britain have been studying Vladimir Putin’s disinformation handbook, be it with
outright lies (such as the claim over the crowds at the inauguration) or spurious
claims, like the fictional £350 million which would magically go to the National
Health Service should Britain leave the EU.
One area
where Russia is more “advanced” than the US or Britain is in clamping down on dissenting
views. Putin has learnt well the lessons from his Soviet past, when dissidents
were imprisoned or put in lunatic asylums, and has even created what is, in
effect, his own private army to deal with dissent and demonstrations. Rosgvardia,
ostensibly under the control of the Interior Ministry, is now 420,000 strong
and Putin relies on it to intimidate anyone brave enough to take part in a
demonstration against his corrupt regime.
There may
not be the equivalent of Rosgvardia in Britain or the US, but it is certainly
the case that “dissidents” in those two countries need more courage now to
stand up to the lies and intimidation fostered by their governments. Trump sends
vicious and abusive tweets against anyone who criticises him and whips up crowds
of his supporters to project an image of hatred and anger against those who
think differently. On occasion such verbal violence spills over into physical
violence.
And bigots
in Britain feel empowered by the Brexit rage to send hate mail and messages,
such as the one stuck up on doors throughout a block of flats in Norwich on the
day Britain started the transition period towards leaving the EU, telling
residents that they must speak only English in that block (a message written in
ungrammatical English).
This
outrageous and insulting message was met by local residents gathering at the
block to celebrate their diversity. Such steps take courage. Few people have
shown more courage than Gina Miller, who took the government to court over its
plan to avoid putting Article 50, the bill to leave the EU, in front of
parliament. Gina won; but at what cost? She has been subjected to the most vile
abuse by the lunatic fringe – who feel empowered by the actions of certain
politicians to spew out their filth.
As far back
as the eighteenth century, Edmund Burke said that, “The only thing necessary
for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”. This has been vividly illustrated
since then in a number of places, perhaps most graphically in Nazi Germany. The
extremes of the Nazis may not have been met yet in Britain, the USA or Russia. But
if people of good will remain silent the triumph of extremism in these
countries may be just over the horizon.
ENDS
No comments:
Post a Comment