Those who know me, even a little, have probably noticed the huge increase in politically directed posts on my page. I mean, no matter how politically aware I am, I’m still a musician. Music is what I have dedicated my life to and what I spend the vast majority of my time doing and trying to get better at. I’m am no great fan of politicians, but I also believe that the ability to steer clear of politics completely is a luxury only afforded to the rich and privileged.
Many people have said, “Hey! You should write a book, column or create a blog”, but in my own humble opinion, I am a much better musician than writer, so I choose to contribute to the world musically, most of the time.
However, these are not normal times, and no matter what anybody is telling you (to make you feel better or heal the nation) things will not work themselves out.
We all have an equal propensity towards devolution as we do towards evolution. The only thing that decides in which direction we head is the relative “enlightenment” of a particular generation, also know as the “political climate”.
One climate could lead to super efficient, productive, technologically advanced, economically sound and well governed nations, typical of Germany or Japan in the late 90s. Only 50 years earlier another quite different climate led these same two nations to become ultra nationalist authoritarian states that were both responsible for committing unspeakable atrocities in aid of remaking the world in their leader’s images.
The re-emergence of this political environment in both Europe and America, which I’ll label right-wing fascism, is linked to certain government’s complete neglect of their working class (aka the American middle class) over at least the last 40 years.
George Bush and the Neo-cons gave the world two ominous gifts;
1. The illegal Iraq war which cost 2.4 trillion dollars, destabilized Iraq, leading to the insurgency, the rise of Al Qaeda, and then later ISIS.
2. The Great Recession of 2007, which cost 12.8 trillion dollars, led to the depression of the world’s financial markets, which in turn led to a rapid increase in the price of basic essentials such as bread, grain and fuel for developing countries, which then led to the Arab Spring, the Egyptian uprising, the Syrian uprising and now civil war.
Both these events combined together to create the Syrian refugee crisis, which further exacerbated the already anti-immigration sentiment in countries such as England, due to the freedom of movement and open trade policies at the center of the E.U, which then led to the Brexit vote, paving the way for the acceptance of a Donald Trump type figure. I won’t comment on the legitimacy of how Trump came to be elected.
For many reasons, including history, those of us who sense the aforementioned change in political climate and realize what this change could mean for our world cannot allow this to happen. Neither we humans or the planet which sustains us can afford it.
So what about free speech? Aren’t fascism, racism, anti-semitism, xenaphobia, bigotry, sexism, anti-LGBT ideas an expression of free speech, protected by the 1st amendment? Isn’t suppressing or censoring these ideas a form of Political Correctness?
No!
Firstly free speech ceases to be merely free speech if it infringes upon the human rights of another group or person. Speech which is actually intended to intimidate, or which inspires criminal acts against a group or person is actually a form of psychological terrorism. Ironically, both the Klu Klux Klan and Neo Nazis freely accept that the word of God has the power to inspire and influence behavior, which is why they tie their ideologies to the Bible. Yet, they both have a problem with acknowledging that their own rhetoric can inspire hatred or violence.
Hate speech is not simply a form of free speech. Fascism, racism, anti-semitism, bigotry, xenophobia, sexism, anti-LGBT ideas are hate based ideologies, which produce hate speech espoused by hate groups. Pointing out what is wrong in these ideas and or shaming their supporters is not Political Correctness, it’s just the right/humane thing to do!
December 19th, 2016, like January 30th 1933, could become a date which lives on in history for all the wrong reasons.
We must employ any and all legal means to prevent a right wing resurgence from taking place in the U.S. Every generation gets at least one chance to take collective action, which changes the course of world history, ensuring that we continue moving towards progress and evolution, and away from unenlightened devolution. This is certainly ours!