It has been building for some time, but it is fairly obvious now that we have entered a time where nihilism and racism are intertwined. Obviously this is deeply concerning for a myriad of reasons but one (for me in particular) stands out: the weaponisation of such attitudes in order to score points.
Seeing several people claim that, in relation to Belfast, "Catholics and Protestants have united against immigration" utterly distorts the real picture which is that far-right agitators from the south are finding common cause with loyalist paramilitaries and EDL types. The vast majority of people view the far-right with contempt and realise that their supposed "concern" for ordinary people is nothing more than opportunism from pond life scum. The racism element is easy to condemn as any decent person is anti-racist.
It's the element of nihilism that will be harder to shift, hence why a long, difficult and honest conversation is needed. One without point scoring.
Over the last number of years, the atomisation of society through consumerism, poverty and the institutionalisation of identity politics has created fractured working-class communities who have far more in common than they realise. They have borne the brunt of Reaganism/Thatcherism, deindustrialisation and austerity, thus creating an attitude among some that they are being repeatedly stamped on by politicians and big business, so they are disengaged.
Disengaged not just from the mainstream political process (because politicians, especially left leaning ones, have disengaged from them in favour of soundbites and photo ops), but also from a sense of community or collective. Dangerously, there are now at least two generations with no focus for their anger and resentment and no reason to fear or feel responsible for the consequences of their actions.
Combine this with a feeling that the concerns of the ordinary person are being openly ignored (and with some on here suggesting censorship of social media and using variations on the phrase "shut the fuck up", such feelings are justified), it's no wonder the far-right are trying to sell their snake oil in such areas.
Take three recent examples:
- MI5 finds new documents on Army's IRA spy
- White House defends Biden’s health in fiery briefing
- Jess Phillips accused of ‘making excuses’ for masked gang in Birmingham as cars smashed and man attacked
On the face of it, these stories appear to have little in common. But there is a connecting thread: all of them involve government officials lying, downplaying and obstructing serious incidents. There are many other stories like them. And there will be many more, because the political establishment views the average citizen with contempt and thinks of them as children. Will they get away with it? Of course, because our voting system discourages alternative political parties and so politicians are never truly held accountable to the voter. Hence why the likes of Stephen Yaxley-Lennon can peddle his racism and feigned concerns under the guise of “they’re not listening to you, but I will”.
Such a complex situation as well as a lack of understanding of the concerns and frustrations of working-class people allows the far-right to vilify immigrants and permits the left to cover up how they (effectively) abandoned the working class in favour of identity politics. Mick Lynch made a similar point at the Feile last week: the left are great at fighting fascists (and good on them for doing so) but when it comes to linking up with other groups (such as faith based organisations/churches) in order to create a unified front, there can be a gap.
Growing up in Dagenham, Paul Embery witnessed how the area rapidly changed in ten years as the non-UK-born population increased by 205% between 2001 and 2011, while the population classed as ‘White British’ dropped from 81% to 58% in the same decade. In his book Despised ➖ Why The Modern Left Loathes The Working Class, he recalls that period as one where:
The social and demographic convulsions led to a profound sense of bewilderment and disorientation in Barking and Dagenham. Inexcusably, liberal politicians and media commentators presented this reaction as being driven by innate racism and xenophobia. It was, for the most part, anything but. Local people felt the way they did because their sense of order, and not their sense of race, had been violated. Week after week, the letters page of the local newspaper…would be filled with the pleading of residents seeking respite, beseeching politicians to…address their concerns. In response, they were told that there was no alternative…
On this very blog a few weeks ago, Anthony McIntyre made a similar, but more pointed, remark:
I'm fine with immigration but not fine with suppressing any opinion that is not fine with it. The government have not yet explained how they are going to make it practical. They do not provide the infrastructure and leave it to the leftoids to label those who ask questions about the infrastructure deficiency as far right and racist. Time out of number I have said to people that if they accuse everybody of being far right they will create a far right much more virulent than it currently is.
And this is where we currently find ourselves.
But there is a way out.
Writing in 2011 about the then recent London riots, Kenan Malik correctly diagnosed the malaise and offered up words that we must live by:
Because the right has appropriated the arguments about moral failure, many on the left have rejected moral arguments altogether. The left talks much about the social and economic impact of neo-liberal policies. But little about its moral impact. Such willful blindness is dangerous. The questions about economic and social poverty, about unemployment and the cuts, are closely related to the questions about moral poverty, about the breakdown of social solidarity and the rise of a nihilistic culture. There can be no challenge to mass unemployment and the imposition of austerity without the restoration of bonds of social solidarity. We cannot, in other words, confront economic poverty if we do not also confront moral poverty. We need to remake our own language of morality, reforge our own moral norms.
Let us take away such arguments from the far right. Let us rediscover our common shared values while welcoming new arrivals. Let us reject nihilism and racism in favour of optimism and communitarianism.
⏩ Christopher Owens was a reviewer for Metal Ireland and finds time to study the history and inherent contradictions of Ireland. He is currently the TPQ Friday columnist.
But it's not normal immigration is it? What's happening is not within any framework of normal immigration, and to say it is can be construed as being either unspeakably naive or downright stupid.
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