Banality and evil
The following food for thought was posed on Twitter today:
It’s been frightening to see the speed at which death threats, rape threats, threats of violence occurring as part of the Wellington protests have been disregarded by people with large platforms, those with power and influence.
It’s been frightening to see the bland dismissiveness of the fact of far-right influence, of the fact of involvement by white supremacists, of the fact of people being harassed and intimidated and threatened.
I don’t think it’s possible to divorce the intent to peacefully protest from the reality that crowds of people stood behind words that said “hang ‘em high.” Crowds of people stood by while nooses were blatantly displayed, while baseball bats were carried, while people were spat on, while death threats were made.
I don’t think it’s possible to divorce the palpable hatred in those messages from the rising toxicity that has been documented by disinformation experts.
“…we noticed it was becoming two or three steps to take people through to white supremacist or far-right ideologies, QAnon material, extreme misogyny, incel material and transphobic material, and we started viewing Covid disinformation as one of the entry-level ideas that draws people down these further disinformation ideology pathways.”
- Kate Hannah
I don’t think it’s possible to divorce the very specific misogyny surrounding the Prime Minister as part of these protests from a toxic culture which has absolutely increased its representation in mainstream media over the last couple of years, either.
Being anti-fascist requires being anti-racist. It requires being anti-misogyny, anti-transphobia.
It requires holding the line on the things that we value and refusing to normalise violence and hatred. It requires refusing to engage even when it might suit your political stance (especially when it might suit your political stance.)
It requires challenging those that seek to normalise or dismiss or engage with violence, who seek to minimise violent intent.
It requires stepping outside of your privilege and listening to those who are always the canaries in the coal mine - historians, experts, minorities.
It requires talking to those who have found themselves in the wrong room. If you are at an event and a white supremacist flag appears, or a noose, or a swastika, that event has just become something that epitomises hate.
It requires really considering the consequences of normalising behaviour that should not be allowed to flourish.
I firmly believe that if we want to know how we would have reacted to increasing far-right toxicity in say, 1920 - it’s what we’re doing now. It’s how we are reacting now. It is our actions, now.
There is a fascinating article called Who Goes Nazi?, by Dorothy Thompson that sets out to analyse the behaviours and attributes of people at a fictional dinner party, and understand who might have signed up.
I’ve been thinking about it often this week as we’ve seen the climate shift and change, as the temptation to normalise, to use to advantage, to start looking away has set in.
“Nice people made the best Nazis. My mom grew up next to them. They got along, refused to make waves, looked the other way when things got ugly and focused on happier things than “politics.” They were lovely people who turned their heads as their neighbors were dragged away. You know who weren’t nice people? Resisters.”
- Naomi Shulman
Far-right influence is growing. It is well-funded and dangerous and we should be concerned.
“… the relevant historical lesson is that the threat to democracy doesn’t come from the proportion of the people these groups can claim to represent. It’s about the size of the damage they are willing to do.”
- Van Badham
The tweet above says that we need to push back against the ideas and influence of far-right groups.
What has scared me almost more than the protests has been the steady erosion of alarm in less than a week. What has scared me has been the determined work to ensure that these ideas are normalised, the wilful blindness even in the face of overwhelming evidence and clear reporting.
Every single example from history tells us that apathy in the face of evil never ends well.
“Evil comes from a failure to think. It defies thought for as soon as thought tries to engage itself with evil and examine the premises and principles from which it originates, it is frustrated because it finds nothing there. That is the banality of evil.”
- Hannah Arendt
Great article. The hard thing to know is how to best resist? We can voice our concerns when people we know say stupid things - I do it daily - but the hard core we are seeing in Wellington are largely beyond listening. I staggers me how blindly some people I've heard about, relatives and acquaintances of good friends, have thrown away reason and sometimes careers over the vaccination and mandate issue. What don't they understand about science, experts and their responsibilities living in society?