Those who hate are afraid

#205

My Dear Friend of Democracy,

I am currently reading "Die Logik der Angst - Die rechtsextreme Gefahr und ihre Wurzeln" (The Logic of Fear - The Right-Wing Extremist Danger and its Roots).

The book by political scientist Peter R. Neumann argues that all forms of right-wing extremism are based on the same logic - a logic of fear.

What does the author mean by that?

I summarize.

Right-wing ideas have emerged almost everywhere in response to the advance of "liberal modernity" and its core values ​​- progress, universality, individualism and equality. Since the revolutions in America and France, the right has been in permanent opposition to the spirit of the times and the institutions that gave rise to the revolutions. Far-right political approaches and attempts at mobilization are, therefore, based on a feeling of weakness.

Their supporters are fearful people who do not understand social change and are overwhelmed by it or reject it for various reasons. These fearful people encounter far-right activists and masterminds who take up such fears and reinforce them. Therefore, the ideological-emotional starting point is not hatred but a feeling of fear, which is honestly felt by the first side (and cynically exploited by the second). Hatred only arises when fear is directed in a specific ideological direction - typically against "liberal elites" and "the foreign".

So, what does this mean for fighting right-wing extremism?

We must not limit ourselves to fighting those who are already right-wing extremists but must also deal with the fears that make people susceptible to right-wing extremism.

The last words today by Peter R. Neumann:

"Only those who manage to politically bring the supposed losers of social change along with them can permanently dry up the breeding ground on which right-wing extremist ideologies thrive."

See you in Europe,

Johannes