What to do with White Supremacists (and other fanatical type groups)?

[Jerry_Atrick]

Corowa is a sleepy town in the Riverina district of NSW, near the border of Vic. It is a pretty town and a hit with tourists to the region for the Rutherglen winery region as well (does the Rutherglen Red still rattle along)? I have flown into Corowa a few times as an alternative destination to Tocumwal, and in my flight planning it was always the diversionary airfield. In fact, it is too pretty a town, otherwise it would be on my retirement list ahead of Tocumwal.

 

So, I was a little shcoked to see this in the news today: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-12/white-supremacists-rally-in-country-nsw-town-of-corowa/104465704

 

Corowa doesn't strike me as a home to white supremacists or other fanatical type groups. But it did get me thinking.. What do we do with these groups?

 

Firstly, I don't condone them, or any others for that matter (yes, black people can be racists, too).

 

But, I remember tThe Age and Huffpost expose a couple fo years ago, or so, of the Nazi white supremacists in Melbourne.. And I recall reading about how there were a few leaders who were alledged to have been quite nasty, but for the most part, they members were lower socio-economic or "poor performng" types, and the feeling of the articles that they are the forgotten and best kept forgotten people, who have found belonging in the Nazi/white suopremacists groups - groups that validate them and either instill or validate them blaming others for their plight.

 

This may be the case, but can we go on ignoring these people, lest these grups continue to gather steam, or do we need to do something else. Look at the Maga movement in the USA. Willing to blame everything on everyone else, but also, they may not have the capacity, for whatever reason - nature or nurture - to rise above it?

 

I have a feeling the white supremaicsts, and other fanatics largely come from the same mould. A couple of evangelical evils offering the "down and outers" for want of a better term a home, belgonging, and a voice... something they lack in mainstream society.

 

Our capitaliistic society does not really cater for them. We won't employ them because they may not be up to the job. The state system also lets them down - The education system isn't geared to handle anything other than the mainstream (the gifted are as poorly catered for as the ungifted), welfare is a dole check and that is about it.. What hope do they have, except when these groups offer them hope?

 

And of course, when they engage in this behaviour, we are quick to cast them aside as evils, when what they may be saying is "hey, we don't have a voice here, yeah we are blaming the dagos (or is it spelled, dagoes), and we want them out so we can have their jobs. You won't give us the jobs anyway, but we don't care now.." etc.

 

If you look at what Trump said about them, there are "good people" on both sides. While the world decried it, I will admit, I agreed.. the trick is how to get the good to come out. Maybe by that stage, all is lost. Or maybe if we can constrcutively engage and find a place for them (some, most, who knows) to feel part of mainstream society, maybe the good can come out?

 

I don't condone the behaviour at all, but let's face it, these groups are gathering steam; we can see it in the USA, in Europe, in the Middle East, and now in Australia.. Yeah, there is a core of these groups that are just like that and there's nothing you can do, but, like Germany in the 30s, and Poland and a lot of Europe, good people turned bad when someone offered them someone (or a few groups) to blame for their problems. Maybe a concerted effort led by government and community groups to engage with them, hear their fears and talk though things can make a difference to some (hopefully) many of these groups. It will take money approipriated from other welfare recipients (like the corporate welfare recipients), but can result in a more stable society.

 

Something is going to have to happen, or we will see very similar things that we saw in WWII...

 

Or, am  I just too much of an idealist?

[pmccarthy]

UK had skinheads and Paki bashers years ago. Where did that go? Did it evolve into something worse or die out, to have the worse emerge separately?

[Jerry_Atrick]

Just recently riots were sparked thanks to Farage quoting "reports" of a Muslim refugee teenager having killed a toddler up North. Garage then baited the mob by saying the police, By not naming the accused was agaist British people and for the Muslims. Farage is, and at the time was an MP and knew it was agaist the law to release the name of an accused minor until a charge had been laid.

 

The police had already released the fact they had a minor in custody, and the source of the reports that Farage was relying on was Andrew Tate (if you don't know who he is look him up). Of course Farage didn't disclose the source of the reports but implied they came from official sources given he is an MP. 

 

This sparked mass riots against Muslims and their property.. by thugs who went to the area of the murder (none were from the area). While clearly Farage and Tate are insidious, I don't believe all of the rioters or Muslim bashers are.. but just joining in..

 

I could of course be wrong, but I can't help but think breaking down barriers through education and integration would go a long way

 

The teenager was eventually identified as a local kid with a history of mental illness and not Muslim

Edited October 12 by Jerry_Atrick

[nomadpete]

4 hours ago, Jerry_Atrick said:

am  I just too much of an idealist?

No.

However, in my opinion,  this is often related to education. And a lack of ability to analyse events around.

 

Western society has a poor record for inspiring its adults to yearn constructively for answers. People with stronger analytical skills seem less likely to fall through the cracks.

 

China's approach to the issue, is government run're-education camps.

 

Tis a thorny question.

[old man emu]

We tend to think that the Australian culture is uniform, but it is not. We've sanitised the differences by ceasing to use the term "class", but now we refer to socio-economic groups,  a rose by any other name ...

 

The recruiting stations for these groups which base their membership on racist ideologies are located in those areas where the financially disadvantaged have been dumped. Financial disadvantage over several generations creates a subculture  which differs from that of the economically comfortable and more so from the economically advantaged. It creates an anger towards those who are different, and manipulators can channel that anger to suit the manipulators' agendas.

 

[onetrack]

The undercurrent of racism and hatred of people who "don't belong to our tribal group" is always there, in every society on Earth. "You ain't from around here, are ya, stranger??

It bubbles up into poorly-aimed anger by those feeling like they're being overrun by "different" people with different colour skin and strange cultures. It's fomented by people with an agenda and a need to gain power.

 

We had a local bloke by the name of Jack Van Tongeren, a "lower socio-economic type" of Dutch ancestry, who felt oppressed by the number of Asian immigrants he didn't like.

He formed his own little Nazi group and gathered up a bunch of poorly-educated simpletons who were prepared to listen to and follow his aggrandising speeches and meetings and printed literature.

 

They tried to pull Nazi-like oppression and plastering their nasty messages around the place - but when he did a firebombing of an Asian restaurant, and indulged in criminal actions such as robberies to finance their group operations, it brought a swift reaction from law enforcement.

The group eventually murdered one of their own followers who "grassed" on them. Van Tongeren served 13 years of an 18 year sentence in jail - but he never recanted his position as an Asian-hating Nazi, and probably still spreads his poison today.

 

Van Tongeren joined the Australian Army as a young man and served in Vietnam, which might have affected his mental outlook, but I think he was warped from a young age.

Unfortunately, his Army training and Vietnam War experience made him quite dangerous, and if he hadn't had that training and experience, his whole setup would simply have been amateurish.

We have to watch those with Nazi leanings who have military experience and training, as they can be quite skilled in many areas relating to overthrow of civil society.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_van_Tongeren

[facthunter]

Pauleen Hanson has used it for years. It works.   Nev

[facthunter]

Some of those US "Wite supremacists" don't look too supreme.   Nev

[red750]

1 hour ago, onetrack said:

The undercurrent of racism and hatred of people who "don't belong to our tribal group" is always there, in every society on Earth. "You ain't from around here, are ya, stranger??

Pardon me pinching your thread, but this reminds me of the cartoon about the guy who goes into a redneck hotel,

The bartender says "you're not from around these parts are you? What do you do?" The guy replies "I'm a taxidermist." The bartender says "What does a taxidermist do?" The guy says "I mount animals." The bartender calls out the the patrons, "It's OK folks, he's one of us."