I've recently come to the realization whether discussing it on an online forum or offline, trying to make an attempt at opening the eyes of those who follow this administration's political beliefs about what is important is a futile task. I want to say that the recent shootings here in Poway Synagogue in my home state is a tragedy. But I'm not surprised. We've had several incidents concerning individuals with white nationalist and racist beliefs commit crimes on a domestic terrorist level and when the president was asked whether white nationalism was a problem the president unsurprisingly scoffed at it. So as a nation although we are ready to automatically condemn someone named "Ahmed" who decides to kill people as a terrorist, we are not going to label the growing hatred of white nationalism in the United States? I'm curious to know how many more people have to die in order for us to discuss this growing hatred?
As it was told to me the one who avoids the discussion hates to having the mirror pointed towards them, but I wonder how much blood has to be shed in order for us to address the growing racist and antisemitism in this country which frankly I believe is propagated by the bigoted rhetoric of this administration?
I think they've become more emboldened, and it could be due to the current administration. I think a root cause might also be due to a continued propagation of the politics of fear, in whatever form it may take. It could be fear of the evil empire, fear of socialism, fear of the Russians, fear of the Chinese, fear of North Korea, fear of Iran, fear of Venezuela, fear of Grenada, fear of Mexico, fear of massive worldwide conspiracies, and so on.
When you really take a long hard look at what the people have been fed for the past several decades, it's really large, heavy doses of fear. I'm not saying that most of it has been overtly racist or antisemitic, although I think the fear has gotten somewhat out of control and some people seem to be reverting back to earlier ideas which dominated the American political landscape not too long ago. I suppose it's more of a chicken-egg question as to whether Trump is the cause of the fear or the result of it.
It's kind of weird, when you think about it. There are some quarters in this country where people think Trump is Hitler, while there are others who think Trump is Jesus Christ. What could go wrong?
I guess the real question here is whether these are just random, isolated events by lone nuts acting on their own - or could there be more brazen, organized acts of violence? Of course, Hitler and his henchmen were able to use state-level authority to organize extremely brazen acts of violence, atrocity, and murder. In the US, there were a number of state governors and other officials who supported the KKK and were able to use state-level power towards the purpose of violence, atrocity, and murder perpetrated by that organization.
Is it conceivable that Trump could do something like that? I don't know. I'll admit it is somewhat disconcerting that, considering the recent examples of law enforcement overstepping their authority or even cases of outright brutality. Trump could be promoting the kind of culture which could lead to even more abuses of power.
At that point, I think the other shoe will drop, and there will be a backlash which will send ripples into the upcoming political campaigns. The only question left is how will the American voters respond and what direction will they take the country?
I don't know that we can ever end hatred in this country or in this world. It just seems a continuous fact of human existence, in one form or another. But there might be ways of structuring society so that whatever hatred does exist, its effect can be contained and the damage minimized. Even then, I don't think any solution will ever be perfect.
