Linda’s prompt for today’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “opposite”. Please visit “The Friday Reminder and Prompt for SoCS January 10/15” for rules and other brilliant posts.
When I was writing yesterday’s posts for “Just Jot It January” I was wondering how people can get so frustrated that they lose all restrictions and start killing.
Pondering this question a little longer I felt that that might happen quite easily. Let me explain:
I am an EU immigrant in Great Britain. One perk of being an EU member is that you can move freely in EU-member states and work wherever you want (if you find a job of course). I’m in the country a little longer than 7 1/2 years. I had the financial means for two months living and after that, I would not have gotten any help neither from Germany nor from Great Britain. I got a job after one month and have been with the company ever since. I have never gotten any help from the British State at all. No job seekers allowance nor anything else. Even when I was homeless I was not eligible for any help. It was British people who took it upon themselves to help me out of their own pockets. The state has never given me a penny. I am paying taxes and national insurance for 7 years and 7 months so whatever NHS help I get I have already paid for. Most EU immigrants situation is like mine. And many British people never had a job ergo never paid taxes or national insurance but still, get any help they need.
Last year Nigel Farage and his UKIP (right-wing political party in Great Britain) caused a great stir in Britain making out that EU immigrants are a drain on British State finances because supposedly they get so many benefits that there is nothing left for the British. I have been looking into the numbers the government and other organisations are giving and nothing supports UKIP’s stand on immigration. The terrible thing is that more mainstream parties started to blow into the same horn just to get voters back from UKIP. Besides, Nigel Farage’s Wife is from Germany and has been paid for by the British State as his aide for a long time. She might not be now but she was. So his own immigrant wife has done what he blames immigrants for. (That’s probably where he got it from!)
And I am angry! I am very, very angry about such nonsense said about me and other immigrants who have an enormous part in keeping the British economy going. I have been so angry I was close to taking action in one way or another. Aggressive action even though I do not condone violence in any way.
My reality is the total opposite of how Nigel Farage and the likes of him depict me. I can only guess what that discrepancy does to young people. How can they feel included in a society who thinks they are only scoundrels and scroungers and a danger to society?
I can understand why young men in the wrong company go the violent way. Why they get radicalised. They probably will regret their actions when they are older depending if they survive of course. But when you are young and passionate you do a lot of stupid things. When terrorists get a grip on you those stupid things have horrendous consequences not only for
your life and that of your family but also for the whole society.
It is time to stop polarising citizens of one’s countries. It is time to stop looking for easy answers and it is time to talk. Even to those, you do not understand. Especially to those! And believe me: Even though I can understand some of the mechanisms that radicalise people I do not condone any of it. The only way that has ever changed anything was non-violence: Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi have proven that!
The Bee Writes... 
I agree with your take on how people can get radicalized and that it is wrong to generalize about and blame immigrants. We have the same here in the US. Sometimes people want to blame immigrants, especially those who come over the border illegally. I think we people are suffering they can tend to look for something or someone to blame.
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I totally agree, Deborah. It’s easier to find a scapegoat than to adjust to changes modern life has brought us. I think I I important to develop a culture of communication and find ways to talk to those,we disagree with, as well. No idea how this could work. If I’d imagine to talk to Nigel Farrage I’d get rather aggressive I imagine. Still I believe to find common ground with all people of society is important. There I always a reason why people react the way they do and it is easier to des with them once you understood those reason. Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
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I agree with what has been said, minority radical parties need to find a reason for their agenda and often it is the vulnerable. There is as you say often no foundation for their beliefs but they use it to make as much noise as they can and sadly sway people to their warped beliefs. You made very valid points Bee.
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Thank you very much. As I said in yesterdays post I feel very uneasy with what is going on. With the polarisation in both directions. A German comedian found it the right way to comment on what was going in France in calling radicalised people stupid. How is that going to help against those who believe violence is the only way to change anything? To call a child stupid is now considered child abuse so are his comments going to bring radicalised people back into society? Or stop them from using violence? Certainly not! Isn’t that exactly the same behaviour just in the opposite extreme? They say the pen is mightier than the sword so anyone who feels compelled to comment on extremism should be very careful of what they are saying as they might make things even worse. I try to get to grips with all this radicalisation thing and being from Germany all inner warning lights light up remembering Nazis spreading terror in Germany in the wake of the second world war. And their reasons against immigrants sound terribly the same like right-wing leaders use today. And Islamic radicalisation is something similar just in a different coat: It is us versus them and that’s never worked. I despair sometimes with how easy people fall back into cave men thinking. But maybe that is a clue to finding a solution. It seems to me that in these people an ancient survivors instinct is activated that makes everything look like they are in danger. And the ancient way of dealing with danger is either run or fight. And fighting is,exactly what they do….
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You are Bee there are similarities from back in history. Radicals take a similar path, find an enemy someone vulnerable enough and go from there.
Though I do find fundamentalism the scariest of all because it blinds people from caring and seeing the big picture. They can hide behind a belief they may not even believe themselves in order to hit out at the world around them. The consequences as we see are devastating.
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Indeed that is probably part of my feeling of uneasiness. Fundamentalism in all its versions be it Christian, Muslim or any other is very scary because it seems to switch off common sense and logic entirely
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