Germany 1936; England 2006
No, that's not the score in some obscure sport you haven't heard of. As I implied in my previous post, I'm finding events unfurling in the UK rather concerning of late.
I was watching a TV interview with a German who lived in the UK and went back to visit his familiy Cologne a few years before war broke out. He said that upon arriving, the level of hysteria in the media made it obvious to him that war was inevitable.
Well, last week I flew from Cologne to visit my family in the UK, and I couldn't help but feel a very similar apprehension. Perhaps it's something that isn't as obvious to people who are living with it day-in and day-out, but I didn't like the atmosphere at all.
I am of course referring to the "us-Vs-them" attitude that is developing back home. I wasnt sure if I should be angry, scared or disgusted at the news so many people are considering voting for the BNP - possibly up to 25% Now, Abambou insists that "it's bollocks" but I'm not sure I agree with him - I have vivid recollections of my disgust at the high percentages of BNP voters during the last general election. I'm sad to say I even know people personally who have told me they themselves are considering it.
For those who don't know, the BNP is the extreme right-wing "British National Party" - or as some prefer to call it, the British Nazi Party. The BBC has a profile of the party here.
That people could be lulled by the more moderate image the BNP puts forward in public today is not all that surprising to me, considering the vast wealth of sources they can draw from - especially in the UK media. Just watching the UK TV for a few days I felt bombarded with programs and articles about problems "foreigners" are causing, and how our government is pitifully failing to deal with said problems. Add to that the increasing demands and abuse from (some) members the islamic community and you have a melting pot of resentment and discontent.
As a case in point there was a show following the police in "Operation Snowball" in London, which was aimed at cutting pickpocketing etc during the Christmas period in London - specifically Oxford St. None of the criminals featured in the program were UK natives, but rather came from Bosnia, Romania, Hungary, Algeria. I find it hard to believe they didn't catch anybody who was a UK native, but the emphasis was definately on the 'foreigners'.
It outlined how the trio of Bosnian thieves were known because of previous offences. It showed the police releasing somebody they caught 'red-handed' because they claimed to be underage and couldnt be kicked out of the country without a passport. After arresting them AGAIN a few days later they admitted to not only being over 18 but being from a different country. So the word of a criminal is all it needs for them to be released. Great. Similar stories built up and of course it was only a matter of time before the words "asylum seeker" came up.
When was the last time you heard a success story about people who came from a country as a refugee and is living a good successful life? Do we even know what proportion of asylum seekers are "sponging" and how many are contributing to the economy? Why is our media concentrating on 'foreigners' breaking our laws when there are so many home-grown thugs doing the same thing?
As for those featured...Why are they released in the first place? Why are they allowed to remain in the country? Why do we continue to give them benefits when they are so obviously playing the system put in place to help those who really need it?
When a population constantly hears stories of people abusing the system, and how incapable the system is of dealing with them, it's no surprise that they get frustrated. When people are constantly forced to make concessions to a group without forcing them to make similar concessions in return, it's no surprise they feel aggrieved. When a government demands new powers to defend its people against terrorism, and then uses those powers to arrest pensioners at a conference but does nothing about others who openly advocate and glorify terrorism, it's no surprise they feel betrayed and ignored. When thousands of people are losing their jobs because factories are cheaper to run in Eastern Europe and then get bombarded with news items about people from those same countries "getting away with murder" either because of a poorly implemented justice of immigration system and more stories of people abusing that system, it's only natural they feel bitter and angry.
Frustration, anger, bitterness, resentment and a convenient target to blame. Not a good combination.
We need to stop teaching dates in history classes. We need to teach people to learn from history, and recognise when it's happening again. Unless, of course, that's what we wanted all along...
I was watching a TV interview with a German who lived in the UK and went back to visit his familiy Cologne a few years before war broke out. He said that upon arriving, the level of hysteria in the media made it obvious to him that war was inevitable.
Well, last week I flew from Cologne to visit my family in the UK, and I couldn't help but feel a very similar apprehension. Perhaps it's something that isn't as obvious to people who are living with it day-in and day-out, but I didn't like the atmosphere at all.
I am of course referring to the "us-Vs-them" attitude that is developing back home. I wasnt sure if I should be angry, scared or disgusted at the news so many people are considering voting for the BNP - possibly up to 25% Now, Abambou insists that "it's bollocks" but I'm not sure I agree with him - I have vivid recollections of my disgust at the high percentages of BNP voters during the last general election. I'm sad to say I even know people personally who have told me they themselves are considering it.
For those who don't know, the BNP is the extreme right-wing "British National Party" - or as some prefer to call it, the British Nazi Party. The BBC has a profile of the party here.
That people could be lulled by the more moderate image the BNP puts forward in public today is not all that surprising to me, considering the vast wealth of sources they can draw from - especially in the UK media. Just watching the UK TV for a few days I felt bombarded with programs and articles about problems "foreigners" are causing, and how our government is pitifully failing to deal with said problems. Add to that the increasing demands and abuse from (some) members the islamic community and you have a melting pot of resentment and discontent.
As a case in point there was a show following the police in "Operation Snowball" in London, which was aimed at cutting pickpocketing etc during the Christmas period in London - specifically Oxford St. None of the criminals featured in the program were UK natives, but rather came from Bosnia, Romania, Hungary, Algeria. I find it hard to believe they didn't catch anybody who was a UK native, but the emphasis was definately on the 'foreigners'.
It outlined how the trio of Bosnian thieves were known because of previous offences. It showed the police releasing somebody they caught 'red-handed' because they claimed to be underage and couldnt be kicked out of the country without a passport. After arresting them AGAIN a few days later they admitted to not only being over 18 but being from a different country. So the word of a criminal is all it needs for them to be released. Great. Similar stories built up and of course it was only a matter of time before the words "asylum seeker" came up.
When was the last time you heard a success story about people who came from a country as a refugee and is living a good successful life? Do we even know what proportion of asylum seekers are "sponging" and how many are contributing to the economy? Why is our media concentrating on 'foreigners' breaking our laws when there are so many home-grown thugs doing the same thing?
As for those featured...Why are they released in the first place? Why are they allowed to remain in the country? Why do we continue to give them benefits when they are so obviously playing the system put in place to help those who really need it?
When a population constantly hears stories of people abusing the system, and how incapable the system is of dealing with them, it's no surprise that they get frustrated. When people are constantly forced to make concessions to a group without forcing them to make similar concessions in return, it's no surprise they feel aggrieved. When a government demands new powers to defend its people against terrorism, and then uses those powers to arrest pensioners at a conference but does nothing about others who openly advocate and glorify terrorism, it's no surprise they feel betrayed and ignored. When thousands of people are losing their jobs because factories are cheaper to run in Eastern Europe and then get bombarded with news items about people from those same countries "getting away with murder" either because of a poorly implemented justice of immigration system and more stories of people abusing that system, it's only natural they feel bitter and angry.
Frustration, anger, bitterness, resentment and a convenient target to blame. Not a good combination.
We need to stop teaching dates in history classes. We need to teach people to learn from history, and recognise when it's happening again. Unless, of course, that's what we wanted all along...