Employment tells us nothing about affordability of living here. One out of every four people is under constant economic strain in Jersey. This feeds the anger of people who hear politicians blatantly claiming everything is alright, when it clearly isn’t. It opens up the political space to populists, who find an audience by relating to insecurities and fears, which are genuine. Of course, we have seen this dynamic before.
In the 1930s, economic insecurities from the Great Depression drove scores of people into the arms of fascists. Scapegoating ‘others’ became the cornerstone of the fascist ‘alternative’. Their narrative was full of conspiracy theories about how ‘leftists’ were too tolerant of Jews, Gypsies and other minorities. In Germany, it was the social-democratic SPD who had supposedly sold out the country to foreign interests, strengthening the international Jewish Bolshevik conspiracy. It was often suggested that cultural practices of Jews were dangerous and violent. They supposedly drank children’s blood and had a preference for raping Aryan women. Nazi newspaper Der Stürmer was especially adamant on using rape to mobilize the anger of a battered, impoverished German electorate. Parallels with the present-day narrative about Muslims and refugees are chilling. A local charlatan suggested a direct link between refugees and rape in a speech in 2015. He has since then repeated this, echoed by others. Like the fascists in the 1930s, these claims have no roots in reality. Yet it is the suggestion that counts, and it is this on which politicians rely. In a world dominated by internet sound bites, actual research can still make a difference. When Senator Gorst claims that relative poverty isn’t rising, or when others try to stir up cultural hatred, let the facts contradict them. Only then can we start addressing such problems.
n@bramerius
