Defending the centre

I recently responded to a piece by Andrew Montin on Populism at Hold That Thought. There I outlined my reasons for being generally suspicious of populist politics. After reading the latest piece by Mark at Interbreeding I wanted to address the issue further.

Right wing politics is rife with those who seek to further their goals by highlighting divisions and exploiting them. Their ultimate goal is to create a universally accepted "them against us" paradigm. This flawed belief system has it that 'you and I' are members of a cultural group that has led a blameless existence, while 'they' have been plotting to destroy us. Of course the only thing 'you' can do about it is support 'me' against 'them'. This is how militias are raised in countries where there is collapsing social order and how right wing political parties gain a majority in countries where there is a working democratic system. Needless to say this type of politics can become a self fulfilling prophecy and doesn't take much to become a full blown cycle of violence.

The answer is to break the paradigm. Governments, Peace groups, NGOs, Intellectuals and ordinary people are working to that end in some very troubled places around the world right now.

Left wing or progressive political movements have staked themselves some substantial moral high ground on these issues for several decades now. However, some (largely unpopular) left wing movements, particularly those that see societies' salvation in revolution, employ divisive politics as well. Mark provides some excellent examples of what I'm talking about. Here's two from his recent posts on the violence at Cronulla:

"Ethnicity in Sydney
...a bunch of Lebanese guys allegedly beat the living shit out of a couple of white lifeguards. This sparked an alleged text message campaign for every white (or 'Aussie') man in the Shire to go down there and see them off for good, which then prompted white officialdom to brand them vigilantes and say that while their aims were laudible, they should leave the job up to the police.

Jesus fucking Christ. These people aren't vigilantes. They're not looking for criminals. They are a fucking pogrom. And the all-white Shire cops are presumably going to see the Lebs off by themselves..."

and

"Racially Exclusive
... this totally belies the reality of white Australia, but still that's what you see growing up in Fairfield is how white people are happy, smiling, athletic fucks with disposable income. And of course you want to bash and rape them. Maybe I should add the SMH's proviso, "This does not excuse their behaviour", but I really think the moral culpability game is a crock of shit. Fine, lock them up. That certainly demonstrates how wrong they are about Australian society... "

There is a lot in these quotes and plenty more in the rest of both pieces, it all amounts to a pretty tidy stitch up of 'white officialdom', the 'all-white Shire cops' and 'Australian society'. Worthy of our best 'shock jocks'. That the first two don't exist and the latter is a term too broad to be useful doesn't seem to worry Mark; apparently he's on a mission to foster racial hatred in order to usher in the revolution after which all such problems will be over.

To reject this type of politics is not to say that there aren't problems with the Australian Government, the NSW Police and Australian society. The current Government has famously used the politics of division (Tampa etc) and many people recognised it for what it was. The police are a blunt instrument used to deal with some pretty complex social issues, but even they know that and are devoting a slowly growing proportion of their resources to community liaison and advocacy. As for Australian Society, well the whole Cronulla thing is very ugly. But as Mark himself pointed out elsewhere, there is a precedent for gang violence on Sydney's beaches and it might have more to do with overcrowding than deep seated racial animosity.

In a comment attached to another piece Mark pointed to what he sees as the ghettoisation of various cultural communities that choose to isolate themselves. To the extent that such things are happening I would suggest it has more to do with convenience (ie living near people who speak their language and services that cater to their needs) than overwhelming cultural chauvinism. And to focus on that is to ignore the friendly interaction that takes place all over Sydney - particularly in the oft maligned south west - everyday, and is steadily becoming the 'Australian way'.

Politics that exploits perceived racial tension is racist; convincing others to be the vanguard of the revolution - presumably to face the worst of the violence - based on their race is hardly fair.

I'll conclude with a mild ad hominem; am I the only person who detected a trace of personal insecurity in the quotes provided above.