I have posted the following in response to a thoughtful post by "Dave, the Void on Fire" on Complex System of Pipes and would encourage you to read the original post.
The rise of fascist-sympathising political parties to power in Italy is astonishing and saddening in equal measure. In pockets across Europe, there are worrying signs that fascism is considered as almost an acceptable part of the political landscape. Across Europe we have seen the scapegoating of immigrants by mainstream politicians playing to the right-wing gallery and now, all of a sudden, the creeping Islamophobia that has become more or less acceptable doesn’t seem so trivial. The original post gave a great example by quoting the anti-Islamic rant made by Martin Amis. Who but Terry Eagleton really challenged Amis in the press? Why was the matter downplayed as an ‘Academic spat’? Even when Amis continued in another interview that he feels racist impulses and urges, the response was muted and conciliatory.
Derogatory terms such as “PC do-gooders” (like the epithet "looney left" twenty years ago) have been used to undermine those who stand up to casual discrimination with the result that it is less socially acceptable to pull someone up over an Islamophobic slur than to make one.
In Italy, the successful campaign by the new Roman Mayor made use of posters showing a glum-looking Native American and worded (I’m paraphrasing from memory) “This was his country, now he lives on a reservation”. Is that so far removed from the current “British Jobs for British Workers”/”Must speak English and assimilate our culture” rhetoric that the main players in UK politics are happy to engage in?
