-Caveat Lector-
What i find most interesting with this current debate is the distinct
lack of knowledge being displayed across the CTRL community. In particular
regarding the rise of fascism in Britain (i know for sure we have a large
number of UK members on this list including the outspoken M.A.R.K.
(psuedonym)). I beg of you all to read my comments (particularly Teo1000, flw, J2
and Alamaine).
With the re-emergence of Fascist and far-right parties throughout Europe
and America, especially during the 1980's, we have been alerted to the
presence
of Racist and Fascist beliefs in our own country. In September 1993,
Derek Beackon of the Nazi British National Party was elected to a council seat
in
East London. Despite being defeated at the next election, he increased
his vote by a third. It would be a mistake to think of Neo-Fascists as a
bunch of
skinhead thugs picking on ethnic groups that they see as lower than then
on the social ladder. The traditional stereotype of Nazi 'thugs' does hold
true for
the majority, but their actions are often organised and directed by small
cliques of, intelligent and systematic individuals. The Neo-Nazi revival
is not just a
mish-mash of 'fascist filth' and 'racist scum' (ANL newsletter, 1996),
but a highly organised and well orchestrated attempt to sway majority
opinion (take note Teo1000).
How do Neo-Fascist organisations attempt to win over the public in a
Britain that is greatly opposed to them? Firstly, and most importantly, by not
appearing to be Nazi in origin (unlike M.A.R.Ks ridiculous suggestion
last week!!). In 1967, in a letter to William Pierce of the American Nazi
Party, John Tyndall, then leader of the National Front said that:
"The NF could not be openly Nazi because it would be stuck in the mire of
the Second World War and the death camps". He went on to say how he had
not abandoned his faith in Hitler or the Swastika, but the British public
were not prepared to accept open Nazism yet; so the NF must "hide behind
the
Union Jack and phoney patriotic jargon until the time was ripe to go
public with a mass Nazi movement" (John Tyndall quoted in Gable, 1991).
Obviously, Tyndall was aware of the Zietgeist (The overall direction of
social norms) in Britain at the time and realised that declaring themselves
to be
openly Nazi, would do more harm to their cause than good. Around that
time, members of the NF stopped using the obviously Nazi sun-wheel symbol,
and adopted the Union Jack as their most prominent badge. Various Nazi
organisations throughout Europe have begun in this manner, using patriotism
to
get a foot in the door whilst maintaining good relations with other
secretly, or openly, Nazi groups at home or abroad.
We can see evident in the behaviour of neo-fascist outfits at least three
of the four behavioural styles proposed by Moscovici (1976). The first
two are
Consistancy and Rigidity. A minority that remains consistant in it's
argument is more likely to influence a majority, than one that is
inconsistant. The
Neo-Fascists remain undaunted in their convictions that events such as
the holocaust did not happen, their racist views and especially their
anti-Semitism
have lead Nazi Revisionists such as David Irving, for who the BNP supply
'bodyguards', to publish articles and books in an attempt to rewrite a
history
that is against them. In BNP literature a study by none other than Hans
Eysenck that appears to support the belief that whites are more intelligent
than
blacks, is constantly referred to without reference to criticisms of
Eysencks methodology, or reference to counter-arguments or alternative
interpretations
of the data. Labov's (1970) study into 'Black English' is a good example
of how scientists can interpret data incorrectly. Labov (1970) and Stewart
(1970)
both pointed out that many Afro-Americans speak a grammatically different
form of English. Since IQ tests are administered in Standard English, the
lower scores of Afro-Americans (which could be perceived as due to lower
intelligence) are probably due to their different dialect. There are far
more
general arguments, especially in recent years, rejecting the validity of
IQ tests and other psychometric testing altogether. Some psychologists,
such as
Gardener (1983), with his theory of multiple intelligence suggests that
poor performance on IQ tests could merely signify the absence or presence
of
specific types of intelligence. Also, interpretations of intelligence
test results are now considered relative to specific cultural context. Native
Americans and
Indians place greater importance on certainty, and would rather answer 'I
don't know' or 'I'm not sure' to a question if they are not absolutely
certain of
the answer. In Western culture, we are more likely to 'have a guess'
(Sinha 1983, Triandis 1989).
However, your average Neo-Fascist won't give two hoots about scientific
argument unless the conclusion supports his existing belief. The ideology
comes first and the Neo-Fascist looks for anything to back it up, no
matter how trivial, unreliable or discredited. Although many would think that
Fascism
died in 1945, the ideology lives still and those who adhere to it show no
sign of relinquishing their grip. Clinging to a universally reviled
ideology with
negligible academic support seems wonderfully demonstrative of both
behavioural consistancy and ideological rigidity.
The third behavioural style is the presence of a seemingly flexible
argumentative technique. Attempts are made to rationalise their beliefs and
portray them
as truth. They take real-life problems that genuinely concern people,
like unemployment and housing shortages, and supply answers that are both in
line
with their xenophobic and homophobic opinions and which seem sensible to
somebody who doesn't know better. It is easy to be fooled. For example: In
an area with high unemployment, a shortage of affordable housing and a
minority of immigrant workers, the Fascist would have you believe that "the
immigrants are stealing our jobs and houses". I am of course, talking
about Tower Hamlets on the Isle of Dogs in East London. Local residents were
lead
into voting for the Derek Beackon of the BNP, who put forward such an
argument, purely because they were not supplied with a counter argument. In
fact, in the Tower Hamlets area, 980 luxury properties in the ill-fated
Canary Wharf lie empty as they are privately owned and over-priced
(Personal
communication from ANL volunteer, 1996). National unemployment is
approaching 10% yet only 2% of the population are immigrants or refugees.
Exactly how are 2% of the population (many of which are also unemployed)
supposed to steal the jobs of 10% of the British populace? Even an
elementary argument like this, based on statistics and simple
mathematics, holds no sway over the BNP. I have not come across any attempt to
address
this criticism in BNP literature.
The NF or the BNP (they change their name often, in order to throw of
stigmatisation by negative associations) display a public face of flexible,
rational
patriotism. Proclaiming that they only want what's best for their
country, they deny that they have a Nazi agenda. Should they seem dogmatic or
rigid they
risk lessening their ability to influence the majority or actually
dividing the majority, gaining a few conversions but forcing the majority view
further to the
opposite extreme. This phenomenon is called Bi-polarization and can
result when a minority argues in a rigid as opposed to flexible manner.
Although in
an Orthodox minority (whose views are in line with prevailing norms, or
zietgiest) such as environmentalism, a rigid argumentative style is the
more
helpful, in a Heterodox minority (whose opinions are against prevailing
norms) such as Neo-Fascist beliefs, a flexible argumentative style is more
effective (Mugny and Papastamou 1975-6) and this is what we see displayed
in Nazi style outfits.
I now turn to behavioural styles less often displayed, practised or
perceived in Neo-Fascist organisations. The first of these is Investment
(Moscovici's
term). A minority that is perceived to be making a personal sacrifice for
their cause will be viewed in a better light and probably be more
convincing than a
minority who have little to lose or something to gain from promulgating
their views. This issue is a little more difficult as the concepts of loss
and gain are
fuzzy. By adhering to their views, Neo-Fascists do not appear to be
making any great sacrifice. Exactly how these organisations are funded and the
amount of work they place on individual members is not known for sure.
The BNP are secretive about such matters, but there is evidence of support
from
extreme right-wing members of the conservative party, and other
'respectable' patrons (ANL, 1996). However, when it comes to personal sacrifice it
looks like the average member of the BNP subscribes to their newsletter,
Spearhead and occasionally turns up for racist rallies, such as the
anniversary of
Rudolph Hess' death, which is commemorated each year by Nazi's
world-wide. All in all, the perception, if not the actual investment of individuals
is
low. Perhaps if Neo-Fascist organisations were seen to be surrendering
something for their cause, rather than acting out of self-interest their
message
would be more persuasive.
The final behavioural style I shall look at is Autonomy. This ties in
with the theme of self-interest. Evidence leads us to believe that a minority
acting out of
principle alone is more effective at swaying majority opinion than a
minority that is seen to be gaining something from promulgating a cause
(Moscovici,
1976). the example given by Brown (1988), is that of a famous personality
endorsing an unpopular campaign. They will be more credible if we are
certain
that they are not being paid large sums of money for appearing. The BNP
although not openly seen as receiving any financial gain, are nevertheless
perceived as gaining something from distributing their hatred-endorsing
message. They are perceived by the majority as acting out of self-interest
and
misplaced confidence in a primitive belief system.
Finally, I think something should be said about how Neo-Fascist parties
have been allowed to creep in at the corners of the political arena in
recent years.
After the war, Nazi ideology was not something you admitted to holding,
but nevertheless, isolated groups of individuals remained loyal to Hitler's
beliefs. A natural progression occurred throughout the post-war years as
through communication of ideas, Nazism made the transition from an Anomic
minority, a loose collection of individuals with no structure or
commitment, to a Nomic minority. An organised, structured group with internal
norms and
a strong commitment. The Nazi's capitalised on the growing level of
immigration and the economic recession and blamed the latter on the former.
People's
ignorance of the global economic situation and other external reasons for
the rising level of unemployment and the upward march of inflation,
allowed the
Nazi's to get a 'foot in the door' with their "phoney patriotic jargon"
as their own leader put it. Although, thankfully, the media (doing
something good for
a change) alerted many of us to the presence of Fascist ideals in our
midst, for a moment the climate was just right for a Fascist revival.
Hopefully, the
Zietgiest, the overall direction of social norms, has reversed, and we
can continue to work towards a hate-free society.
I still believe many of you on the list have a lot of catching up to do
regarding the current resurgance of the Neo-nazis and Fascist ideals
amongst todays society, and hope that we can build a strong, meaningful and
hopefully effective discussion on this most essential of lists. Come on CTRL,
pull your socks up!!!
Richard B.
flw wrote:
> -Caveat Lector-
>
>--
>>>
>>> What is interesting is that European Fascists also
>claimed "victimhood".
>>> Derogation of Individual Freedom in the name of
>Victimhood is a time honored
>>> Fascist Rite.
>>>
>>> "Fascism ends in concentration camps, it does not begin
>with them".
>>> flw
>>> >>
>>>
>>> A friend of mine said the exact same thing to me today.
>He said that the only
>>> difference between the US today and Nazi Germany is that
>they got to wear
>>> "really cool uniforms" and we don't. The Fourth Reich is
>alive and well in
>>> the good old US of A.
>>> Teo1000
>>
>>This is only true for some minorities and political views.
>Otherwise,
>>the above statements are way exaggerated as far as most
>Americans are concerned.
>>
>>J2
>
>Hmm. Many Germans thought the same thing in the early
>1930's.
>flw
>
>DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
>==========
>CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting
propagandic
>screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid
matters
>and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and
outright
>frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor
effects
>spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said,
CTRL
>gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to
readers;
>be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial
and
>nazi's need not apply.
>
>Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
>========================================================================
>Archives Available at:
>http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html
>
>http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
>========================================================================
>To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
>SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
>SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>Om
>
>RFC822 header
>-----------------------------------
>
>Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Received: from listmail.aol.com ([152.163.200.33])
> by zag.workstation.org.uk (Netscape Mail Server v2.02) with
ESMTP
> id AAA277 for <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>;
> Tue, 2 Feb 1999 13:57:21 +0000
>Received: from LISTSERV.AOL.COM by listmail.aol.com (LSMTP for Windows
NT
>v1.1b) with SMTP id <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Tue, 2 Feb 1999
9:09:54 -0500
>Received: from LISTSERV.AOL.COM by LISTSERV.AOL.COM (LISTSERV-TCP/IP
release
> 1.8d) with spool id 22954929 for [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Tue, 2
Feb
> 1999 09:09:53 -0500
>Received: from mx01.together.net (mx01.together.net [204.97.120.61]) by
> listserv.aol.com (8.8.8/8.8.8) with ESMTP id JAA13421 for
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Tue, 2 Feb 1999 09:09:52 -0500 (EST)
>Received: from sequoia.together.net (sequoia.together.net
[204.97.120.25]) by
> mx01.together.net (8.8.7/8.8.8) with ESMTP id JAA16738 for
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Tue, 2 Feb 1999 09:09:52 -0500
>Received: from network (dial-108-MAX-BTVT-06.ramp.together.net
> [208.13.204.108]) by sequoia.together.net (8.8.8/8.8.8) with
SMTP id
> JAA20206 for <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Tue, 2 Feb 1999 09:09:49
-0500
> (EST)
>X-Priority: 3
>X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
>X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.72.3110.5
>X-Mimeole: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3110.3
>Message-ID: <00c201be4eb2$fef273c0$6ccc0dd0@network>
>Date: Tue, 2 Feb 1999 08:50:26 -0500
>Reply-To: Conspiracy Theory Research List <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Sender: Conspiracy Theory Research List <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>From: flw <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: Re: [CTRL] Fascism On The Move Toward "New Order"
>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic
screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters
and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright
frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects
spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL
gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers;
be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and
nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
