I get sick of listening to people – who really should know better – rattling on and adopting some of the media’s constant drip-drip of anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, anti-foreigner, or pro-UKIP, anti-European line and playing straight into the hands of the far right and even not so far right.

It seems that, every time we hit some kind of ‘financial crisis’, the latest cycle of economic crash or recession, out crawl the usual frothing at the mouth, racist, nationalistic, so-called patriotic scumbags. It happened back in the ‘70s, post-1973 in particular when the first ‘oil crisis’ happened. Again, western governments had been interfering in the Middle East. They’d supported, in this case, Israel’s war against Arab countries, its military beefed up by the USA, France and Britain. Consequently, the OPEC oil sheiks quadrupled oil prices and hit us hard ‘causing’ all sorts of cuts to public expenditure (as now). Then, as now, out came the knives for our immigrant community – ‘they’re taking our houses, our jobs, our benefits’ etc. etc.

Likewise, more memorably, more catastrophically, it happened after the ‘Great Depression’, the Wall Street Crash of 1929, which helped Hitler to power when he beat the drum for extreme nationalism and scapegoated people who were ‘different’, ‘foreign’.

Now, we’re living through the worst economic crisis since 1929 – beginning in 2008 – and again there’s the sickening rise of the far right again in the shape of UKIP and their gutter version, the EDL.

Again, the scapegoats are the ‘Muslim community’ and other groups of immigrants, usually from ‘Eastern Europe’.
And a significant section of the mainstream media are complicit in this. Hardly a day goes by when the likes of the Daily Mail, Daily Express, the Sun, the Star, even the once left of centre Daily Mirror all run blazing headlines of negative immigrant or Muslim stories. More alarmingly, our politicians from ALL the main parties encourage such attitudes and outlooks. Each political party wants to outdo the other in ‘curbing immigration’, pandering to the press to win their backing for the next elections.

Failed economic model

Myself, I think it’s beholden to those who deign to represent us, to govern us, to explain what’s happening and why, rather than blind us with fear and loathing.

Rather than blame the economic model – ie. ‘capitalism’ – which has failed (again), they would rather add to the myth that ‘we can’t afford’ to fund our public services, that we ‘have to make savings’ (read cuts). That we can’t allow anymore immigrants in, we’re ‘full up’.

The reason we’ve got unemployment is because the banks that ‘our money’ props up are refusing to invest in jobs and services. The reason there’s a shortage of affordable houses to buy or rent is because there’s a refusal to build new ones or renovate the many hundreds of thousands that lie empty.

The reason we’re experiencing threats of terrorism is because of our tendency to interfere in other countries for our politicians’ own ends. No wonder people in the Middle East hate us when our governments funded and supported many an oppressive dictator like Saddam and Mubarak.

‘PC Brigade’

And, if that’s not enough to demonise Muslim people, now we have them – a whole community – once again smeared for the grooming and sexual abuse of young white girls in places like Rochdale and Rotherham.

Without a doubt, there exist some despicable individuals who operate either alone or in gangs and perpetrate these crimes. We’re told the police and social workers didn’t follow them up because they were afraid of being accused of racism ‘by the PC brigade’.

Well, funny, but that fear of ‘being accused of racism’ doesn’t extend to the ‘stop and search’ policy, or to the fact that people from ethnic minorities are disproportionately represented in the criminal justice system and unemployment figures.

What we do know is that there are also gangs of ‘white Englishmen’ who operate in paedophile gangs, particularly in our children’s services, and don’t let’s even start with ‘men of the cloth’. So it’s clearly not an exclusive practice to Muslim men – far from it. There’s a whiff that maybe the authorities are claiming the PC that stopped them from arresting or even challenging Muslims is a get out clause for neglecting their duties.

Progressive Ideas

I can’t help but think this constant carping from the press and politicians about ‘politically correct’ this, ‘politically correct’ that has ‘all gone too far’ is just an excuse to stir up division to distract people from what is going on. While we’re all arguing with each other down here about racism, sexism, homophobia, Islamophobia, immigrants etc. the ‘rich folk’ are getting away with murder, their economic system continues to make a killing.

It puts me in mind of that little scenario of a millionaire, a worker and an immigrant are sat around a table with ten biscuits. The millionaire has nine, the worker has one, the immigrant has none. The millionaire says to the worker: ‘He’s after your biscuit.’ Divide and rule.

The right and the far right, and even Labour politicians, are increasingly jumping on the bandwagon, use ‘PC’ to beat progressive ideas with a big stick.

Myself though, for all its faults, I’d rather be ‘politically correct’ than ‘politically backward’. Better PC than PB, that’s me.