Capitalism has a lot to answer for.

These are undoubtedly scary times but we must not be ruled by fear. The fear-mongering accompanying the narrow nationalism has not gone unnoticed or unchallenged.  These days we are witnessing the ignorance of populist politicians who continue to sow suspicion of “outsiders”. They have persuaded millions of voters that vulnerable men, women, and children fleeing war-torn or famine-ravaged countries for safe-havens are foreign enemies and their biggest threat. The xenophobic hyperbole has persuaded many that refugees pose a major risk. Eager to retain or acquire political office, these shameful charlatans propose bogus remedies such as walls and fences. It’s much easier to scapegoat the weak than offer effective solutions to peoples' social problems that actually do make so many feel anxious and insecure.  Voters who were drawn to politicians with quick-fixes for the festering inequality and putrefying poverty will be sadly disappointed.

Almost everywhere in the world, un or underemployment is growing, the gap between rich and poor is widening, and environmental devastation is worsening. It has become apparent that these many crises which have given rise to right-wing sentiments share a common root cause: a global capitalist system that is devastating the lives of hundreds of millions of people, but also our ecosystems.

In democracies, the “demos,” the people, rule; not social or economic elites.  This was the understanding of philosophers in Athens twenty-five centuries ago. The emergence and dominance of capitalist economic relations has now marginalized the will of the people. The wealthy have more political influence in than others – not because they are endowed with more wisdom and are more persuasive, but it is thanks to their economic and social power.  The rich rule. And governments serve their interests. Bourgeois democracy is a shell game played every few years in the duplicitous hands of the country’s wealthiest citizens. Marx’s notion that bourgeois ideology blinded workers to their exploitation was prophetic, predicting the passive acceptance of the rule of the few over the many. Capitalist rule is not only disenfranchising people worldwide, it is fueling climate change, destroying cultural and biological diversity, and replacing community with consumerism.

Once we understand the systemic nature of our problems, the path towards solving them becomes clear. Bonds of local interdependence are to be strengthened, where a sense of personal and cultural identity begins to flourish, based on the principle of connection and the celebration of diversity as opposed to the fear-mongering and divisiveness in politics and the media.  Capitalism is dominated by the scapegoat mentality. 

It would be easy to dismiss the fear of “Muslims” – all Muslims everywhere – as casual racism. Of course, racism plays a part in the field left open for the far right to argue that Muslim refugees are unacceptable because “their” culture is incompatible with “our” culture. Yet xenophobia is not always racism and is not always without cause.  Whether we like it or not, mass migration has exacerbated concerns among many European natives that their culture is under threat. For the socialist, neither the word “natives” nor the idea of a “culture” under threat sits easily. Yet they mean something to a large number of Europeans and Americans. Too many accept the view that migrants steal native jobs while also living off welfare and that the evidence predominantly shows that migrants, in general, have a  positive effect on the host economy and that refugee "invasions” may, in fact, actually boost the economy. There is no serious dispute that Europe can benefit from immigration to compensate for its ageing population, in order to have a balanced demography. 

Yet even when people accept the economic arguments – which in the wake of the financial crisis, many do not – this isn’t their primary concern. Discussions move from competition for scarce jobs to the lack of class spaces in schools, the waiting times at hospitals and the shortage of housing. Refugees are collateral damage in the debate over austerity policies and cut-backs in social services by the government.