Should we be Scared?

So we are almost at the end of the year 2016. And boy, what a year it has been! A joke doing the rounds in certain social media circle aptly describes the experience. 

The joke goes something like this:

The year is a hundred or so hence and a history teacher tells his class, “So that concludes the history lesson for year 2015 and now let’s move on to year 2017.”

Surprised, one student stands up and asks him, “But sir, what about 2016?” and the teacher answers “We don’t talk about it.”

Jokes apart, does this message strike home? Is this year going to be our shame, an embarrassment, we will never talk about? 

Let’s have a look at the events. Brexit, Trump’s victory in the presidential election, an increase in racist attacks on migrants and people being judged for their skin colour, religion and their ethnic backgrounds rather than intelligence (even Obama and his wife Michelle have been targets of such racism) and closer home an increasing shift in how we view everything through the religious glass. 

Let’s have a look at Brexit. Now, I am no economist nor do I claim to understand the complex implications of such a huge economic step. But when Britain voted to leave the powerful European Union, notwithstanding the repercussions on its economic future, it surprised, nay, shocked the world. It looked like the world as we knew it was coming to an end. Politicians and some liberals warned of the how it would impact not only the economy but also isolating yourself in an increasingly violent world was not very wise. That is what this was; an isolation.

Yet people voted for this shift. Why?  Some surveys and expert opinion is that, people blamed the 3 million or so EU nationals, who could move freely in the union and work anywhere. This was putting tremendous pressure on the British economy and leading to increase in inequality in income and opportunities for the locals. There was a sense of losing power and a deep resentment towards Hispanic and Muslim migrants who came here in huge numbers leading to lower wages. The general consensus, it seems, is that if Britain goes it alone, they wouldn’t have to adhere to the control of the Union.

The underlying hatred that always simmered just below the surface, pushed itself to the fore and announced its arrival to the world at large. The older generations were said to be more insecure and voted for this change, as opposed to the younger lot who are more liberal and comfortable with social changes. This was one of the major events that got the world to sit up and take notice of the subtle shift of opinions from the more liberal to the traditional or let’s say cultural.

This shift was again noticed in the US presidential election. It was blatantly visible in Trump’s victory. Throughout his campaign, he had advocated a disdain towards people who are not ‘pure’ Americans. This includes Mexicans, Latin Americans, people from Muslim countries (it did not matter that they may have lived for generations in America), the Chinese and so on. His rhetoric of racism, sexism, and xenophobia, shocked even people from his own Republican party. And yet he won. Sex scandals and tax frauds, notwithstanding, people voted for him. It again espoused the continuous attack that was taking place on the liberal intellectual establishment and all that they stood for.

A large number of the Indian community there, chose to side with him, perhaps fuelled by their own hatred of Pakistan and China and a misplaced belief that somehow Trump’s victory would be better for them. They are now discovering the actual impact of a Trump-led America.  In spite of his own views of admiration for the Indian community, they are having to put up with spiteful attacks from Trump surrogates who are finding it safe to hate again. They find Trump’s view of ‘Nativists’ has come to bite them on the backs.

In the American society too, there has always been a strong sentiment against migrants and people with 'darker skin color', who hold positions of power in the society and Trump’s victory has only given this sentiment a stamp of approval. Misogynistic and sexist attitudes are now out in the open. A society that prided itself on its liberal views, suddenly finds itself marginalised, with a majority supporting a rather narrow-minded outlook. America lost its chance to make history by electing a woman into the oval office, just like they did when they elected Barrack Obama as their first black president. A lot has changed in the world around us it seems. Suddenly it is okay to hate.

Whether it is the anonymity of the social media that has given voice to the ones that have once felt marginalised and continuously judged or a new form of media that thrives on such sensationalism, these sentiments have found a voice again. They can say it out loud and finally be heard.

Closer home too, people voted for change and change things did. We changed the way we looked at each other today. Religions pass the diktat on what or how a society should behave. We want restrictions on what other people can eat or wear, based on our beliefs. We don’t mind supporting the people who want religious supremacy; it is perhaps what we want too. We are okay with the fact that each of us is trying to promote and push our own religion and beliefs as the one and only. If you disagree or have your own opinions, we brand them as anti-national. Democracy is no more about questioning or disagreeing. It is all about nodding your head and keeping silent else you will be mocked and trolled.

We are taking a few steps back and binding ourselves in our age-old beliefs rather than letting go and opening our minds. Evolution has just taken a step back.

So the fear of economic collapse in Britain or the Trump’s promise to break up trade deals such as the Free Trade Agreement does little to deter public opinion. They would rather concentrate on his promise of deporting immigrants and building walls.

And that is exactly what we are doing, all around the world. We are building walls. It throws up an interesting thought though. Were we always so insecure and resentful of each other? Were the free, liberal and accommodating humans we believed we were evolving into, just a figment of our imagination? Are economic outcomes fuelled by cultural beliefs or is it the cultural beliefs that shape economic outcomes? Will the world, that had come together after the Second World War and opened their boundaries, go back to closing those boundaries and live in isolation again? Will the dream of being global citizens become just that - A dream? Should we be afraid of the rise in hatred, of being shunned because of religion or skin colour? Did we not learn from history? One man’s hatred of a few, led countries to destruction and propelled the world into a war, we are not likely to forget in a hurry. But forgotten we have, it seems. Will we wake up before it is too late or will we let history repeat itself?