By: Muhammed Hussain, Student Voices Writer
There is certainly no doubt about my profound hate for
Donald Trump, which of course comes as no surprise as I am a Muslim and find
most of his comments have been utterly revolting, worrying and completely out
of order. However, I also feel an obligation to criticise those on the left of
the political spectrum. The job of the ‘left’ has always been to silence
meaningful discussion about actual problems in society. This, I believe is the
real cause of the outburst of fascist, right wing and dangerous rhetoric
developed by Donald Trump and others in the Republican party.
A recent poll revealed that 65% of voters who backed Donald
Trump in New Hampshire was because of his bluntness, in other words, people
feel attracted to him because they think that he ‘tells it like it is’. It
suggests that there is significant section of society who want politicians to
speak the truth. Although the ‘truth’ may seem subjective in most instances,
politicians shouldn’t be too scared of speaking their minds about race,
religion and culture. In times of globalisation, borderless countries and assimilation,
the only way misunderstandings can be eliminated of in any society is by
talking, deliberating and researching them.
Labelling issues as a ‘taboo’ gives right wing politicians
the perfect opportunity gain popular support from the relatively deprived and
less educated in society. For example, even in the UK, the rise of the United
Kingdom Independence Party is mainly associated with their bluntness to issues
which are regarded as highly sensitive such as multi-culturalism. Even the
former equalities chief, Trevor Phillips stated that some people are too scared
to speak minds about race. This is by no means intended to incite racism, but
it must be acknowledged that there are some statistics out there which paint a
gloomy picture of some social groups and should thus be discussed in a rational
sense.
It’s the mistakes of the left that make the right seem
attractive. The shaming and stigmatisation of people wanting to discuss
controversial issues is the real cause for the rapid surge of support for right
wing organisations and politicians. It gives politicians like Donald Trump the
opportunity to misuse social taboos and therefore generalise groups by quoting
inaccurate and unrepresentative stats. It’s noteworthy to state there is a
consistent correlation of less educated people supporting right wing
politicians, for example even in New Hampshire, 41% of the people who voted for
Donald Trump were less educated or didn’t have a college degree. From the
aforementioned it’s easy to see why that is: these people are looking for real
change, and real change of course needs to start with the truth. What they call
the ‘truth’, I call it ‘speaking your mind’.
Therefore, it can be concluded that this racist, xenophobic
and sexist rhetoric can only be defeated if the left embraces a diversity of
opinions. We need to defeat inaccurate claims by having meaningful discussions
about them, researching the issues objectively and taking every side of the
argument into consideration.
Meet the author:
Studying Politics, Philosophy and Sociology at Coombe Sixth Form. Used to be on the left of the political spectrum but rapidly transitioned to the centre ground. A staunch advocate of free speech, human rights and equal opportunities. Political interest is focused on local, national and international affairs.
Meet the author:
Muhammed Hussain
Writer
Studying Politics, Philosophy and Sociology at Coombe Sixth Form. Used to be on the left of the political spectrum but rapidly transitioned to the centre ground. A staunch advocate of free speech, human rights and equal opportunities. Political interest is focused on local, national and international affairs.
To defeat the right - the left needs to open
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Reviewed by Admin
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