Another side of the dark future ahead of us.

[ChipperbackDemocrat]

My apologies if this has been posted already, but I found this article and wanted to share it.
I hope it inspires thought and discussion.

http://newerainvestor.blogspot.com/2005/04/politics-of-peak-oil-and-fascism.html

Though attended by a large number, the "Peak Oil UK" conference
organised by Depletion Scotland on the 25th April had a familiar
look to it. On view were representatives from the media,
environmental groups and oil-related academia as well as concerned
individuals such as myself. Also, the sight of Colin Campbell and
Matt Simmons as speakers and even Mike Ruppert in the audience gave
it all a kind of kindred feel to it all.

However, one individual stood out a mile and in complete contrast to
these groups and that was Nick Griffin, chairman of the British
National Party. For non-British readers, a description of the BNP is
in order. Being a far right wing party, they are somewhat similar to
Jean Marie Le Pen's National Front party of France which has enjoyed
recent electoral successes. However, since immigration is not such a
hot issue in Britain as it is in France, the BNP's electoral
successes are confined to local government elections. No BNP member
sits as an MP in the House of Commons and this is unlikely to in the
current political-economic climate.

Their distinctive theme is "Britishness" with the emphasis
on "whiteness". One could imagine they desire a Britain that existed
before the mass immigrations of our post-war period and they plan to
reclaim that by a policy of repatriation of "non-native" British
people (i.e. mainly those of African and Asian descent). The only
historical change to this repatration policy has been the change
from forced to optional repatriation with financial inducements. How
this can be peaceably achieved with the cooperation of the
destination countries is beyond my understanding.

But back to Peak Oil and the BNP particularly. Since Peak Oil is a
genre generally associated with those left of the political
spectrum, their presence can be regarded as all the more surprising.
After all, their less right wing counterparts such as the Neocons of
America and the Christian Right do not generally regard Peak Oil as
a big issue. What is going on?

If in doubt, ask. So, I went up to Nick Griffin, confirmed his
identity and then asked why he was here amongst all these left-
wingers. His measured answer was that though Peak Oil received
minimal coverage in their manifesto, they see it as a long-term
issue which may well make its way up to the top of their policy list.

What an irony, I thought to myself. Not even the Green Party in
Britain has put Peak Oil on their election agenda, but the far right
BNP may beat them to it. Is not Peak Oil full of surprises? Then
again, maybe not. Let me explain.

Peak Oil is a paradigm shift. People will be forced to look at their
lifestyles and the way they conduct their day to day living. Indeed,
as many predict, this shift may well be from that of somewhere above
abundance to that of somewhere above subsistence. I personally do
not think that is such a bad thing if it weans us off materialism
but still provides us with a living where legitimate needs are still
adequately met.

However, it is the transition to this more simple lifestyle that
worries me. It is how human nature reacts to his fellow man when
resources become scarcer and the blame game begins. The BNP are no
doubt familiar with Adolf Hitler. Indeed, many in their ranks
idolise him and regard the Holocaust as a lie. What the BNP are
aware of is that economic paradigm shifts lead to political paradigm
shifts. Thanks to the short-sightedness of the Versailles Treaty
after the First World War, Germany was put under such duress for
reparations that hyperinflation and economic collapse ensued and
drove desperate people to desperate measures. They had a choice
between the two extremes of socialism - the Communists or the Nazis
(National Socialists). Hitler won and rose to power as the paradigm
shift of hyperinflation had its devastating way.

Hitler blamed the Jewish Bankers for Germany's predicament and also
preached a gospel of Aryan supremacy over other races. Why did the
German people swallow this and vote the Nazis into power? Because as
history has shown over and over again, hardship brings out the worst
in us as well as the best. When resources become scarce, certain
numbers of people psychologically withdraw into their perceived peer
groups and automatically distance other groups. In such
circumstances, if they think they lack life's necessities at the
expense of another group, prejudice and bias will ensue. The
instinct to survive as an individual and a group predominates. It
becomes survival of the fittest and if the majority group regards
itself as the fittest then bloody persecution arises.

The key question is, how much has the multicultural influences of
the past forty years embedded itself into the psyche of the
majority? Are minorities welcomed or merely tolerated while there is
an abundance of oil generated goods? When everyone's belly is full,
there is acceptance. When bellies are empty, the fight is on for
what matters most.

If those who welcome and tolerate are outnumbered by those who do
not welcome or tolerate those groupings they class as competition,
then multiculturalism is dead on the other side of the oil divide.
Peak Oil will have initiated the worst form of paradigm shifts, the
politics of racial survivalism.

I propose that the BNP see this coming paradigm shift and are
preparing. They know the history of the rise of the Nazi party, they
see an opportunity to rise themselves. Given the darker side of
human nature, they could well be right. No doubt, their counterparts
in the USA and other countries are also debriefed on what Peak Oil
could mean to them and will prepare and wait accordingly.

Political parties which are small before seismic shifts become the
major parties on the other side. Just ask the incumbent Labour Party
in Britain. They first came to power after the privations of World
War II with an agenda of social and economic restructuring.

How will the current political parties react? Those who have risen
on and adapted to the wave of abundance, will they ban the BNP or in
their greedy desire for power, assimilate their policies?

Only time will tell, but if history is anything to go by, it is in
the balance.

[hatrack]

1. Have you read "Among The Thugs" by Bill Buford?

Nick Griffin pops up in it, a book about (of all things) soccer violence during the 1980s and 1990s. Given that a chunk of the book was about the extreme right in Britain and their use of soccer (sorry, "football") to recruit, it seems to fit.

[ChipperbackDemocrat]

2. I've read that book

And I agree, the BNP are thugs, but during hard times people will listen to anyone who has any semblance of a solution no matter stupid or misguided they are.

In good times, the voice of the intellectual is ignored or scorned. In the dark times to come, those voices will be silenced.

People like Nick Griffin are counting on such silence.