Why is racism (white mostly) so charming ?

[Yefim Zverev]

I just wandered through Stormfront which is site for white racists. Read couple of threads and comments there and I got disgusted and be ashamed of my humanity if these people are human too..

Actually that site is good for cleaning racist and nationalist poison in us because what they discuss there is completely ridiculous and you can immediately think to what extreme points racism can get.

So how come on internet Stormfront get much more attention against any leftist site. Is it because leftists do not use internet as much as others.. Yes it might have different reasons. I believe that racism is supported by bourgeoisie to a certain degree because racists oppose leftists as well as religion unless it grows way too strong. And internet is not a really secure place for a revolutionary because you oppose the system and system controls internet.

But still judging from youtube for example it is incredible how hitler and nazi videos get so much attention with sieg heils and so on.

What are the reasons behind it ? Why youth are so likely to be attracted to nationalism and racism ?

[Capitalist Octopus]

People are attracted to nationalism and racism because it offers simple "common sense" answers to complicated questions.

[Ocean Seal]

Racism is attractive to people because it is constantly pushed down our throats. Don't be PC, immigrants are taking over America, if you're unemployed its latinos taking your jobs, blacks on welfare, or jews controlling everything.
The media takes a stereotype and blows it the fuck up, and to people who are desperate it sounds like a convincing story.

[ВАЛТЕР]

People like simple answers, and promises.

"If we got rid of the Jews/Blacks/Asians/etc. all our problems would disappear."

They want an enemy they can readily identify and confront. Their ideals require no thought and part of me is so utterly fascinated by some of their conclusions that I can't help but stand in awe as to how willing they are to lie not only to others, but themselves in order to make their insane theories work.

When looked at with ANY critical thought whatsoever, their ideas fall apart on their own. After which they get hostile and start throwing random accusations at you. It is actually funny to me to debate with them. They go in circles until they are so far up their own ass they can't help but spout shit out of their mouths.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Fascism is anti-intellectual as well... seeing as how many people do not even read recreational few people will bother reading convoluted leftist literature. As others have said this feeds into the "easy answers" to questions which are in fact more complicated than most would like to believe.

[ed miliband]

i think racism seems to be "common sense" in many ways - i've met nominally "pc" liberals who wouldn't say a bad thing about black people or whatever but who still think of race as something other than a social construct

it's a small step from that to "well x race is intrinsically y so z race must be superior" imo at least

[NewLeft]

What are the reasons behind it ? Why youth are so likely to be attracted to nationalism and racism ?

Because the far right are involved in class politics, while there is not much of a far left anymore.

[Grenzer]

I think the issue of "Race" goes a bit deeper than this, and I will explain why.

Racial prejudice is deeply ingrained on a cultural level, that is difficult to deny. Particularly since the arrival of neo-liberalism and the invention of the myth of the "welfare queen" there has been a resurgence in racism.

Racism is oftentimes tied to fascism, and in the case of the United States this seems very clear. The standards of living for most people have been going steadily down since the introduction of neo-liberalism(late seventies) and people are searching for something to explain how such a "Great" country could be going downhill. Obviously, it's not permissible for the elites to allow the idea that capitalism is responsible to spread, so they encourage other means. Race makes an excellent scapegoat for this purpose. The "decline of the nation" can be blamed on newcomers of foreign nationalities who are "parasites." Of course there is no rational basis to these accusations at all, but they make a convenient scapegoat.

A common quote attributed to Lenin is that "fascism is capitalism in decay" has some semblance of truth to it. With capitalism's erosion of the standards of living for the working class, there are several options. The classical escape route is social democracy, which is a quick and easy fix, but expensive and unsustainable in the long run. Another option is for the bourgeoisie to find a scapegoat to the problem, and appeal to the people of "reclaiming" the nation's lost glory and prosperity. Here in the United States, we can see that the bourgeoisie is divided into several factions with one supporting the former option(through legislation such as "Obamacare") and another faction supporting the latter, as seen through things hysterical anti-immigration measures. To be clear, I am not saying that the Republicans are fascists exactly, but certain factions of them are certainly heading in that direction.

Hope this clears a few things up.

[Small Geezer]

Racism is an expression of pridefulness and cavilling about someone elses culture. Both of these are negative human weaknesses. It's a lot easier to just behave like a prick (which has a bit of a rogues charm about it) than to struggle to overcome conditioning and social pressure. One might come off as a bit of a killjoy or a 'PC' wierdo.

Understanding overcomes all this. And more contact and socialising between different ethnicities. But the biggest relief will come through a Socialist revolution. When the social reason for racism is overcome, then people can start to have an easier time unraveling their psychological bases for racist attitudes.

[Zealot]

Racism is an easy explanation for every problem in society. Why bother learning dialectical materialism when it's easier just to say the Jews done it.

But asking why Hitler videos have Nazi comments on them is like asking why Revleft has Communists on it... Furthermore, it seems widespread on the internet because Fascism is itself now mostly confined to the internet and IRL trolls.

[Regicollis]

I think racism and nationalism fills a void for many people who lacks recognition and confidence.
The typical racist has little to no education and has a shitty job if any. He is on the receiving end of capitalist oppression and he feels like shit, being unable to fulfil the demand of being a "success" as defined by capitalist and consumerist propaganda.
Racism and nationalism becomes attractive to those people not only because it offers simple, straghtforward (and wrong) solutions to complex problems but also because it gives its adherents something to be proud of and something that can never be taken away from them. They don't have to be smart or "successful" to be included and respected - they just have to be white or Christian or Norwegian or whatever.

This tendency is not only found among the Stormfront crowd. I also think that it explains the success of right-populist (or fascists in suits) parties who get their votes from former social democrats.

I think the holy grail of socialism is to find a method that will draw these people towards socialism instead of towards fascism.

[Yefim Zverev]

I think Erich Fromm had a book about this... He wrote about the mass and the mentality/psychology of the mass which followed Hitler and his nationalist/racist preaches.

I believe it is extremely important to understand the psychology of these people to deal with them and lots of them are to be found in various societies. This is why I asked this question since I need to learn how to approach fascists.

[Neoprime]

I think racism and nationalism fills a void for many people who lacks recognition and confidence.
The typical racist has little to no education and has a shitty job if any. He is on the receiving end of capitalist oppression and he feels like shit, being unable to fulfil the demand of being a "success" as defined by capitalist and consumerist propaganda.
Racism and nationalism becomes attractive to those people not only because it offers simple, straghtforward (and wrong) solutions to complex problems but also because it gives its adherents something to be proud of and something that can never be taken away from them. They don't have to be smart or "successful" to be included and respected - they just have to be white or Christian or Norwegian or whatever.

This tendency is not only found among the Stormfront crowd. I also think that it explains the success of right-populist (or fascists in suits) parties who get their votes from former social democrats.

I think the holy grail of socialism is to find a method that will draw these people towards socialism instead of towards fascism.

Also added it helps the Frustrated/Ambitious to gain a Superiority Complex or Ego they never had and gives them a badass factor when they lash out in expression.

[Althusser]

I was in an argument with some white nationalist on youtube. He was convinced that equal opportunity is actually white genocide, and once the blacks are equal to the whites and whites have no more power, the jews can "start communism" with their money and noses. :thumbdown: It was almost as funny as when Alex Jones claimed that the U.S. Federal Reserve funded the Third Reich, as well as Lenin and Stalin.:tt2: