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I Discovered the Secret Behind the Far Right’s Rise — And It’s Not What You Think
It’s not hate, but the illusion of truth and belonging.
On some occasions, I become aware of this global situation, where it seems that the world has become a room filled with individuals screaming at mirrors. While everyone is angry, the anger no longer has a specific target or outlet. It soaks into traffic, it festers on social media, it erupts at family dinners, it contorts the eyes of strangers.
Nobody trusts anybody.
I have this feeling everywhere I go, from Delhi to Dallas, from Bangalore to Berlin.
In my time in the US, I often came across individuals who sounded exhausted by politics, individuals who would never call themselves extremists. Rather, they were just “fed up.” One man I met while I waited for a bus expressed that he didn’t hate immigrants. He simply didn’t think anyone in power ever gave a shit about people like him.
He said, “I worked my ass off, couldn’t even afford rent, and I could see officials smile and preen while my town returns to ruin during half-diversity panels.”
He wasn’t reciting ideologies. He was expressing hopelessness.
