Thread by @1JoshGreenberg

THREAD

ON THE CRISIS OF HATE AND EXTREMISM IN OUR NATION.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, hundreds of scientists—in universities, pharmaceutical corporations, and research institutes alike—have dropped all of their work to focus on coronavirus research.

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They have completely transformed their labs for a singular cause. Both public and private entities have invested billions of dollars in the effort.

But we have an equal, if not greater, crisis of hate and extremism in our country—one that becomes more emergent by the day.

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The crisis of hate and extremism has not attracted a commensurate response. Who has dropped all of their work to address this emergency?

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And yet, we have the capacity to develop antidotes. For instance, psychological research suggests that a mass public campaign aimed at peace, de-escalation, and de-radicalization may go far in blunting a potential explosion of violence in our nation.

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Typically, it would be the Federal Government’s role to fight such widespread hate and extremism. But we know that the Federal Government is, in fact, part of the problem, acting as a major perpetrator of the hate.

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So combatting this extremism must fall to another party in our society. But who will step up? Where is the fervor of the coronavirus vaccine effort? Where are the scholars and the universities and the civil society organizations and, yes, the companies this time around?

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The vacuum of leadership on this front is not for lack of expertise, knowledge, or resources. First, we have plenty of lessons from history to inform the analysis of our present predicament.

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Our country includes many of the world’s leading experts who have studied the patterns preceding war and genocide. We are also blessed with globally renowned scholars on hate and extremism, who have contributed significantly to counterterrorism strategies.

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In addition, we have several anti-hate organizations, such as the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center.

For this collection of experts, our current domestic crisis should be the calling of a lifetime.

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This is not to say that all of the foregoing individuals and organizations are doing nothing. At least some of them are active. But are they doing enough?

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Then there are the corporations. What company is applying its tried-and-tested marketing strategies to run a truly major anti-hate campaign right now?

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No doubt, most people will say the explanation here is obvious: an anti-hate campaign does not promise corporations profit like a COVID-19 vaccine does. But let’s be realistic: virtually all companies stand to suffer dearly in the event of a once unthinkable war on our soil.

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So what needs to be done? First, we must accept that our only option right now is damage control. This must be our singular focus.

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We know that our nation’s current predicament has been driven by entrenched long-term developments, such as rising economic inequality, stinging racial injustice, fragmenting social cohesion, and declining civic education. Those issues won’t be solved overnight.

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We are now in crisis management mode. And there is still hope to correct course to move our nation away from the brink. This is the imperative—which continues to grow increasingly urgent, especially with the events in Portland.

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To do that, our greatest hope may be in a mass public campaign promoting peace, de-escalation, and de-radicalization.

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Now, I am no expert in research on the psychology of hate and extremism. But I know enough to say that there is real hope to counteract the effects of hate by promoting more uplifting messages, informed by psychological research.

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However, the later we continue to get in the game—and we are already late—the harder this will be to accomplish.

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Rather than doing anything constructive of this nature to help avert a worst-case scenario, many of our leaders merely continue to beat the daily drum of denouncing Trump. These denunciations are true, but they ultimately do little to save our country from catastrophe.

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We are stuck in a mode of never-ending denunciation and reactionism, with relatively little strategic action informed by foresight.

Far-right extremism is a grave enemy. But the more dangerous foe may be the toothless nature of the left’s response.

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As external states use psychological warfare tactics to run a campaign of division in our country—manipulating our social media and driving a wedge within the populace—what do we do?

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The typical response from Democrats is to denounce the efforts of these actors and to call on the Federal Government to adopt measures to stop such foreign intrusion. But we know this response amounts to little.

Why aren’t we instead confronting the foreign intrusion head-on?
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Why aren’t we running a counter-campaign to beat back the Russian propaganda? Why aren’t we delivering messages of peace and love and de-radicalization to defang the extremism in our society? Why aren’t we applying our decades of counterterrorism expertise to our own country?

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Almost all current efforts against Trump seem to be predicated on Trump’s adherence to normal electoral procedures—which increasingly appears to be an incorrect assumption. The falsity of this assumption will void these strategies.

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So where is the forethought and planning to forestall a more violent eventuality? Just as we need to appeal to swing voters, we also need to confront the more dangerous end of the political spectrum.

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The explanation behind the inaction of so many of our leaders and experts during this time is anyone’s guess. Is this another case of American exceptionalism? Are even those denouncing Trump unable to grapple with the reality of where our country might be headed?

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Should our country experience the once unthinkable, we will look back at the major failure of these individuals and institutions to stand up and act.

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