Humanity's Final 'Ism' Brings People Together Under an Umbrella of Hate, Anger, and Ignorance

Extremists are shaping our lives, and the changing climate will only make them more powerful

Photo by ilya mondryk on Unsplash

Extremism is the ism de jure shaping how far-right movements and political parties regard the world around them. As the effects of climate change begin to affect all humanity, with each passing year, more and more climate refugees will be on the move. 

The status quo in formerly calm, untouched parts of the world will quickly become overrun with desperate people seeking help and taxing already taxed resources. Peaceful and rational people today will tomorrow be prime targets for leaders and movements that feed on turmoil, hate, and racism. Tomorrow promises to be extreme on all fronts and facets of life. 

This week 

This past week has been another productive week for extremists from all walks of life. While Russia continues its national march down the rabbit hole, in the U.S., Maga-ites threaten to murder and maim members of their own party should they not select Jim Jordan as the next speaker of the House. 

In Gaza, the Hamas terrorists demonstrated their antipathy for their own people by committing atrocities that they knew would result in a harsh and violent response. It’s sadly laughable to hear them cry to the world with faux concern for the women and children killed by the airstrikes. As some have pointed out, had Hamas been so fond of their people and devoted to an independent state, then they might have focused more of their attention on “nation and community building” and less on sitting around sipping tea and acting like peacocks with the feathers on display for all to see. Setting aside the untidy history and hate between Israel and the Palestinians, the sorrow and heartbreak in Gaza today is directly linked to that barbaric decision to attack Israel on October 7th.

The “ism” does not describe only the bad guys, though. The pro-Netanyahu folks, just Trumpists with a different country dialing code (+972), are just as protective of their budding despotism as the MAGA folks are. As this writer has seen — and felt in the number of people who stopped wanting to receive emails of his articles — even the hint of doubt over Israeli motivations when it comes to the Palestinians is received not by the parts of the brain skilled at sorting through emotion, hyperbole, and propaganda but instead gets dumped like a barrel of gas on the fiery nooks and crannies of the amygdala. Emotion reigns supreme. 

The interesting thing about pro-Israel extremists is that while I might agree with them on 99.8 percent of most issues, an act of asking whether or not the airstrikes should have begun after women and children were safe results in extremely well-written introductions to what could easily be mistaken for a doctoral thesis. 

Balanced and soothing with comments like, “You make good points,” the posts rapidly devolve into attacks with angry accusations. “But you are clearly an ignorant, pro-Hamas lunatic who happily repeats the propaganda of MSM (mainstream media — it seems is also against Israel) — and Hamas.” Not denying that innocent women and children were killed, these tragedies are brushed aside with casual statements of factual opinion, “Hamas failed to make Gaza more livable, and so now this is what they get.” How the Hamas failure to govern sanely can justify blowing up a mother with a baby is beyond my seeming pacifist sensibilities.

The thing is, I am not a pacifist. If you have read anything I have written, you will know that while I am still a Russophile, deep down in my soul, I am also for the brutal punishment of all who support Putin and his war of genocide being committed against Ukraine. Nonetheless, I cannot condone the deaths of women and children anywhere because of bullshit politics — and 99.9 percent of politics is precisely that! This article, however, is not against Israel but against Netanyahuists. 

The leaders of the isms

While extremism is present in most countries on Earth today, it is only a handful of leaders whose beliefs motivate their people to take action. Only a handful of leaders instigate or command their people to take action. While Putin is a murderous dictator and criminal, most Russians would happily be sitting home sipping on tea and drinking vodka on the weekends instead of waging war in Ukraine. 

Believe it or not, Trumpists are more motivated by their hate and racist views than Russians are against Ukrainians. A circuit court judge in Maryland was murdered last night outside his house. The police have no clues yet, but I won’t be surprised if we learn the shooter was a Trumpist. The violence being picked up by the FBI in “MAGA world” is off the charts, and more are joining the “movement” because they think Trump is being unfairly prosecuted. 

Now Mr. Trump confronts another moment of apparent peril as he begins to face his accusers in criminal and civil court proceedings. The verdicts in these cases remain months away, but he is reacting in apparent confidence that the consequences of his actions will, as ever, turn out well for him. But it’s equally important to ask how Mr. Trump’s response to his latest predicament will affect others, especially those who are now targets of his wrath (Trump Is Going to Get Someone Killed).

The last time we saw Trump call people to action — “let’s fight like hell,” were the words he used on January 6th — 1,000 people got arrested for attacking the Capitol building. Trump’s “ism” is real, rancid, and hot. 

In the case of other countries like China with its version of “Xi-ism,” there is not really anger driving the Chinese people. They accept their autocracy and regard Xi as a relatively benevolent leader. They have no messianic will to go out into the world and force others to live according to their views. The average Xi-ist, if we can even call them that, tends to be politically passive. 

The same cannot be said for Putinists, but their militancy would have remained indefinitely under wraps had it not been for the invasion. Russians, for the most part, don’t put enough passion or belief into Putin’s rhetoric. They go along with it out of a desire to be left alone, to cover their asses, and not much more. Even those who approve of the war and are fighting in Ukraine are there only to enhance their financial situations more than to re-orient the world to a Russian way — which doesn’t exist, by the way.

Hamas is nothing more than a death cult. They are gangsters, thugs, and losers with no interest in a Palestinian state if it means Israel is their neighbor. Hamas does not want peace; they want a world without Israel, which makes the Hamas “ism” hot, violent, and dangerous. Hamas can’t be negotiated with so it must be ended, but this does not mean all Palestinians in Gaza are evil.

Netanyahu-ism is a hot ism, and because it had the state’s power behind it, it could keep its violent tendencies under wraps and instead used the law to nurture its ism. 

The attack on October 7th, as tragic as it was for all of Israel, was also a call to action for the Netanyahuists. As I wrote, the seething anger in the words of those attacking me for daring to question Israel’s actions in Gaza reminded me of how Trumpists react when criticism is made of Trump. Reason becomes irrelevant, and the only thing the adherents of the ism see before their eyes are spots. Only fulfillment of the mission becomes relevant; for Netanyahuists, it is an Israel free of Palestinians — dear Netanyahist, note that just above, I said that Hamas wants to end Israel. I accept the fault of Hamas in this tragic mess just as I accept the responsibility of the Netanyahuists. 

Netanyahu, however, for all of his hate for Hamas, has been known to play with fire in the past in efforts to weaken the peaceful establishment of an independent Palestinian state. 

“Those who want to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state should support the strengthening of Hamas and the transfer of money to Hamas,” he stated at a Likud party meeting in March 2019. “This is part of our strategy, to differentiate between the Palestinians in Gaza and the Palestinians in Judea and Samaria (Can Netanyahu Survive Hamas Attack?).”

Let the hate flow now — I have criticized Putinists, Hamas, Trumpists, the Chinese, and Netanyahists in this article.

The hate that will come my way merely proves my point. If you are an adherent of an ism, you are the problem, not the solution. Sadly, though, the tragedy of tomorrow’s world because of the deteriorating climate will only further empower your hate and make you the status quo and rational people like me — us, we are still the majority — the minority.