The picture this young journalist paints of the rise of racist/cultural hate groups in England is not one I was expecting to see so soon. Could these scenes on the streets of London be the future everywhere in the advanced capitalist countries? As the capitalist managed economy deteriorates, the ruling class would love to see workers turn on each other rather on them, and will do everything they can to encourage such developments. The code word that the elites use is "multi-culturalism" as in "multi-culturalism has failed".
Behind the mounted, armoured cops, you can see St George's flags waving, and you can hear the thump and echo of smokebombs and the chanting of hate-tourists out to scrap with members of another disenfranchised community that happens to look and pray differently. The East end is in lockdown, and there are hundreds of police everywhere. The horses are spooked, and so am I.
Although from a politically liberal perspective, a more detailed understanding of this phenomenon can be obtained by listening to at least the first 10 minutes of this 38:15 minute interview from KPFA radio (Berkeley, CA, USA) interview with John Bowen.
Why have so many European leaders recently proclaimed the failure of multiculturalism? What should we make of their claims, and of the proliferating rhetoric of blame directed against Muslims and other immigrants of color in Europe? John Bowen distinguishes rhetoric from reality in France, Britain and beyond....