Essay on Political and Economic Evils

This essay encapsulates such political and economic evils and uses a sociological lens to explain these phenomena. The essay discusses the rise of neo-nazi forces, normalization of white supremacy, censorship on the freedom of speech, resentment towards the immigrants and resurgence of hate groups. It also talks about the widening gap between the rich and the poor, rise in state authorities being jailed for articulating their opinion on social media platforms and online forums, and the rise of hate groups all over America. The essay concludes that the contemporary political and economic evils are rooted in the toxic principles of modernity that promotes and entrenches racial superiority, colonial mentality, banal nationalism, xenophobia, capitalism and consumerism.

Running head: ESSAY ON POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC EVILS
ESSAY ON POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC EVILS
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ESSAY ON POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC EVILS
Introduction
The myth of modernity as a beacon of progress and development has been proved as
an illusion. The growing climate of intolerance, rise of neo-nazi forces, normalization of
white supremacy, censorship on the freedom of speech, resentment towards the immigrants
and resurgence of hate groups are some of the economic and political evils that have stormed
up in the contemporary society. This essay encapsulates such political and economic evils
and uses a sociological lens to explain these phenomenon.
Adam Smith had envisioned that a free market economy would define the modern
economy. However, globalization and the concomitant privatization of economy in the guise
of providing freedom to the individuals have turned out to be more pernicious than the feudal
system of economy. A capitalist economy creates the mirage that individuals will have a
better life, there will more choice for the consumers and the workers will have more
autonomy to decide on their work. However, these images created under the capitalist regime
invisibilize the struggles, trials and tribulations that a worker and individuals in the society
has to go through are untold in the mainstream accounts. A capitalist economy has led to the
widening gap between the rich and the poor. It has created one group who have the disposal
income to purchase whatever they want and then there is another group who lack the
adequate means to make both ends meet. Consumerism as become the norm to fit into the
society and this is all the manifested in the visibility of the corporate culture. On the front of
freedom of speech, it was reported that internet freedom has decreased for the fifth
consecutive year. There has been a rise in state authorities being jailed for articulating their
opinion on social media platforms and online forums. Surveillance has risen at a massive rate
and there has been the normalization of the ban culture (Freedom on the Net, 2015). Hackers
are being employed to identify and crack down on voices on political dissent. Governments

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that are known for their attitude of poor human rights are employing malware technologies to
breach the privacy and personal autonomy of its citizens.
The election of Donald Trump in the most powerful nation of the world has
highlighted the resurgence of white colonial supremacy and the rise of Nazism in the western
context. Since the onset of Trump on the global podium, there has been a mushrooming of
rallies that are bordered on racism and evokes the right-wing ideology. In the light of the
2016 election, it was found that there has been a proliferation in the number of hate crimes by
20 per cent. Terms like free speech and right wing unity have surfaced. Liberals and the
media have identified the neo-Nazis as misunderstood patriots (Inc., 2018). Although
universities do not encourage the convention of white supremacists however, they have
supported the supremacist leaders like Milo Yiannopoulos and Richard Spencer. The political
rally held in the Charlottesville unveiled the grotesque nature of the rising white supremacy.
It witnessed severe violence and there was counter rally to criticize the hate campaign. It was
reported that there has been a rise in the number of hate groups all over America. It is not just
the white supremacist groups that have seen a rise but there has been a rise of neo-nazis. It is
found that there has been a rise of black nationalist groups. There has been a 20 per cent rise
increase in the number and magnitude of hate groups in USA since the year 2014
(Oppenheim, 2018). In 2017, it was found that USA had 954 hate groups (Oppenheim, 2018).
It was during the regime of former President of US, Barack Obama that there was a spurt in
the number of hat groups. This rise in white supremacy is anchored in the male-dominated
ideology. This male supremacy espouses the subjugation of women and has been understood
as a toxic ideology. The month of October came to be known as “Bash a violent bitch
month”. The proliferation of the anti-government groups emanates from the fear that there
will be stricter gun regulations since the President belongs to the Democratic Party. An
interview with Vegas Tenold, revealed that the nationalists and neo-nazis may have

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connection with Russia. He described an incident about his Jewish friend who was made to
eat bacon by the white nationalist leaders in order to test whether she was Jew (Bonds &
Inwood, 2016). Such kinds of attitudes in the modern day are an indication of the growing
intolerance that has swept across the world. This debunks the notion that modernity is
emancipatory and paves the path for progress and development. There is a growing
resentment towards immigration. Germany and Sweden have seen the maximum immigration
from 24 per cent in 2011 to 90 per cent in 2017 (Global Views on Immigration and the
Refugee Crisis, 2018). This all the more so evident in the racial attacks inflicted upon the
immigrants in Australia and UK’s strict policy of restricting the flow of immigrants in their
country. The strict Visa policy of USA and UK further underscore the effort to curtail
immigration. The detest for immigrants is rooted in the stereotypical image of the global
south countries. The theoretical framework of the Frankfurt School of Social Research and
Bauman’s understanding of Liquid Modernity. It needs to be remembered that the Frankfurt
School emerged in Germany in the context of the rising anti-semitism towards the minority
Jewish population. The scholars of the Frankfurt School argued that the emancipatory project
of modernity is a façade (Berry, 2013). The confluence between nationalism, capitalism and
racism have culminated tow new kinds of oppression. For Bauman modernity epitomizes
increasing xenophobic attitude and he degradation of moral values (Bauman, 2013).
Relationships loosen their bond and politics is played on the principles of hatred and bigotry.
Therefore, it can be argued that the contemporary political and economic evils are
rooted in the toxic principles of modernity that promotes and entrenches racial superiority,
colonial mentality, banal nationalism, xenophobia, capitalism and consumerism. The modern
day political and economic evils are indicative of the normalization of regressive worldview
and perpetuation of bigoted attitude that caters to the interests of the mainstream and
dominant groups to continue their power politics of hatred.

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References
Bauman, Z. (2013). Liquid modernity. John Wiley & Sons.
Berry, D. (Ed.). (2013). Revisiting the Frankfurt School: Essays on culture, media and theory.
Ashgate Publishing, Ltd..
Bonds, A., & Inwood, J. (2016). Beyond white privilege: Geographies of white supremacy
and settler colonialism.Progress in Human Geography, 40(6), 715-7
Freedom on the Net 2015: Privatizing Censorship, Eroding Privacy.
(2018). Freedomhouse.org. Retrieved 2 April 2018, from
https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net-2015/freedom-net-2015-privatizing-
censorship-eroding-privacy
Giddens, A. (2013). The consequences of modernity. John Wiley & Sons.
Global Views on Immigration and the Refugee Crisis. (2018). Ipsos. Retrieved 2 April 2018,
from https://www.ipsos.com/en/global-views-immigration-and-refugee-crisis.
Inc., P. (2018). Canada among three economies in world most at risk of banking crisis, BIS
warns. Financial Post. Retrieved 2 April 2018, from
http://business.financialpost.com/news/economy/china-banking-crisis-warning-signal-
still-flashing-bis-says-1.
Oppenheim, M. (2018). 22 million Americans support neo-Nazis, new poll indicates. The
Independent. Retrieved 2 April 2018, from
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-neo-nazi-support-american-
public-charlottesville-white-supremacists-kkk-far-right-poll-a7907091.html