To The eExtreme

Extremism, what is it?

So yes there are people out there in the world who actually believe they are superior to other races, that their religion has the upper on someone elses and that there is only one acceptable sexual preference. And of course there people like to congregate with other similar minded people so they can attempt to rationalise their beliefs with one another.These groups operate outside the social norm and in many cases on an extreme level sometimes using violence degredation and even terrorism.They are known as extremist groups.

The concept of the extremist group is not new.Their roots lie within ignorance, xenophobia and fundamentalism all of which have been around for thousands of years. Essentially it relates to political and social ideologies which are seen as 'irrational, counterproductive and unjustifiable or otherwise unacceptable to a civil society. Regardless of my view on their beliefs I do think they have a right to belive it, I do however think it is very unfortunate that these people entertain such a narrow and hate filled world view. And that they use fear and misinformation to convert new members. Which brings me to my next point.

The Internet, one of the most powerful tools in human history. It is a giant network, with millions of users, virtually no policing and its easy to use. But that just it, it is merely a tool, it is indifferent. It depends on its user whether it does bad or good. and thus in recent years we have seen the advent of eExtremism or electronic extremism. Basically the internet is an ideal platform for extremist groups to push their agenda, recruit new members and also slander the minorities they are against not to mention sell merchandise to raise funds. White supremacist groups are notorious for their online following .Notably Aryan nation and the KKK, two groups whose physical presence is far less common than in previous years have retreated to the online world to spread their message, with I might add great success.

Australia being a very multicultural society still has its pockets of racial intolerance. One notatable group is actually a political party “The Australia First” party. With their tagline: identity independence freedom. Its interesting to me that a lot of these extremist groups have to hide behind freedom when voicing their opinion. Anyway this is a party wishing to abolish multiculturalism and who was also behind the Cronulla riots. At face value they are a legitimate government party but upon closer look it becomes quite apparent there are some strong racial undertones in their agenda. The internet once again plays quite a large role in their recruitment and propaganda. They even have a youthgroup you can join to help their cause.

Unfortunaley there will always be groups like this. Ignorance breeds ignorance and the internet is the perfect tool to spread the message.but what harm can this do to society? We know these groups can be dangerous and we know they prey on recruiting the weak and disenfranchised using fear and hatred. So while the physical existence of these groups is not as apparent to the eye is their online voice stronger than ever?