Daniil Solovov
Long ago, the nations of the world became embroiled in battle. Vicious fighting ensued in most corners of Earth, and many lives were lost in the various theaters of war. This conflict became known as the Second World War, and it was fought between the Allies and the Axis. To understand the war, you must realize that the Axis was very extreme in its policies, believing in radical solutions to its problems. Policies like that are known as extremist thinking. The term itself had been created and used in the early 1800s, but never before had it been applied to such a degree. Millions of people gave their lives to end the extremist threat to the world, and once the war came to an end, the extremist ideas that once were used to wreak havoc, mass harm, and destruction were now a faint speck in one's mind. The world simply moved on to more moderate forms of government, favoring peace over war and bipartisan solutions over destroying those they blame. But as of late, extremist ideas have been on the rise, but why?
Once the Cold War ended in a Western coalition victory, liberalism and its child neoliberalism quickly became the dominant ideologies of our modern world. Liberalism was simple to follow; it stressed individual rights and liberty, hence the name. As time went on, it seemed clear that liberalism was the way to go, and it was. Life dramatically improved, and technology advanced at a rate not seen before. However, all things have an end, and the global dominance of liberalism has long passed its prime. Because when there is a mistake in the moderate, people believe in the success of the extreme.
Slowly, but noticeably, problems began to arise. Cracks were starting to permeate the liberal world order. Those cracks came from the producer of extremist sentiment and ideology. Nationalism. Most, if not all, nationalists rejected and still reject the globalist principles presented by liberal nations. A fine example of this extremist surge is in the United States, where the progressive and liberal Democratic Party found itself on the losing end of the 2024 election, with the winner being the noticeably more right-wing populist Donald Trump and his Republican Party. This victory came as a big surprise, though it really is just the continuation of the political polarization of the Democratic and Republican parties, which, for those who do not know what that means, means each side was becoming more extreme in their respective beliefs, and supporters of said side viewed the other with hostility.
Extremism is not inherently a bad thing. Martin Luther King Jr. stated, “Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice?”. This quote of his sees extremism as both good and bad, rather than just bad. He states that extremism need not be used for evil and can serve as a force for good. However, being extreme never offers a complete view of a state of affairs, and as such, extremism very often leads to conflict. The whole point of extremist ideology is that it goes extreme on one thing to solve the issue of NOW, and not AFTER.
The single most important thing to be aware of regarding this rise in extremism is that it always stems not from failure itself, but failure to properly respond to it. A government may begin as very stable, with each side supporting the other. However, media companies focus on the losses by that government rather than the victories, keeping the spotlight only on the negative. People look only at the failures presented by these media companies and develop a sense of hatred and hostility, leading to them wishing for change, however radical. These large media companies come from many sides, but they all agree on one thing: Their side is right and is the light, and all other sides are wrong and are the night. Soon, after so much swaying and so much distaste cultivated for the party that was once side by side, people started fighting for a radical solution. The solution they view is right.
When a political party makes a mistake, or many mistakes. Society must respond with logic, not hate. People must come together to make a solution that will help them and not jeopardize the lives of others or other aspects of the nation’s being. Citizens must think before reacting. For the right reaction will heal, and the wrong reaction will destroy.
Sources:
header image used under the Unsplash License
https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/blog/what-is-extremism/
https://direct.mit.edu/isec/article/43/4/7/12221/Bound-to-Fail-The-Rise-and-Fall-of-the-Liberal
https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/political-polarization-united-states
Reading vs. Scrolling: The Definitive Argument for Putting Down Your Phone