Overcoming embedded extremism and hate means understanding "soft side" of support among people who don't normally accept such ideas as their own but are still unwitting but willing participants. These are the people who after the fact realize they were mislead and begin to rationalize away their responsibilities over choice. They comprise those who say, "Yes...but..." once pieces of a puzzle come together to create a fuller awareness of behaviors and motivations. To understand this phenomenon we will need to delve into the social networks and the influence of key social arousers how they can excite their base toward engaging in behaviors that normally would be seen as inappropriate (i.e. cleansing and/or national extremism). More importantly we should wonder why community members did not reflect back to them more appropriate American values and how we are a cross roads of choice that will impact future outcomes (nationally and locally).
Turning Radicalization into a Weapon
Healthy people who have a sense of balance between themselves and others are unlikely to be swept into mob action based on superficial differences (i.e. they make more of a conscious choice.). It is often those who lack an internal sense of values and who are highly focused on being "accepted" that are most prone to the negative influences of social "agents". Blind follower behavior can be such a large phenomenon that it results in history changing events such as the Capital Riots. Large mob behaviors could be spontaneous but are often caused through genuine need for change or through foreign manipulation to collect intelligence data and/or cause large scale social upheaval (See Riot Document Upload and FBI Testifies. As a side note, Thinking of ways for government to review is possible to interview witnesses, cross compare with other data, determine the frequency of shouters and "influencers" within the crowd. If multiple similar terms, sayings and behaviors indicate planted protestors it might be possible to continue to trace the information and logic chain back to "shadowy characters".).
Either way, we have a problem with the gullibility of some of our population and how easy it was for others to push them to act in ways they wouldn't have consider in another place or time. This ability to radicalize others rests on tapping their preexisting implicit beliefs(See Implicit Bias, Violence, Justice) matched with a high need to belong/inner fears of powerlessness. Understanding the "feel" of a group's beliefs (Which you can actually do by observing multiple behaviors, comments, beliefs, actions, activities, etc...i.e. and finding the root logic) means crafty social leaders can exploit embedded hate to turn into outward action to accomplish specific goals. By analyzing the social behaviors we can better see how "influencers" can be highly destructive when critical thinking is absent (See Social Influence Networks).
The Bigger Picture Central Values
Its important to keep the U.S. and its citizenry focused on emulating the essential core principles that hold our country together. When groups veer radically from those central beliefs it creates social division that can be exploited by bad actors and other "agents" for personal, political, racial-religious-ethnic and/or geopolitical issues. Beyond the politics of it all there are serious humanitarian issues as they relate to not tackling radicalism and hate; whether they are American or not.
According to a study entitled The Weaponization of Social Media hosted by United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UCHA)
"Coordinated disinformation campaigns are designed to disrupt decision making, erode social cohesion and delegitimize adversaries in the midst of interstate conflict. IO tactics include intelligence collection on specific targets, development of inciteful and often intentionally false narratives and systematic dissemination across social and traditional channels."
In Nazi Germany people would call on their neighbors because it was seen as patriotic and right thing to do for the people of Germany at that time in history. In places like Iraq it was loyalty to one's community and to one's religious sect that defined the battle lines during that time. Each of them have in common a core group of highly ethnocentric individuals with a core nationalist/sect who heighted small divisions into big gaps through false narrative (You can tell the intellectual strength of a country by the open rationalist, scientists, free thinkers, writers, poets, philosophers and others that are allowed to explore their environments to discover previously unknown knowledge 🤔. Strong nations hedge their strengths for the advancement of the country while weak nations remove them to silence alternative strategies.😯 This choice determines the long term viability of a nation as a market leader or a market exploiter.).
In the U.S. domestic extremism is more of a homegrown phenomenon based within one's social networks and the perception of what one's country should look like (i.e. ultra-nationalism often caries with it other unwanted traits). When ethnocentrism and blind loyalty to one's social network mix with national perception (hopefully, one defined by Americans and not others.) it can be dangerous as critical thinkers are silenced and lower values breed in environments where group think causes misjudgment of environmental challenges and potential solutions. (See Legal Subjectivity and Distributive Justice)
A Nation of Minorities (Interwoven to Create Strength)
Diversity is a strength or it is a weakness. Diverse nations can hedge all of their strengths from multiple stakeholders, learning styles, and cultures to ensure the central principles of the nation and its institutions are focused on overcoming problems for the best interest of everyone (i.e. a good citizen). Diversity can also cause problems if there isn't shared goals among the groups and communities are susceptible to false rhetoric (We are limited understanding of how biological and psychologically connected we are based on the differences between perception and reality at different stages of one's development. The lower the developmental level the more limited the perspective. Each race and religion seems to follow similar patterns of thinking and we should consider the possibility that focusing on our similarities among all of the community stakeholders is likely to have the best outcomes for everyone. See Debrowski Human Dev., See Man and Apple, and See Systems Thinking.)
Hate groups are seeking to exploit this, and any other difference, to place themselves into an advantageous position (Notice that this is different than sharing political beliefs and/or having preference in dating, marriage and friends). It is about an intentional campaign to bully, misinform, disrupt, and incite harm/violence (See International Relations and Social Network Theory). That becomes particularly dangerous if caused on purpose to exploit grievances and divisions (See Scientist Predicts U.S. Break Up and Information Warfare BTW. Its not my place to say anything good or bad about the theory. It could be true or not true depending on our actions and geo-political shifts around the world. The point should be highlighted that our divisions could be exploited by anyone if we do not stick to an inclusive central American identity.).
Wiser minds know that the end result of hyper politics and hate will lead to human catastrophes and if unchecked dissolution of a Republic (...at least in current form. Think what might have happened if the rioters were successful in capturing, injuring, or extorting Congress members? Seriously....take a moment and think of what doors open and which close and how blind followership could have caused all types of of other problems.). Universal justice and a core definitions of what it means to be "American" is important in transcending future divisional differences (We must trust in our institutions and our leadership to consistently strive to do "the right thing" in all of their activities. This means having values beyond themselves to the greater purpose of the nation. Our job is to think critically about them and encourage the "problem solvers" to move to higher stations of leadership and ensure our "problem makers" are either being pushed to be helpful or discounted in their ability to lead.)
At this juncture in history, stability (and thriving) will mean organically integrating people, places, and institutions by ensuring success and opportunity are based in actual performance rather than loyalty to one's tribe, religious sect, race, wealth, and/or "connections" (Similar concepts apply to too much concentration of wealth and not enough opportunities on the less wealthy members of society.). If we are one entity then we will have to think and act like a single large tribe with lots of spicy flavors (We all have gone to the store and bought a party mix or trail mix right? It tastes better in combo than the components alone.) Celebrating the characteristics of what makes us unique as individuals (and/or social, religious, cultural framework) should also come with celebrating why we are unified supporting a free nation of free people (Central American principles).
Red Queen Hypothesis
Let us take a sciency and nerdy approach to this from a very macro human species (any species) level where lack of diversity makes organisms less adaptable. When your environment changes (i.e. global warming, comet, conflict, COVID, disease, pestilence, food supply, etc...) it will naturally have an impact on people, plants, organisms, etc... and anything else that lives within that habitat. If species (i.e. humans) are too homogeneous in terms of genetics, race, religion, background, education, thought, etc.. we can run the risk of not adapting well when large scale changes occur.
The Red Queen Hypothesis indicates that as species diversify (races, ideologies, peoples, etc... intermingle) it creates natural changes in the adaptability in the species to allow for new genetic coding (See Red Queen and Humans and an interesting read on Red Queen and Firm Adapt). The same can be said of people who think different and how their thoughts impact the thinking of others and come to new thoughts and conclusions that can also help overcome challenges (While the Red Queen dealt with biology it is important to consider the possibility of how diversity of thought and science lead to new discoveries would not have been available without intermingling ideas. While it may seem far fetched to some our biology and our thoughts are at least partially related and mitigated by education and exposure to new ideas. Econ and Social Influence).
Diversity mixed with an American central purpose creates strength that can't be achieved in homogeneous environments (i.e. countries that suppression and separate populations based in religion, race, and other superficial dividers. See See Homogeneous Bullies). We are a species like any other species and Americans are in a better place based on the long line of choices of our fathers and forefathers (including mothers and grandmothers) that put us in the place we are today (A moment of more clarity to make a choice.). It is now up to use to tie diversity to centrality of purpose to overcome the challenges we face as a nation (They are big but we can be first in on the next developmental platform. See Sociological-Economic Platforms). There will be voices that want to ripe us apart and there will be voices that want to pull us together. We are strongest when we can hedge our diversity to find solutions to challenges that other nations will struggle with based on their long line of national-historical choices (expending effort on innovation and new ideas versus spending resources on suppression and maintaining division).
Side Note: This is a blog of ideas and not every idea everyone is going to agree with. Just because I state them doesn't even mean I believe them but am open to exploring the ideas for possible merit (Holding judgement until facts are known is called critical thinking.) Its not a "proven fact" but it is one possible explanation of how diversity and universal justice can be a strength versus a weakness to be exploited. We are here at this time in history and can choose the paths before us. See Road Not Taken Based upon what I see in terms of capacity, potential, international challenges, and diverse human capacity I would say use diversity as strength and reduce the influence of those who seek to exploit our differences (domestic or international. As a nation we will have to decide for ourselves what is the best approach to take and that will be based on the availability of the logical evidence based leadership capacity in the country. Perhaps switching up our lens from time to time would be helpful in getting a jump on challenges and finding new strategies to overcome them. See Red Queen and Through the Looking Glass Fantasy story or non-fiction truths? Its up to you to decide.)🤔🤷
