Xenophobia & Prejudice Are Human

Europe's Huddled Masses

By Roger Cohen, Feb. 4 2016 (LINK to article)

"Xenophobic rightist parties thrive at the margins from Sweden to Greece."

Xenophobia is just one side of single coin, on the other side of which is "familophilia", love of the familiar, so why is it demonised as some form of evil?

It's the same with "prejudice". Human beings are inherently prejudiced about everyone and everything, especially race, given our inherent and intense tribal nature, and yet it is demonised as some terrible evil. Why?

It seems to me that both xenophobia and racial prejudice have taken the place of "original sin" (disobedience of divine, i.e. priestly/state authority and thus also a perfectly healthy aspect of human nature) as part of the age-old strategy of “divide and rule”, whereby society is divided into a morally superior, supposedly neither xenophobic nor prejudiced, i.e. "color-blind", elite and the morally inferior, naturally less colour-blind, masses, who must submit to the authority of and domination by their "moral superiors".

This new form of original sin is embedded in the ideology of DIVERSITY and post-racial multiculturalism, which now serves the state and statists as an instrument of socio-political intimidation, rewards, punishments, manipulation and control, just as medieval church ideology once did.

Of course, our xenophobia and prejudices must be controlled in a civilised fashion, just as our sexuality or disobedience of authority must be - but not demonised.

It is surely no coincidence that we are brought up to trivialise, ridicule or demonise our inherent tribal nature, rather than give it the serious attention and study it deserves.

 I elaborate further in this BLOG.