If 2016 has reminded us of anything, it is that not only do we not learn from our mistakes but we keep repeating them. For a species that is constantly challenging scientific, medical and technological boundaries, we seem incapable of moving forward on a social and moral level. ‘Never again’ is a phrase we use to appease ourselves, showing that we have acknowledged or condemned an incident, a group of people or whatever the latest outrage or media sensation might be. But here we are witnessing countries being ravaged by war, cities decimated, millions displaced and killed – in the name of religion and in service of greed and political ambition. To commit an act of evil, as they say, only requires good people to do nothing. Whether it is at the level of governments or wider society, we need both to understand and to take responsibility for the consequences of our (in)actions. In a world where truth and accountability have taken a backseat, however, this seems highly unlikely.

Image from Pink Floyd’s The Wall

We are witnessing the results of a constellation of multiple phenomena. A prolonged economic recession which has seen the wealthy few prosper but failed to deliver economic benefit to the wider population, has rewritten the political norms and economies of the West. At the same time the brutal war in Syria and ongoing destabilisation of the Middle East has contributed to a humanitarian and refugee crisis of epic proportions. In difficult times, it is understandable that people would be protective of what they have, but in today’s Western world this is giving rise to blatant racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, nationalism, white supremacy, fascist groups and a resurgence of the far right(and far left i.e. Jeremy Corbyn, Podemos, Bernie Saunders) in Europe and the US.

In the UK post Brexit, emboldened by populist anti-immigrant sentiment there has been a spike in both xenophobic and racist attacks. Brexit has given a voice to the hitherto latent resentment and bigotry bubbling under the surface of political correctness, which is now directed towards foreigners and immigrants. There is an economically disenfranchised element of the population which represents an easy target for the ‘us vs them’ rhetoric of irresponsible politicians who are able to market soundbites without having to worry about consistency of logic or even truth.

In June this year, a week before the EU referendum, Labour MP Jo Cox was shot and repeatedly stabbed to death by white supremacist Thomas Mair who was heard saying “This is for Britain”, “keep Britain independent” and “Britain first” during the attack. Subsequently, the far right and fascist group National Action came out in support of Jo Cox’s killer praising and glorifying him for her murder. They even posted a tweet stating “Vote Leave, don’t let this man’s sacrifice go in vain. Jo Cox would have filled Yorkshire with more subhumans!” In an unprecedented move, Home Secretary Amber Rudd approved the order for the group to be proscribed – a first time that a far-right organisation in the UK has been banned and labelled a terrorist group. Similarly, in the US, far right groups advocating white supremacy. Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, homophobia and anti-feminism, such as the Alt-Right group have come into focus. Their leader Richard Spencer was heard saying at a celebratory conference “Hail, Trump, hail our people, hail victory” reminiscent of the Nazi slogan Sieg Heil.

Over the past decade, whether it is France, Denmark, Germany or the Netherlands, there has been a re-emergence and rise of right wing (and, to a lesser extent, far left) political parties in Europe and a rejection of the centrist globalising liberal “elite”. Far from being relegated to political fringe players and outsiders they are firmly established within mainstream politics, garnering increasing support from the general population. Leader of the Front National Party Marine Le Pen is now one of the main contenders for next year’s presidential elections in France. According to her, poverty, insecurity and unemployment in France can be attributed to globalisation, immigration and the failure of the European Union.Not an advocate of multiculturalism, Le Pen states that those who come to France should accept and submit themselves to French culture and the French way of life–“Come as you are, keep living like you do, keep your culture and we will add all that together, doesn’t work. Multicultural societies are multi-conflict societies” (CNN). This kind of rhetoric, suggests assimilation over integration and inclusiveness. Having seen the victory of the divisive Brexit campaign in Britainwhich relied on emotive but empty slogans such as “Make Britain Great Again” opting for sovereignty over globalisation and Donald Trump being elected US President based on his campaign of populism, soundbites, inconsistency, hate speech, racism and misogyny there is a widespread concern that Marine Le Pen might actually win the French presidential elections in 2017.

In an article written by Robert Cagan for the Washington Post, he states that “fascism comes to America, not with jackboots and salutes (although there have been salutes, and a whiff of violence) but with a television huckster, a phony billionaire, a textbook egomaniac “tapping into” popular resentments and insecurities, and with an entire national political party — out of ambition or blind party loyalty, or simply out of fear — falling into line behind him”.

As we go into 2017 we need to be alert to the mistakes made in 2016. This time rectifying rather than repeating them yet again by acting with wisdom, statesmanship and integrity.

The writer is fiction writer and contributor to The Daily Star, based in UK.

This story was originally published by The Daily Star, Bangladesh

Now that the dust has settled on the EU referendum results, we can take stock of the full extent of the damage. Not only has Brexit had political and economic repercussions, it has had social implications with frightening consequences, namely a sudden increase in xenophobic and racist attacks. The most recent being the assault in the small town of Harlow on 40-year-old Polish Arkadiusz Jóźwik, by a group of British youths, resulting in his death. The police are treating this attack as a hate crime.

A demonstrator holds up an anti-immigration flag during a demonstration by far-right protesters in Dover, U.K. on May 28, 2016. PHOTO: AFP

Leading up to and following the referendum, the number of racist attacks, ranging from verbal abuse to destruction of property and actual physical violence, has significantly increased. The brunt of the racial violence post Brexit is being directed at the East European communities with the Polish at the top of the list. Almost overnight people who were considered part of the local community became social pariahs. Just a week before the referendum and even before the results had been out, Jo Cox, a young MP was shot and then stabbed to death by a 52-year-old man who allegedly chanted ‘Britain First’ when he brutally killed her. Cox was known for her strong pro-immigration stance.

Far from an edifying discussion on the pros and cons of EU membership and a serious debate on the longer term political, economic, demographic and ecological implications of remaining, throughout the run up to the referendum, we were subjected to a tidal wave of misinformation and fear mongering from both sides. The Remain campaign tried to scare people into voting to stay within the EU out of fear of impending economic disaster. The Leave Campaign or Brexit team initially focused on reclaiming money and jobs from the Brussels kleptocracy then changed tack and centred their campaign on the negative impact of immigration and free trade. Their whole campaign was based on misrepresentation and dishonesty. Anti-immigration rhetoric used by the Brexit camp has been fundamental to the way people ultimately decided to vote with many of the population feeling threatened by foreigners and immigrants. The propaganda used implied that not only were immigrants taking their jobs but also implementing their local culture and customs thereby eroding the British way of life.

Current British Prime Minister Theresa May known for her hard line on immigration may have fanned the flames of prejudice during her time as Home Secretary. The controversial billboard campaign by the Home Office consisting of vans carrying messages saying “Go home or face arrest” were thought to be both offensive and divisive. Similarly with Brexit slogans such as “We want our country back” and “Let’s make Britain Great again” the inferences were that immigrants were responsible for the current economic climate and needed to be expelled from the UK. Of course what they failed to mention were inconvenient truths such as the fact that according to the Office for National Statistics EU migrants contributed 2.5 billion more in taxes than they received in benefits and State services (1999/2000).

Over the last few years, Islamophobia and hate crimes against Muslims have been on the rise. Particularly affected have been women in hijabs and niqabs, facing abuse on a regular basis. Mosques and community centres have also been vandalised and attacked. But Brexit has expanded the net and included anyone who appears to be ‘different’ whether in appearance, religion or speech. You no longer need to look ‘foreign’, you just have to sound ‘foreign’ to be targeted.

Those who previously might have kept their racist views to themselves seem to have become emboldened and empowered by the results of the referendum. Verbal abuse towards foreigners has risen sharply and we now hear and read about reports of excrement being put through letter boxes, people being told to “go home”, laminated cards with “No more Polish vermin” written on them being distributed, a Polish community centre being vandalised with racist graffiti, a fire bombing of a halal butcher shop, to name a few incidents. There were even requests in restaurants by customers not to be served by “foreign waiters”. What is frightening is these types of racist views are held not only by adults but have filtered down to school-going children. In one case a child told his teacher he was not going to be told what to do by a foreigner, in another case a black woman was taunted on the bus by a boy calling her a ‘monkey’.

Racial slurs such as ‘Paki’ which encompasses people of South Asian origin seems to have made a reappearance. A few days ago my son was on his way home when he saw a man stumbling towards him. When he asked out of concern if the man was alright, the response was “Move on, Paki”.

It is unacceptable that people should have to now live in fear of being abused or assaulted on the streets, their place of work and even in their homes. Sadly this kind of bigotry and xenophobia is a step backwards in the UK’s social development and might just have taken the “Great” out of Great Britain.

The author is a contributor and short story writer.

This story was originally published by The Daily Star, Bangladesh