The stereotypical idea of German history is that they were evil aggressors during the Great War, then suddenly became really liberated during the 1920s, only to turn into strutting Nazis in 1933 and then magically transform themselves into democratic workoholics post 1945. Of course, it's not as simple as that. In 1933 the National Socialist Party was disappointed to only get nearly 44% of the vote. After all, they'd done enough voter intimidation and that meant that 56% of the electorate were brave enough and disliked them enough to vote against them. The assumption is that those who enthusiastically supported the Nazis were all fairly nasty people. I thought this for a long time, until I saw a documentary about it. A lot of really nice people, including what would nowadays be regarded as hippies, thought the Nazis would sort out the many obvious problems of the country and wouldn't be too bad really.
When I was in the sixth form I was able to vote for the first time. The voting age had just been lowered to 18. I remember asking a particular girl how she intended to vote, and was shocked when she said Conservative. Her reasoning was that they had promised to allow private radio stations to be set up, which would mean that she would have a huge choice of pop music stations to listen to day and night. Labour had closed down the pirate stations (which actually peddled subtle right wing propaganda between the records) and substituted Auntie Beeb's Radio 1. This was the only thing that interested her.
Nazism is now creeping back in by a strange route. It's called libertarianism. That sounds good, I mean, we're all into liberty aren't we! It's a bit like anarchism really, no laws, do your own thing man. Real hippie values, except for one big difference. Anarchism, in all it's many forms, tends to assume a level playing field. Everyone equal, no rich, no poor, resources shared. Libertarianism does not change the power structure. There are rich, there are poor. There are no gun controls. Anyone can say what they like (eg, Libertarian Elon Musk has removed moderation from Twitter) so if you want to defame an entire race or class or gender just go ahead, it's a free country innit. If someone wants to intimidate you out of your home with bigger guns or more wealth, well, they're free to do that. If there's a deadly disease going round but you don't believe in it then no-one will make you stay at home, wear a mask or, God forbid, get vaccinated. Ah, there we go. All those nice people who are into aromatherapy and herbs and are (quite rightly) suspicious of big pharma.
The problem is, if you go down the libertarian route, you quickly find yourself in a very illiberal world. Donald Trump is a libertarian, but his appointees to the American Supreme Court have all but removed a woman's right to choose in the USA. It's a creeping journey towards Gilead.
My friend is a lovely woman. I've known her for years and, though we've never been really close, counted her as a friend. She runs a little cafe where I sometimes go for a butty at dinner time. She's qualified as a spiritual healer and used to be part of a group that were doing healing in return for a donation every week. It shocked me to discover that she is now selling copies of "The Light" in her cafe.
Here's what Wikipedia says about "The Light"-
The Light is a self-published, monthly British far-right and conspiracy theory newspaper founded by Darren Nesbitt (frequently under the pseudonym Darren Smith) on 27 September 2020,[1] which claims the COVID-19 pandemic was a hoax. The paper has a sister publication, named The Irish Light, which was launched in Ireland by Gemma O'Doherty and John Waters.[2]
The paper has been criticised for spreading COVID-19 misinformation, Anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, Holocaust denial and death threats.[12][13] It regularly prints articles written by conspiracy theorist Vernon Coleman,[1] and according to a review from Harvard Kennedy School "includes content that is aimed at prompting participation and activism amongst adherents of conspiracy theories, rather than simply presenting information".[10][14] The paper has called for executions of journalists, politicians and doctors, leading it to being described as containing 'extremist propaganda'.[15][16]
Although the company behind the paper was dissolved on 15 February 2021,[17] the BBC reported in June 2023 that at least 100,000 copies of The Light were being printed each month and that the publication had more than 18,000 followers on the social media site Telegram.[18][19]
Claims
The print publication regularly makes conspiratorial claims surrounding Bill Gates and world leaders, promotes climate change denial and claims vaccines are weaponized mind control devices.[1][20]
It has called for modern-day Nuremberg trials for journalists, politicians and doctors and repeatedly referenced conspiracy theories concerning Agenda 21 and the Great Reset. It regularly criticised the COVID-19 restrictions in the United Kingdom by comparing vaccination efforts to Nazi extermination camps.[1][11][21] The paper was also found to have spread false claims concerning vaccines, COVID-19 and COVID-19 death figures.[22][23][24][25]
In September 2022, The Light shared an article written by far-right conspiracy theorist Paul Joseph Watson claiming that Lyudmyla Denisova, the former Ombudsman for Human Rights in Ukraine, had admitted to lying about the Russian military committing rape crimes in Ukraine. The disinformation analysis group Logically found that Denisova had only accepted her use of inappropriate language in describing the rape crimes, but had not admitted to lying about said crimes.[26]
In November 2022, The Irish Light ran a headline with the phrase 'Died Suddenly' connected to marketing efforts around the release of an independent anti-vaccine film of the same name. In this issue, the paper used the images of 42 deceased individuals, claiming they had died due to being vaccinated. Upon investigation, none of the deaths were found to be due to vaccines but were caused by drowning, long-term illness, car accidents, meningitis and other events. The misuse of the names and images of the deceased individuals being used to promote anti-vaccine conspiracy theories caused severe distress among family members of the bereaved and an increase in online abuse.[27][28][29][30]
Far-right links
The paper has printed articles by Holocaust denier John Hamer and recommended books by white supremacist Eustace Mullins,[11] and has featured an article by pseudonymous blogger Lasha Darkmoon which said that people should be able to question the Holocaust.[11][18] It also defended radio host Graham Hart, who was sentenced to 32 months imprisonment after making anti-semitic remarks on his radio show in which he characterized Jewish people as "filth" and "rats" who "deserve to be wiped out".[18][31][32] The paper also regularly references the far-right Cultural Marxism conspiracy theory, which has similar roots in antisemitism, and has promoted the neo-Nazi propaganda film Europa: The Last Battle on its Telegram channel.[11]
The paper has also been criticised by the anti-racist group Hope not Hate for its support of the far-right by interviewing anti-Islam party politician Anne Marie Waters, printing articles co-authored by the English Democrats chair Robin Tilbrook and Heritage Party leader David Kurten, and promoting material by Mark Collett, the leader of the fascist group Patriotic Alternative.[11] According to its founder, he is in communication with the editor of the German far-right conspiracy theory publication Demokratischer Widerstand (Democratic Resistance), which has stated that it is a "partner" newspaper of The Light. Demokratischer Widerstand has been linked to the Reichsbürger movement, the group behind the 2022 failed coup attempt in Germany.[18]
Distribution and Criticism
The paper is purchased via private Facebook groups and Twitter contacts and then distributed by volunteers who are instructed to airdrop copies through letterboxes or abandon the paper in public spaces.[33][34][35][36][37] Local leaders in towns across the country have accused the publication of "inflaming division and harassment with false and misleading claims about vaccines, the financial system and climate change".[18] Its distributers have also been criticised for deliberately targeting teenagers and children.[47]
After copies of the paper were distributed in Stroud, residents protested against the paper, stating: "...we are alarmed by The Light's use of the pandemic to push support for antisemitism, Holocaust denial and racist hate speech - as well as for denial of climate change, NHS-bashing, and other reactionary views."[4][7]