Has Donald Trump effectively declared war on Europe? His recent statements suggest exactly that.

In this video, I explore how Trump's racist rhetoric, his support for far-right parties, and his attacks on migrants are being used to divide Europe at the very moment inequality and social pressures are rising.

Migration is not destroying Europe. Racism is.

And when racism is normalised, democracy crumbles.

This is the defining political choice of our time: fear and exclusion, or dignity and solidarity.

Which Europe do you want to live in?

This is the audio version:

This is the transcript:

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Has Donald Trump declared war on Europe? It's a question that needs to be asked because it seems   as though he might have done.

In a number of recent statements and declarations he's made it clear that he thinks Europe is in terminal decline as a civilisation - although I didn't know we were as such a civilisation apart from the rest of the world - and he claims that this is the consequence of our attitudes towards migration, when in fact what he's talking about is his own racist attitude.

We need to face up to this. He is challenging the whole of Europe because of his own politics of hate that is targeted, deliberate, and dangerous, and he's focusing it upon us here on this side of the pond because we are inclusive, and he hates that fact. As a result,  he is declaring war on Europe because he's saying our way of life is opposed by the USA now, and he's determined to undermine it in any way that he can,   including by promoting those political parties here that will try to drag us down the neo-fascist path that he's already on.

Let's be clear about what Trump is saying. He's saying immigration is destroying European civilisation.

He pretends he's going to take action to defend our culture.

He's pretending he is protecting our way of life.

But this is not about protecting anything.  What he's actually doing is attacking people who look, sound, or believe differently to him.

There is no   evidence at all that migration is destroying Europe; in fact, the exact opposite is true.

Migration is supporting our public services.

It keeps our hospitals open.

It supports our pensions and social care.

Our economies   would quite simply fall apart without the migrants who are welcome within the countries of Europe.

So  this isn't a rational policy that Donald Trump is promoting; in that case, what is it? It's a demand that Europe be white, and that is racism.

It's also a demand that Europe have a "Christian civilisation", whatever that might mean, because  the vast majority of people in Europe do not go to a Christian Church at all, or if they do, only very occasionally. In other   words, this is not about Christianity, and it is not about civilisation; this is about a demand that there be white supremacy.

What Trump is trying to do is draw a line between us, people who do look like me, let's be honest - because the other thing that underpins all of Trump's thinking is the idea that men should be in charge - and everyone else. What he's trying to do is draw a line between who is allowed to belong and who is not.

Why is this important now?

It's important because  inequality is rising.

It's important because stress within our societies is increasing.

It's important because public services are collapsing and housing is unaffordable, and the   powerful don't want you to notice any of that because they want instead to point the finger of blame at someone else, so you don't notice that all this is happening because they are essentially taking the money and denying it to you and to the public purse, which would then be better able to deliver, through state spending, the services that we are all dependent upon.

The billionaires are our problem.

The landlords are our problem.

The bankers are our problem, and  they are trying to hide the fact by blaming the vulnerable every single time, and that is how racism works.

This is dangerous. When racism is normalised, democracy crumbles.

Rights are stripped away.

Communities are divided.

Violence increases.

People become "less than" in the eyes of the state, and that   is the road to authoritarian rule, and in Europe, we saw that. The US did not; this did not happen in the 20th century in the USA, but it most certainly did happen in Europe. We know where such policies lead.

So, we have to answer questions, and we have to answer them now because the crisis that we are facing is at this present moment.

Do we want a Europe built on fear, hatred, and exclusion, which   is precisely what Trump and those right-wing parties who mimic him in Europe want?

Or, do we want a Europe based upon human dignity and solidarity?

We can't have both. They are mutually exclusive. Trump does not want to respect human dignity. He does not have regard for solidarity, and nor do the leaders of the far-right parties in the UK, in France, in Germany and elsewhere, and they are happening all over Europe. This is the defining political choice of our time, and  pretending it's just about border control, as Donald Trump is trying to do, is just letting the racists win.

We have to fight back.

We have to first of all, say the word "racism".

We have to call it out.

We have to name it.

We have to confront it.

We have to never excuse it.

Secondly,  we have to refuse to scapegoat migrants because that's what the powerful want to do. Instead, we have to hold them to account for the real crises we face.

And thirdly, we must demand humane policies that welcome and integrate people into our communities, where they become an essential part of everything we do,   because without them, nothing is going to be possible in the future.

This has always been the way in every country throughout Europe, where wave after wave of immigrants over time have always been integrated into societies, changed them - usually for the better - and as a consequence made them stronger and more inclusive.

Fourthly,  we have to protect rights because when they come for one group, they come for all of us.

What   does this mean? Racism should never be built into our future; solidarity must be. If we want a democratic Europe, a fair Europe, a decent Europe, we must reject this war on migrants: on people who are "other", as Donald Trump would have them; in other words, not white male Christians, and we must stand together.

My question to you is, what Europe do you want to live in?

Do you want to live in one where everyone is treated equally?

Do you want to live in one where the world is fair?

Do you want to live in one where we value each person for who they are and not what their skin colour is?

Do you want to live in a world that values you as much as anyone else? Because at the end of the day, remember, Donald Trump doesn't value you, nor do the right-wing parties. You are as much cannon fodder to them as are the migrants they are at present seeking to prejudice.

What do you want? There's a poll down below.

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Poll

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Taking further action

If you want to write a letter to your MP on the issues raised in this blog post, there is a ChatGPT prompt to assist you in doing so, with full instructions, here.

One word of warning, though: please ensure you have the correct MP. ChatGPT can get it wrong.

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Comments 

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