AIBU to think you can't be lovely if you're far-right

[FenwickRose]

Came across this the other day. AIBU to think that being a member of the far-right means you can't be a very nice person?
mobile.twitter.com/redflareinfo/status/1327710285789077506

I suppose fellow members of the far right might think you can. Personally, I don't.

Well the far left don't have great form either.

Far/ extreme anything is usually bad news.

@NiceGerbil well yes, I think either extreme is bad news

I think it's possible to be very personable and likeable despite having since very unfortunate views, which is possibly how someone racist, xenophobic, etc. Could come across as "lovely".

YANBU, they are mutually exclusive.

It's weird but I know a lovely, helpful, generous woman who I discovered during the 2017 election is actually a passionate Trump supporter. I am genuinely shocked by some of the stuff that pops up on Facebook that's she posted on her various Trump groups that aren't private.

But, I wonder if anyone is 100% lovely. I think I'm a nice, happy, lovely person, but sometimes I do have dark thoughts about people that i would never ever say out loud. Not racist or far-right, but just negative. Like at work, I sit and smile and say how wonderful the meeting was when I'm really thinking what a boring waste of time it is and what an utter prick my boss is.

@NiceGerbil

Well the far left don't have great form either.

Far/ extreme anything is usually bad news.

I agree with this

Thing about being far right, is that it usually also means you're a white supremacist, a racist, islamophobic, xenophobic, etc. If you only were far-right in your views on the economy, there's no reason you couldn't also be a lovely person.

Political views and ideologies alone don't define your moral standing. That said, if I see far right people on Twitter my automatic assumption is they're racist, and it's usually correct.

A previous poster said this also applies to the far-left, but this is simply not true. I have met quite a few people who identify as communists from an ideological perspective, and they tend to be lovely and caring. There will be awful ones, I'm sure, but it's not really comparable to what you see from the far-right.

@BlackCatShadow

It's weird but I know a lovely, helpful, generous woman who I discovered during the 2017 election is actually a passionate Trump supporter. I am genuinely shocked by some of the stuff that pops up on Facebook that's she posted on her various Trump groups that aren't private.

But, I wonder if anyone is 100% lovely. I think I'm a nice, happy, lovely person, but sometimes I do have dark thoughts about people that i would never ever say out loud. Not racist or far-right, but just negative. Like at work, I sit and smile and say how wonderful the meeting was when I'm really thinking what a boring waste of time it is and what an utter prick my boss is.

I know a chap who I wouldn't describe as lovely but I always thought to be a nice guy who is an ultra conservative Christian (and homophobic) and Trump supporter, some of the crap on his FB is abhorrent. I still can't get my head around it to be honest because IRL he comes across so differently.

If someone chooses to dislike someone else solely because of their skin colour, religion, sexual orientation etc. then they can hardly be described as lovely.

Facebook has a lot to answer for. My mum is Daily Express type and some of the stuff she shares is cringey. But i've seen her feed and it's full of this sort of stuff from the likes of Leave.eu who hook people in with innocuous enough stuff such as Remembrance Day posts then just spam timelines with propaganda.

Who was suggesting that the people involved were "lovely" or that they were nice people?

YANBU, I wouldn’t be anywhere near them.

A previous poster said this also applies to the far-left, but this is simply not true. I have met quite a few people who identify as communists from an ideological perspective, and they tend to be lovely and caring. There will be awful ones, I'm sure, but it's not really comparable to what you see from the far-right.

I think the genocides carried out by the Khmer Rouge and in Stalinist Russia and Maoist China demonstrate very clearly that extreme left-wing ideology can indeed be awful.

They look like the very epitome of banal evil to me.

I have a couple of facebook friends - people I met on a holiday once that DH and I had drinks with on a couple of nights, used to chat in the swimming pool etc etc. Lovely people, funny, generous..

And yet, according to the stuff they put on FB, they are massive Nigel Farage and Donald Trump supporters.

It's bizarre. We literally never mentioned politics once on holiday.

I've never understood why anyone in the UK would be particularly pro Trump. Not our circus, not our Monkeys.

@Graciebobcat, click the link and read the article. It says in the comments the couple mentioned are a "lovely couple"

It DOES apply to the far left. There is no platforming, intimidation, doxxing, swatting and rape/death threats from 'lefties' towards people with different views. I'm not intending to defend anyone, i'm politically homeless but i'm seeing intense behaviours from both sides who ardently believe that they are right and there is no middle ground.

I think extremism is toxic, no matter which branch. Tolerance of diverse views and civil discussion is so important.

Of course a far right person can be lovely - that’s the problem and to dismiss that is very very dangerous. Far right people are rarely the monsters you might like to think to look at - a PP was right to remind us of the banality of evil

Sadly I think you can present a ‘pillar of society’ persona (as many do) but underneath you can’t possibly be very moral or compassionate.
Patel and Farage are good examples. I find the abhorrent but people offer them support despite their nastiness.
I couldn’t sit for a meal with someone who had far right beliefs. I don’t think far left has same degree of immorality, but simply use the wrong way to do battle.

It DOES apply to the far left. There is no platforming, intimidation, doxxing, swatting and rape/death threats from 'lefties' towards people with different views. I'm not intending to defend anyone, i'm politically homeless but i'm seeing intense behaviours from both sides who ardently believe that they are right and there is no middle ground.

I think extremism is toxic, no matter which branch. Tolerance of diverse views and civil discussion is so important.

I'd go further and say its essential for a functioning democracy.

I went and had a look at the Patriotic Alternative website, I like to know who I'm condemning as awful before I comment. Their views seem quite extreme to me but they are talking about using the democratic process to bring about the changes they would like not advocating for violence. I don't think they will gain much traction but they should be free to express their views whether I agree with them or not.

I know plenty of people who donate to food banks but will post with utter contempt about a "benefits culture". I think it's too easy to read people as lovely when they are being nice to you because they don't have a problem with how they perceive you, they keep their nastiness aside for things that get them riled up. I've seen people change their attitude towards me. Seen the hostility when I reveal my background.

@FOJN what the Patriotic Alternative want is the removal off all non-white people from the UK. That seems very extreme to me, and not unlike the Nazi regime of Germany. The say they do not want violence, but how can you ensure non-violence? How about those who choose to act your their hehalf. Still, one shouldn't be surprised. Their leader Mark Collett has repeatedly expressed admiration for Hitler.

A lovely white supremacist?

No. Not unless you are prepared to overlook white supremacy which makes you a not so lovely racist.

@lightening14

A previous poster said this also applies to the far-left, but this is simply not true. I have met quite a few people who identify as communists from an ideological perspective, and they tend to be lovely and caring. There will be awful ones, I'm sure, but it's not really comparable to what you see from the far-right.

I think the genocides carried out by the Khmer Rouge and in Stalinist Russia and Maoist China demonstrate very clearly that extreme left-wing ideology can indeed be awful.

But ‘far right’ also encompasses dictatorships and genocides etc (i mean apart from that one pretty famous one) but in addition to that you have your everyday sexism/racism/homophobia/anti semitism. I think this is more about individuals rather than regimes. And i think individuals who get obsessed with x group of people because they’re muslim/women/gay/trans and get wound up about everything they do or say purely because of that specific shared characteristic are not ‘lovely’, no.