White people don't seem to realise that eventually the far right will come for them too

The left's response to the rise of extremism hasn’t been great. But make no mistake – the extremists have become powerful because the centre-right has mainstreamed them

The far right have been gaining momentum across the world

(AFP/Getty)

The wonderful thing about history is that sometimes it’s a guide to the future rather than a recording of the past.

This is what worries me. A large number of white people in the west seem to have forgotten the far right will eventually come for them too. They will come for people like me first, of course, but eventually they will come for them as well.

Why would I say that? Italians just made the far right Northern League their biggest party in the centre-right coalition. In Germany and France the far right are unofficially the main opposition. In Britain the Conservatives have swallowed whole the Ukip agenda. In Russia, Putin has become an icon for the far right and Eastern European countries such as Hungary and Poland are already run by the far right.

And then there’s Donald Trump.

Look, I get it. People are angry. That is usually the reason why they vote for people clearly unfit for the job. But you don’t put out a fire by throwing more fuel on it.

The far right will come for people like me. They’ll come for Jews. They’ll come for gay people. They’ll come for the trade unionists, and so on. But then they’ll come for you. Their aim is to reshape society, not just make minor changes to foreign policy.

It's not just white people who are guilty of extremism. Far from it. Everyone is guilty of extremism. South Asia is a mess for it. A few decades ago Pakistan was a bustling country which genuinely thought it could be the economic star of Asia. Now it is plagued by religious extremists and terrorism. It is plagued by the very people its state created and legitimised as a proxy war against India. If you raise a snake then don’t be shocked if it grows up and bites you.

India is not there yet but it's heading down the same path. The BJP government has encouraged the rise of Hindutva – extremists who want the country to be a Hindu state – as a weapon against its Muslim and Sikh minorities. Inevitably, those extremists will soon end up fighting each other for power and influence, and push their extremist agenda on Hindus. But by the time they realise the danger, it may be too late.

“Our extremists are better than your extremists” – this is what much of our conflict boils down to.

Not everyone who supports the far right believes in the ideology. This should be obvious. They just think their extremists are a useful foil against others. Many Hindus tolerate Hindutva because they think Indian Muslims need to be shown their place. Many Muslims tolerate their extremists because they see them as a foil against western interference. White folks vote for Trump despite his obvious inability because he flatters them. He stands up for them even if he’s extremely uncouth about it. Our extremists are standing up for us!

I can see why this is an attractive argument. But your extremists will destroy you. They need power and they are insatiable. That’s why they are extremists, remember?

You don’t have to listen to me. Winston Churchill, for all his faults, clearly saw the threat posed by Nazis. He knew Britain had to confront it. Not because he was an idealist, but because he knew Hitler would eventually come for Britain.

The same goes for Trump and Europe’s far right. The same goes for the Middle East and Asia. You can't control extremists – you can only fight to keep them away from legitimacy.

And this is where the problem lies. The left's response to the rise of extremism hasn’t been great, I'll give you that. But make no mistake – the extremists have become powerful because the centre-right has mainstreamed them. Trump is reshaping the Republican Party. The UK Conservatives are staving off civil war as long as they can, but it is coming. You can see it a mile off. The crazy are “crazy” because they have no stop button.

The far right could destroy Europe. Again. If it gets into power it certainly will. So it’s time to end this complacency before it's too late. It's no different than last time – Europe is about to repeat its shocking history.