Extremism, be it political or religious, is on the rise throughout the world. It looks like humanity has just awaken to a new reality, very familiar to Africans since some little devils coated in human skin (aka African despots, career criminals behind presidential desks) embarked in the criminal enterprise of seizing power and colluding with international organized crime to plunder the wealth of their nations, killing hundreds, thousands, and even millions and transforming an entire continent into a land of desolation, a place where animals in the wild seem to enjoy more freedoms than human beings. Some would claim African reality is the extreme of extremism. Error: there is no moderate extremism, no liberal extremism, no conservative extremism, no benevolent extremism. The surge of extremism in its different shades is also a concern in today’s Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the Americas.
Extremism does not walk alone. Its travelling companions are arrogance and ignorance. The million-dollar prize: show me an extremist who is not arrogant and you will receive the prize. Nowhere is there to find a humble extremist, for extremism is a twin brother of arrogance and humility is the antidote to both arrogance and extremism.
Extremists believe they understand how the world works and what makes it work. The reality: their knowledge of the world is that of a babe being delivered from its mother’s womb. We can attach different names to this specie and it would not matter at all. We may call them bloodthirsty religious fanatics, dictators, dictocrats, little devils in human shape, little devils coated in human skin, career criminals behind presidential desks (by the way I am the one who have coined the last three to refer to our very own African tyrants). Make no mistake: they’re all ignorant regardless of their skin color. They’re all a bunch of “under-mensch”, for they lack the honor and integrity that makes humans human. Marine Le Pen, Geert Wilders, Julian Assange, the leading Brexiters, and terrorists are just the tip of extremism, the most visible and primitive form of the extremism iceberg coated with a thick coat of ignorance.
For years, I have denounced extremism in Africa. That political ideology forced me into exile for decades and there is no reason for me to keep silent witnessing the surge of this predator across the world. Native species are often caught off-guard when a new predator invades the land. They cannot recognize it and sometimes even try to play with the fire. Ask the French after Le Pen’s loss and they will say: “on l’a echappé belle” (we almost escaped the catastrophe!). The world needs a warning and there are a lot of red flags out there, already raised to prevent history from repeating itself.
Note: I republished this opinion on VOA News (See Comments section) on May 7, 2017:
