The world has far more to worry about, than merely Mr Trump.

Now a few posts ago some rather vitriolic words were taken right out of my mouth, regarding disapproval of how popular opinion seems to blame Donald Trump's success on American's allegedly being "stupid". Its not a sentiment unique to politics, either. Things like rampant consumerism, daily bombardment with advertising and other media, racism in all of its shapes and forms, are routinely claimed to have originated in, or been endlessly perpetuated by, Americans. America has long been seen by the remainder of the Western world as unsophisticated (excessive number of fast food restaurants), power-hungry (being all Team America: World Police), just plain evil (9/11 = Inside Job, man), and much, much worse. "Of course someone as nutty and egomaniacal as Trump would be popular in America, that's where American's are from!!" Here's a video from some Australian comedy cronies which sums up these sentiments succinctly:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJuNgBkloFE

You know, to increase the relevance this post has to our course content I'm compelled to use the word EUROCENTRISM, to explain how these ridiculous beliefs continue. The supposedly civilized nations are a beacon of hope, the yardsticks of sanity and progress to which the remainder of the world, irrespective of ethnicity, must strive to emulate. Racism? America's problem, we moved on from that when our colonies were prized from our grasps. General hostility to minorities? No way, look at the progress the former Slavic nations have made since the 1990s, no trouble here. We all get along, the demons of the past far behind us, we are far too intellectual and empathetic to ever bow down to a malevolent dictator like Trump. That's what Americans do.

Since the terrorist attacks in France and Belgium last year, there has been a tremendous rise in anti-Muslim sentiment throughout Europe. Surveys have revealed widespread support for drastic measures such as limiting Muslim immigration, extra surveillance of existing residents, and the meteoric rise of political groups which, quite frankly, make Donald Trump look like David Lange. The French National Front party, a group of neo-Nazi's promoting Holocaust denial and radical nationalist ideology, gained 24.86% of the overall vote in their 2015 general election. Third place. Likewise, whereby several radical nationalist groups in Germany, who caused an uproar entering politics in the early 2000s, have also started to gain prominence. The scourge of Islamophobia has compelled many Europeans to support the same kind of rhetoric that Trump has been lambasted for in America, yet somehow the "American's are stupid" cliche carries on convincing everybody that nowhere else in the world suffers this problem. Its not even unique to racial issues, either. Look at Rodrigo Duterte becoming the latest President of the Philippines, the problems of crime there are serious, yes, but surly there are better ways of tackling them than sending out "Death Squads" to "fill Manila Bay with the bodies of 100,000 criminals"? His words. Oh, and someone who made several vile jokes about the rape and murder of an Australian missionary, far more misogynistic than any of Trump's quips and which I dare not repeat here, is probably only slightly exaggerating. 

Whoever wins the upcoming US election is completely, utterly irrelevant. The societal problems which lead to massive support for racist, brutal, egomaniacal and just plain idiotic leaders are by no means unique to America. Racism and Xenophobia occur when people lack sufficient education and understanding to realize how certain sociological and political processes effect them. The hostility toward Muslims we've witnessed all across Europe, along with resistance from many countries to provide a safe haven for Syrian refugees, occurs because stereotypes and their dehumanizing effect makes people assume a scant few radical nutjobs are representative of all Muslims everywhere. Never mind that ISIS has caused far more destruction to Muslim lives and freedom than any other nations, once everybody is in the same group there's no going back...

Basically, what I'm trying to say (in an admittedly highly convoluted manner, which I've been told is a normal result of writing when you're foaming at the mouth), is that this ridiculous hatred and singling-out of America has got to stop. Racism is the World's problem. It effects everyone, and undermines Mankind's humanitarian progress in ways which are truly frightening. Lets make this course part of the school curriculum, and lets put sociology in there, too.