<p>That the many strains of Covid-19 virus have inflicted enormous damage upon people and economies alike is a fact that hardly any reasonable person would dispute, the misinformation on the pandemic being posted on social media notwithstanding. However, what is not that well-publicised is yet another virulent kind of virus – the Replacement Theory (RT) virus -- which has been spreading across the globe for at least five decades. This non-biological virus, which has many variants, is culture-based, far more damaging in the long run and, unlike Covid-19, geographically defined.</p>.<p>If you have been keeping up with the news on a regular basis, no doubt you will have read about the frequent attacks on blacks, Asians and other immigrant groups in the US, Norway and New Zealand by white supremacists. You will also have read that extreme right-wing groups (e.g., National Front in France and the UK, AfD in Germany, the ruling Fidesz Party in Hungary and certain prominent Republicans in the US) across the globe have joined hands in order to protect their interests, whatever they may be. As to why this is happening, the answer is to be found in the condition known as “Fear of the other”, FOTO for short.</p>.<p>What is common to all RT strains is the FOTO effect. Who are these mysterious ‘others’? The list is endless – whites, non-whites, Muslim, Christian, Shia, Sunni, Hutus, Tutsis, Jew, Arab, etc., etc. Specific strains of RT operate at the international, national and local levels.</p>.<p>At the international level you may be confronted by white replacement theory (aka, the great replacement theory) if you are living in the US, Europe or Australia.</p>.<p>At the national level, in India you will be forced to reckon with Hindu replacement theory. Contrary to right-wing media portrayals, Muslims in no way threaten the Hindu-majority power structures or Hindu belief systems and practices. There are also Jewish and Buddhist versions at the national level, the former in Israel, the latter in Sri Lanka and Myanmar.</p>.<p>That RT has been operative at the local level can be seen from the anti-Brahmin activities of the Dravidian movement in Tamil Nadu or the anti-South Indian movement in Mumbai during the 1960s and 70s.</p>.<p>Not all RT strains are equally destructive. Perhaps the most potent of them all is the white replacement theory strain. It is based on the premise that since non-white people are taking over the world through immigration to white nations, thereby impacting the demographics of select regions, something needs to be done to reverse the process.</p>.<p>This something, actively promoted by social media, usually entails violence directed at immigrant groups and legal manoeuvres such as gerrymandering of electoral maps and curbs on visas. Having wielded the power of life and death over much of the non-white world for the past 400 years through colonisation, the very thought of losing control and having to face retribution or pay reparations is very much in play here. Never mind that, excluding China, the most powerful nations are all white. Also, most multinational companies and international organisations (such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund) are still run by whites.</p>.<p>In white replacement theory, since skin colour is the sole criterion for belonging, discriminants such as one’s religion, education, economic status or political affiliations do not matter. When apartheid ended in South Africa and Rhodesia, white fears of losing their farms and being deprived of livelihood did not come to pass, did it? But, rather than be ruled by blacks, the whites who chose to leave South Africa migrated to North America and the UK to pursue their racist lifestyles.</p>.<p>In contrast, Asian, African and Latino immigrants to North America are subject to discrimination, micro-aggression and random violence on a regular basis. Pointing to the appointment of Indian-Americans as CEOs of IBM, Alphabet, Microsoft and Twitter as evidence of white replacement is mere happenstance, not the norm. The same may be said of Rishi Sunak and Priti Patel, senior ministers in Boris Johnson’s cabinet in the UK. It is best to remember that these Indian-origin celebrities can be replaced overnight by the real power-brokers who are all white, be it at the company level or the country level.</p>.<p>If white replacement theory were really true, the composition of the UN Security Council would be quite different from what it is today.</p>.<p>So, where does the power really lie?</p>.<p>In a FOTO finish global race to the bottom, there are no winners, just losers.</p>
<p>That the many strains of Covid-19 virus have inflicted enormous damage upon people and economies alike is a fact that hardly any reasonable person would dispute, the misinformation on the pandemic being posted on social media notwithstanding. However, what is not that well-publicised is yet another virulent kind of virus – the Replacement Theory (RT) virus -- which has been spreading across the globe for at least five decades. This non-biological virus, which has many variants, is culture-based, far more damaging in the long run and, unlike Covid-19, geographically defined.</p>.<p>If you have been keeping up with the news on a regular basis, no doubt you will have read about the frequent attacks on blacks, Asians and other immigrant groups in the US, Norway and New Zealand by white supremacists. You will also have read that extreme right-wing groups (e.g., National Front in France and the UK, AfD in Germany, the ruling Fidesz Party in Hungary and certain prominent Republicans in the US) across the globe have joined hands in order to protect their interests, whatever they may be. As to why this is happening, the answer is to be found in the condition known as “Fear of the other”, FOTO for short.</p>.<p>What is common to all RT strains is the FOTO effect. Who are these mysterious ‘others’? The list is endless – whites, non-whites, Muslim, Christian, Shia, Sunni, Hutus, Tutsis, Jew, Arab, etc., etc. Specific strains of RT operate at the international, national and local levels.</p>.<p>At the international level you may be confronted by white replacement theory (aka, the great replacement theory) if you are living in the US, Europe or Australia.</p>.<p>At the national level, in India you will be forced to reckon with Hindu replacement theory. Contrary to right-wing media portrayals, Muslims in no way threaten the Hindu-majority power structures or Hindu belief systems and practices. There are also Jewish and Buddhist versions at the national level, the former in Israel, the latter in Sri Lanka and Myanmar.</p>.<p>That RT has been operative at the local level can be seen from the anti-Brahmin activities of the Dravidian movement in Tamil Nadu or the anti-South Indian movement in Mumbai during the 1960s and 70s.</p>.<p>Not all RT strains are equally destructive. Perhaps the most potent of them all is the white replacement theory strain. It is based on the premise that since non-white people are taking over the world through immigration to white nations, thereby impacting the demographics of select regions, something needs to be done to reverse the process.</p>.<p>This something, actively promoted by social media, usually entails violence directed at immigrant groups and legal manoeuvres such as gerrymandering of electoral maps and curbs on visas. Having wielded the power of life and death over much of the non-white world for the past 400 years through colonisation, the very thought of losing control and having to face retribution or pay reparations is very much in play here. Never mind that, excluding China, the most powerful nations are all white. Also, most multinational companies and international organisations (such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund) are still run by whites.</p>.<p>In white replacement theory, since skin colour is the sole criterion for belonging, discriminants such as one’s religion, education, economic status or political affiliations do not matter. When apartheid ended in South Africa and Rhodesia, white fears of losing their farms and being deprived of livelihood did not come to pass, did it? But, rather than be ruled by blacks, the whites who chose to leave South Africa migrated to North America and the UK to pursue their racist lifestyles.</p>.<p>In contrast, Asian, African and Latino immigrants to North America are subject to discrimination, micro-aggression and random violence on a regular basis. Pointing to the appointment of Indian-Americans as CEOs of IBM, Alphabet, Microsoft and Twitter as evidence of white replacement is mere happenstance, not the norm. The same may be said of Rishi Sunak and Priti Patel, senior ministers in Boris Johnson’s cabinet in the UK. It is best to remember that these Indian-origin celebrities can be replaced overnight by the real power-brokers who are all white, be it at the company level or the country level.</p>.<p>If white replacement theory were really true, the composition of the UN Security Council would be quite different from what it is today.</p>.<p>So, where does the power really lie?</p>.<p>In a FOTO finish global race to the bottom, there are no winners, just losers.</p>