Left and right unite to shift the blame from American Nazis

So what are the hot takes on events in Charlottesville?

Brendan O'Neill is in no doubt about who is to blame.

The events in Charlottesville are the logical consequence of the politics of identity. One of the nastiest trends in Western politics in recent years has been the relentless racialisation of public life and political debate. Everyone has been forced, often against their will, into a racial box. 

It's all "Dear White People", black lives matter, white lives matter, Asian lives matter, racial re-education on campus, warnings against "cultural appropriation", where everyone from the white dude who wears dreadlocks to Beyonce in a sari is branded a racial thief.

This, of course, is O'Neill usual contrarianism-by-numbers. "The problem is no the Nazis but the people who protest against them."

And, while his picture of modern political argument may have some truth on campus and social media, little of that approach has reached the newspapers or broadcasters. Most of us could go through life and never come across it if we chose. And I imagine most people do.

When I do come across this style of argument I am a little exasperated myself. This is not because I question the existence of racism but because I find it typical of a certain self-obsession in the young all those selfies.

Approaching a debate by talking about your own "privilege" does tend to give the impression that, deep down, you think it is really about you.

But none of this begins to form an argument that the left is responsible for events in Charlottesville.

The Nazi march and violence is the fault of the Nazis. To argue anything else is grotesque.

And from the left comes Laurie Penny:

These Nazi thugs are *exactly* the people whose 'right to be heard' and 'legitimate concerns' centrists have been defending for years. #uva

— Laurie Penny (@PennyRed) August 13, 2017

This isn't really about Charlottesville at all. It is about the politics of the left in Britain.

It attempts to paint anyone who does not support the hard-left Labour agenda - be they Liberals or working-class voters who supported Leave because of their worries about immigration - as Nazis or at least the abetters of Nazis.

But if you call everyone a Nazi it means you are pretty bad at reacting when real Nazis appear - social media will be giggling about Godwin's Law as the tanks roll down Whitehall.

No, the Nazis are not the fault of the left or centrists or the working class. They are the fault of the Nazis.