The debate in the Netherlands is between three groups: the fascists, the anti-facists and the Reasonable Center. Regular readers will already know which I think is the most dangerous of those groups: the Reasonable Center.

The Reasonable Center doesn’t really care that fascists dehumanize whole groups, and will gladly provide a platform for that.  [..] The Reasonable Center cares about the naughtiness of calling people a fascist and placing them outside of the debate just because they want a Muslim-free country.

They will call for a civilized debate. “You, person who wants to put all muslims in gaschambers, and you, person who thinks that’s a bad idea: let’s have a civilized conversation to find a reasonable compromise.” and whatever the outcome of that debate is, the reasonable center will not be the victim of the consequences.

[..] Again and again they have coffee with far-right people of the same race, social class and educational background as themselves and are surprised to discover how similar they are, and find comfort in that.