We all know a Tom, Dick or Harry that spews xenophobic nonsense all over Facebook on the daily. Whether it be a glittering of micro aggressions here, an unnecessary derogatory comment or offensive share there, it can clog up your timeline and ruin your day. But, as I’m sure the self-aware ones amongst us have noticed, people like this are getting braver. And not in a chivalrous way; it’s the complete opposite. Many right-wingers, or to give them a more stark but accurate title, Neo-Nazis, are repeatedly taking to the Internet to voice their absurd views.

Views? Absurd? How is this possible? How can one’s opinion be called absurd without breaching the right to freedom of speech? (Very easily, is the answer.) An opinion is disliking Marmite or thinking Coldplay’s new song is overrated. An opinion is not wanting an oppressed minority dead. That’s hatred, bigotry, racism and last I checked: illegal? Saying someone deserves less than you because of the colour of their skin, their religion, gender or sexuality is discrimination, and there are supposedly laws against letting that happen.

Alas, angry conservatives on Facebook continue to rant and post offensive content without even thinking, and without contemplating the consequences.

But why has this become a trend? I’ve thrown multiple reasons around in my head, but decided most to be null. There isn’t really one reason why right-wing hatred has wormed its way into the mainstream, which means there isn’t a straight solution to the problem.

This presents us with the dilemma that there isn’t really a way we can stop it. The ignorant aren’t going to educate themselves, after all. But what’s the solution when there is learning to be done, but no one wants to do it? What do you do when you call out the misogynist on your Twitter feed, only to be met with another sexist reply? Don’t indulge, obviously. But don’t ignore, either.

Some people seem to think sweeping this alarming issue under the carpet is the correct way forward. But really? The phrase “history repeats itself” exists for a reason. And we really don’t want to regress to the backwards ways we used to live and relive the horrors of the generations previous. Honestly, I don’t really know why racists are rebranding themselves as patriots and gaining some sort of a disgusting following. But the point is that it is happening, and it shouldn’t be. And somehow, we should be trying out very hardest to stop it.