Democracy is failing, and the response to that failing is a rejection of, and resentment against politics and politicians as well as other members of "the elite". This means that any politician who convinces the people that he or she's on their side by juxtaposing themselves against the elite, stands a good chance in elections. The rise of populism is a direct response to the failure of democracy.
source: YouTube
Populists can be found on both extremes of the political spectrum. I'd say that the 2016 primary elections in America were two battles of populists against the elite; Trump won the candidacy for the Republicans and Bernie Sanders lost it for the Democrats. But they were both quintessential populists, and they showed us the difference between right wing populism and leftist populism. I'll get back to that soon, but first let me explain why I believe that our populist political future will be a future of authoritarianism if only right wing populism gets to in elections.
You see, both major parties in America support one particular kind of authoritarianism, which is economic authoritarianism. The Republicans do it out in the open and the Democrats do it in a more covert manner, but they both cater to their wealthy donors. That's not a problem for the political right wing, because it's what they traditionally do. For the supposed left wing it is a big problem though, because the left is traditionally aligned with the working class. This is a big problem because the interests of their wealthy donors are diametrically opposed to the interests of the working class.
A lot of leftist policies are incredibly popular, like raising the minimum wage, universal healthcare, free college and raising taxes on the rich. All of these policies would truly help the people of the working class. But the Democrats can't truly fight for these policies because their wealthy donors won't let them. That's why there's no real difference between both parties anymore when it comes to the economy or foreign policy. All that's left for them to differentiate between themselves are social and cultural preferences; if you've ever wondered why there's a "culture war" at all, there's your answer. And I believe the political left is primarily responsible for starting that war due to their failure to stick to their traditional mission statement of fighting for the working class. But the political right is responsible for taking this war to absurd extremes.
And here's where we come to the main difference between the two kinds of populism. Leftist populism is rare in politics. The populists in the Democrat Party can be counted on one hand; they are the ones who advocate for true and fundamental change in economic policies, mainly taxing wealth, raising the minimum wage and making both education and healthcare affordable. The Republican Party on the other hand has become a populist party in the post Trump era; they're almost all populists who fight the culture war with zeal, resulting in the banning of books in red state schools, the overturning of Roe v. Wade, hysteria around transgenders and Critical Race Theory, rage against "female" M&Ms, a "Don't Say Gay" Bill... Notice how truly authoritarian all these examples are.
By now you may have noticed something about these two kinds of populism; right wing populism is supported by the donor class, left wing populism is opposed by it. That's because right wing populism does not threaten capital or the status quo of the capitalist hierarchy. Left wing populism does threaten capital and will be silenced. Unless of course it's the culture war issues; they will be magnified to draw attention away from what really matters. And it's this support for right wing populism from the wealthy donor class that will bring about another flavor of authoritarianism; fascism.
I'll leave you with a very interesting discussion between YouTuber Vaush and Marianne Williamson who was a Democrat candidate in the 2016 primaries for the Democrats. It's about an hour long and they discuss the immediate future of the Democratic party, mainly who is allowed by that party to run for president. Make no mistake: the Democrats are just one half of a two party duopoly. They'll continue to be the lesser of two evils, but for there to be any hope of real change in America, any hope for the working class of that beautiful country, something radical has to happen. Don't take my word for it, take it from someone, a true leftist, who's had personal experience with the political machine in Washington.
The Authoritarian Threat Is Coming | Talking w/ Marianne Williamson
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