Aellé
Aellé
Sep 3, 2018 · 4 min read

There is a lot of right in this column, about the economic problems that have led America (and much of Europe, if not the world) to this moment in time. However, I wouldn’t completely dismiss the “meteor” metaphor either.

My observations from talking to people in various rural areas is that while they may not see or connect all the economic problems their area might have, they sure do notice all the social or the cultural problems that may well be more of a side-effect than the actual problem. I wouldn’t dismiss them as false reasons, more like reasons to get them into the door of the promises that fascism brings.

They first notice that more people who aren’t like them or their neighbors are coming in. They may not actually become a minority, but they do feel and act like they are becoming one. And your discussion about how Italians may not become a minority doesn’t seem to reflect the refugee crisis they had over Syria in the beginning of the 2010’s, and anticipation that as the climate changes, climate refugees will become a bigger concern for Europe. I also recall remembering discussions in 2008 like how the Archbishop of Canterbury believed if immigrants Islam became the majority group in the UK, the UK would have to subject to Sharia Law or some such silliness.

Secondly, “too much liberalism” is not about “heath-care…or just sewers or pipes” but about leftists philosophy and lifestyle. Things like safe spaces, much of climate change, and much of your rantings about how they expect everyone to be self-sufficient and independent. Because, in these fly-over non-coastal, rural areas, you have to be. Much of their beliefs are trapped in the prism of their geographic surroundings and childhood lifestyles. So someone living in such a rural area grew up learning how to shoot a gun, if not a variety of guns.

An acquaintance of mine whom I follow on Twitter kept posting responses she had from her tweet of if taxes disappeared there would not be way anything would be kept up from parks to transportation infrastructure to local school districts. Most of the responses was some sort of libertarian response of that the local communities would come together and self-pay for whatever resources they feel is best needed for their community, and that through non-profit organizations, businesses, and religious communities there would be enough charity to help those who could not help themselves to a point where those mired in poverty could become a sustaining member of their community.

In many respects, “too much liberalism” is really saying they would prefer their communities to be as an independent country as humanly possible, and if the United States would splinter, they would be confident that their little community could become its own self-respecting fiefdom. Fascism really likes that to a degree.

As for Identity Politics, I agree that it is very laughable as a reason. But, this one is much more religious. As they see it, the problem is one of the over-extension of choice. When they see people claiming to be a woman when it is “clear” that they have the genetic and anatomy of a man — or worse they know the woman grew up as a boy — they see is as the ability to choose ones gender, sex, etc. “Allah created you as a man and you do not have the right to self-determine yourself as a girl” one might say from this perspective. They do not know about truly fluid genetics is in humans, but even if they know, they see is as the exception that proves the rule. Again, this is an avenue for the fascist to infiltrate.

My understanding is that you, Mr. Haque, have studied and accomplished many things as an economists, so a lot of your articles, philosophies, and treaties seems to be viewed through economic glasses. It’s a good and underused way to view how the world is, how many countries operate on a moment by moment basis, and why cultural movements occur. As a Bill Clinton meme once puts it, “It’s the Economy, Stupid.”

Economic conditions will always be the short-term fear that will hinder truly long-term issues that need to be address and never will, like climate change, and immigration. However, I feel neither the short-term, nor long-term issues tend to gravitate people much like a situation where the social or cultural environment seems to change nearly instantly to a group of people where it actually happened over a long term. Trump supporters were compelled to a man who they thought identified their true worries over a changing landscape that made them feel like the inferior minority. Concerns like identity politics, a seemingly over-encroachment of liberal ideals, and a sense their local community is being overrun by outsiders whether by race, creed, or nationality, are the gasoline to that bubbling oil that fascists needed to set America a blaze. Trump gave much of rural America the psychological air they needed to revolt.

    Aellé

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    Aellé

    Writer, observer, forecaster