Right-wing populism is disingenuous.
One of the surprising (it’s not) things that come out of the past decade, is the fact that so many “right-wing populists” have come to be elected as leaders of countries that were supposed to be social democratic bastions. Britain, Netherlands, France, Germany, Spain, Argentina, Turkey, Hungary (this isn’t really a social democratic), etc. Many of those leaders are pointing out that there is something wrong in our society. Anxiety is very high right now throughout the capitalist world as people can’t afford to buy houses, even their rent, and climate change is ravaging our common home.
Everything that was supposed to be promised to us, isn’t being delivered. There must be something wrong with our society. People will seek answers, no matter how ridiculous they may even sound.
Donald Trump opened his 2016 presidential campaign by saying that Muslims are terrorists and Mexicans are rapists. Making it very clear that he was running a racist, right-wing campaign for the presidency of America.
It is very common for the media to blame this on “right wing populism”. I say this in air quotes becomes frankly, it is not really populism at all. It is usually nothing more than a capitalist response to distract the working classes from blaming said people on top.
What is populism?
There have been many attempts at defining populism but there is no concrete definition because it takes many different forms. A very common definition of it though is called “wisdom of the common people”. Common people as to meaning, those who aren’t part the “elite”. Notice the key word here.
Right-wing populism is usually defined as being nativist, protectionist, anti-globalization, and anti-environmentalism. Right wing populists will often prey on the racist, sexist, and homophobic tendencies of the common man (those who aren’t part of the elite strata) and attack the supposed “other” as though they are the problems of society. Trump as mentioned, attacked Muslims and Latinos (he means all Latinos). Javier Milei attacked the central bank as part of his campaign against inflation. Whoever the simplistic boogeyman is, the right will take advantage of.
Notice how I say “simplistic” here. Right wing populism and fascism go hand in hand with one another and populists will often piggyback on fascists to get into power.
In his popular essay 14 common features of fascism, Umberto Eco describes fascism as being obsessed with a plot to destroy whatever community they reside in. In the case of Nazi Germany, the Nazis were obsessed with a plot by Jewish bankers and communist groups within the country trying to take it down. To Hitler, Jews = Bolsheviks = bad. In Trump’s case, Muslims, and Mexicans = “Deep state” = bad. The deep state is usually defined as a hypothetical secret body that acts as an autonomous group within the government, vying for power. This power secretly controls everything behind the scenes and is undermining the glory of the nation.
During times of great duress, populism becomes a common theme in politics. People begin to follow common wisdom which is usually an anti-elite agenda. The upper strata of society are often doing quite well while the common man (usually working class), is being given the shaft. In America, real wages for working class people have been stagnant while wages for wealthy Americans have skyrocketed. Many Americans are looking for answers to why they are struggling and will usually look wherever the narrative is. The population can go left or right. Donald Trump took advantage of it by saying that Muslims and Mexicans are part of the deep state, and it seeks to undermine both America, and his presidency. And if we want to include the lost golden age syndrome aspect of fascism, there was something that took our prosperity away from us and it was these minorities (including blacks) gaining equal rights and actions such as affirmative action has gone too far at evening the playing field, which took everything from them.
Let’s assume this narrative is somehow true.
Looking back at history, African Americans have been denied equal rights for a long time and couldn’t build wealth like their white counterparts could. Many initiatives such as reinvestment into their communities and affirmative action have made some process, but not nearly enough to equal whites. Racism didn’t die out with the passage of the equal rights act, it went quiet.
The Southern Strategy was implemented by the GOP as a way of both undermining African American votes (who would inevitably vote democrat) and taking up votes of disgruntled racists in both the south and Midwest. Using populist, anti-elite rhetoric usually referring to the government coming in and uprooting their ways of life. It is also very common for right wingers to attack capitalist enterprises like Disney or even the NFL for some of its employees having social justice sympathies like pro LGBT or BLM stances.
I just have one question for all of this: what exactly are your intensions?
Yeah, sure you can get rid of these immigrants, but economic data shows that they are significant boon to the economy. They contribute to the economy by starting businesses like those Mexican or Asian restaurants we sometimes see in the cities, as well as making cheap labor for agriculture. Let’s assume that we have net zero immigration like some right-wing pundits advocate for. This would be detrimental to the economy because A) it would mean wages would go up too high and potentially prices as well (the right usually advocates against minimum wage increases on the grounds that it would rise prices), so immigrants are a good thing, right? You’re not entitled to the job you have under a capitalist system. B) capitalists will move to another place where labor and commodities are cheaper. Which brings me to another point.
Right-wing populists are usually anti-globalist. Globalization usually refers to the increased interconnectedness of the world’s social institutions such as cultural and economic. People get to places much faster because planes are much faster than ever before. Information now travels at a fast speed so we can be informed. Also, free trade, which comes from globalization, makes it so economic flow is much more vibrant.
These things have brought us many wonderous commodities such as foreign foods, art, and entertainment much more accessible. Personally, I’ve come to love Mongolian stir-fry and edamame soybeans. There’s an Asian market in a city not far from where I live that me and my wife love to go to. You know how white Americans often are about Asian food? Well, Asians are the same way about western food as well.
Of course, globalization has also brought us a lot of pain as well.
Many jobs have been shipped overseas (starting with union jobs) and became sweatshops, often with child labor. Walmart has pretty much become the de facto official import outlet of the Chinese. It has made recruitment of horrific organizations like ISIS much more global, and many people have been swindled out of their homelands to join them through internet communication channels. Russia was able to influence the American election because of the internet. It also has allowed ideological conformity like the Chicago School of Economics to be spread throughout the world.
Right wing populists will often refer to some mystical force such as the illuminati or the world government or whatever is trying to bring down the country and that is why they must isolate themselves. These include but not limited to both protectionism and restricting immigrants. Donald Trump and Adolf Hitler did both things. Trump was never about small government at all, and the classical liberals were pissed at him for the protectionist measures which often favored his political donors (though they loved the tax cuts). He also of course, was famously anti-immigrant. His administration literally kidnapped children with his child separation policies and was famously cruel to undocumented immigrants (who are less of a threat to our national security than white Americans, which is a big part here).
Nationalism is a big driving force of right-wing populism. While nationalism often refers to policies that favor the nation, what is and isn’t part of the national identity is subjective. For example, American nationalism often refers, be it outwardly or underhandly, to white Christian people. Regarding the issue of immigration, white immigrants are often favored over Latino and Asian immigrants, both of which have been pouring into America over the past half century. In Germany today, Turkish immigrants are usually the target of right-wing ire. In France and England, Arab and Eastern European immigrants are the targets.
Demonizing the foreigner is a cheap shot. For one thing, they can’t vote in your elections so they cannot voice their concerns unless it is done at the podium. For two, they win a lot of racist and nativist voters who want a scapegoat for their problems. Which leads me to talk about the meme above.
The big scary boogeyman
If you are familiar with Alex Jones, Ben Shapiro (he is very much a populist), Glenn Back, or Tucker Carlson, they will usually refer to some big scary force out there like Big Brother or the New World Order that is trying to undermine you. A very popular conspiracy theory out there is called the “Great Replacement” which basically says that white people are being replaced by Latino immigrants and black people. As outrageous as these things may be, people believe these things because a trusted friend or family member, who may not really know what they’re talking about, will spread these conspiracy theories in their social groups. That is pretty much the main appeal of these types.
The usual type who believes these sort of conspiracy theories and fears of an imagined “other” are usually middle class (though many lower classes fall for these), the dominant ethnic group, bored, isolated from the world and need something to believe. Often, they develop a lot of opinions but hate listening in the process. Roger Ailes once famously said that he created FOX news for 55-year-old guys who do nothing but sit on their couch with their TV remotes all day and night. On YouTube, the website that catapulted Jair Bolsonaro and quite arguably Donald Trump to their presidencies, it is for young white males who do nothing but go on social media all day.
The commentators I mentioned will as said, mention something that is outlandish and frankly stupid, but if you say it with a certain zeal, appeal to common wisdom, and say that they are just a person asking questions and an independent thinker just like you, then if enough people see it and believe it, it will become popular opinion. This is part of what Joseph Goebbels called “the illusory truth effect” which says that if a narrative is repeated enough times, it becomes the truth. In turn, these comments will turn into action and even policy. The Tea Party was a very effective force in both opposition to Obama and getting Trump into office.
What all these forces have in common is that they are funded by wealthy people who benefit from certain policies advocated by these types. The Tea Party for example, was astroturfed from the very beginning. As I have argued before in my paper “Republicans didn’t and still don’t understand the forces they are dealing with”, right-wing populists are usually funded as a capitalist response to anti-capitalist sentiment which rises because of crisis (2008 financial crisis or even the Great Depression).
These forces offer nothing but being angry. People who are in crisis are often irrational and vulnerable to populistic sentiment. They could go left or right. I ask again, what exactly does the right-wing populist movements have to offer other than being angry at transgender people or people of color? I never get a coherent answer other than some vague “free market” thing or whatever even though that has always been empirically false.
Why are you poor?
Very often the conspiracy theories I mentioned have a grain of truth to them. People are being replaced and, while rarely the case, it is immigrants who may replace the traditional jobs like farming, construction, or factory work. These immigrants are often much more able to bargain for lower wages than those of middle-class origins. This is what makes the “Great Replacement Theory” so popular because while it is wild and outlandish, it does have appeal because there is something that relates to the lives of many ordinary Americans or British people. Brown people, immigrants, foreigners, Jews, feminists, blue-haired people, leftists, and LGBTs make a very easy target because they are very visible and misogynistic, homophobic, nativist, transphobic, and racist beliefs are still quite baked into the American mindset.
Throughout the Rust Belt where Trump won massively, people lost their jobs to those who can bargain for lower wages such as the Chinese or Mexicans. Or so the common narrative is often believed. What if I were to tell you that it is automation which replaced your job?
According to a study done by Daron Acemoglu and Pascual Restrepo, automation killed around 70% of middle-class jobs that have often been identified as the American dream be it auto industry, coal mining, or agricultural jobs. The very first to go were the union jobs, who stood up to the bosses and fought for better conditions. When the unions collapsed, so did the working class and even middle class (which is a subjective term to begin with) jobs all fell victim.
Notice how I said “the boss” in that paragraph above. The one who you must subject yourself to make a living. Your employer. While you are an employee. The former is known as a “capitalist”. The one who owns the means of production. The employee or known as the “worker” or “working class”, sells their labor to the capitalist who owns the means of production. The workers want as high of a wage as possible with the best working conditions they can bargain for. While the capitalists want the opposite of what I just described.
During the 70s, working class power was quite high and wages were also. Inequality was low. Strikes were happening all over. We had a profitability crisis on our hands. Capitalism was in crisis mode. So, capitalists did a few things and I’m going to go into depth about them in my next paper.
One) they started funding social conservative campaigns to make loud noises about the downfall of society. Class tensions were not as high anymore, so they were able to get away with it. To right-wing populists, economics is second.
Two) they started shipping off jobs to China once the country began to open. The first to go were the union jobs. The low cost of wages more than made up for the transportation costs which are now contributing to climate change.
Three) They started automating the jobs away as well.
But hold on, those same workers are the very ones who you hope will buy your product. If you don’t sell your product, what was the point of shipping off those jobs? As it turns out, there is a way around that. Credit cards were the solution to the problem. There was a massive expansion of credit that happened in the 70s and 80s as the capitalists knew full well what I was saying. However, people can only borrow so much and what happens if they stop spending? The economy comes to a halt which brings people’s wages down. Basically, what I am saying is that credit was a temporary solution which is bringing capitalism even further into the ground.
You are poor because capitalism shipped off all the jobs overseas and automated them away. Then it replaced your life with a credit card.
So why do you even want to believe that there is some “deep state”, or Muslims or blacks are trying to destroy society? It’s because you have internalized the system and how it works. There is something wrong with the system and you believe that if these forces were removed and subdued, then everything will work the way it is supposed to. Fun fact: this is why Stacey chose Tyrone over you. But I digress.
This sort of stuff happens all the time. People looking to blame others rather than the system. Americans did this back then with the “Know Nothing” movement in the mid-19th century. The Ku Klux Klan in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Fascism used to be a popular idea in the Great Depression. Those forces always ended up blowing in their faces and nothing was done. The Proud Boys and Trumpism are just another example of America’s old tradition of right-wing authoritarian political action. But do you know what does get stuff done? Challenging the system.
The problem is that class analysis is often boring to a lot of people. Hitler himself published Mein Kampf as the epitome of right-wing populism and went on to say that class analysis was boring (he didn’t understand it really).
The only reason things have ever gotten better under capitalism is because unions and left-wing political parties fought to make things better. I encourage you to both join a union and learn what socialism is. I have already done a paper on what it is which I will cite here:
https://medium.com/@derekhudley/what-is-socialism-07faca88bd0c
Thank you for reading! If you liked this paper don’t forget to clap, follow, and share so my message can be spread! My email is derekhudley@gmail.com
