The United States presents itself as the beacon of democracy in contrast to the autocracies of China and Russia. Yet American democracy is in danger of succumbing to the same sort of oligarchic economics and racist nationalism that thrive in both these powers.
After all, it wasnt long ago that Donald Trump who openly admired Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin encouraged racist nationalism in America while delivering much of the US government into the hands of Americas super-rich.
Now state-level Republicans are busily suppressing votes of people of color and paving the way for a possible anti-democratic coup, while the national Republican party excuses the attack on the Capitol calling it legitimate political discourse and censures Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, the only two congressional Republicans serving on the panel investigating that attack.
Americas oligarchic wealth, meanwhile, has reached levels rivaling or exceeding those of Russia and China. During the pandemic, Americas 745 billionaires increased their holdings by 70%, adding $2.1tn to their wealth in just over a year.
A portion of this wealth is going into politics. As early as 2012, more than 40% of all money spent in federal elections came from the wealthiest of the wealthiest not the top 1% or even the top tenth of the 1%, but from the top 1% of the 1%.
Now, some of this wealth is supporting Trumpism. Peter Thiel, a staunch Trump supporter whose net worth is estimated by Forbes to be $2.6bn, has become one of the Republican partys largest donors.
Last year, Thiel gave $10m each to the campaigns of two protgs Blake Masters, who is running for the Senate from Arizona, and JD Vance, from Ohio. Thiel is also backing 12 House candidates, three of whom are running primary challenges to Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for the events of January 6.
Its not just Republicans. Last year, at least 13 billionaires who had previously donated to Trump lavished campaign donations on Democratic senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, according to an analysis of Federal Election Commission records.
The combination of oligarchic wealth and racist nationalism is treacherous for democratic institutions in the US and elsewhere. Capitalism is consistent with democracy only if democracy reduces the inequalities, insecurities, joblessness, and poverty that accompany unbridled profit-seeking.
For the first three decades after the second world war, democracy did this. The US and war-ravaged western Europe built the largest middle classes the world had ever seen, and the most buoyant democracies.
The arrangement was far from perfect, but with the addition of civil rights and voting rights, subsidized healthcare (in the US, Medicare and Medicaid), and a vast expansion of public education, democracy was on the way to making capitalism work for the vast majority.
Then came a giant U-turn, courtesy of Ronald Reagan in America and Margaret Thatcher in Europe. Deregulation, privatization, globalization, and the unleashing of finance created the Full Monty: abandoned factories and communities, stagnant wages, widening inequality, a shrinking middle class, political corruption and shredded social support.
The result has been widespread anger and cynicism. Even before the pandemic, most people were working harder than ever but couldnt get ahead, and their childrens prospects werent any better. More than one out of every six American children was impoverished and the typical American family was living from paycheck to paycheck. At the same time, a record high share of national wealth was already surging to the top.
Starting last July, America did an experiment that might have limited these extremes and reduced the lure of racist nationalism. Thats when 36 million American families began receiving pandemic payments of up to $3,000 per child ($3,600 for each child under six).
Presto. Child poverty dropped by at least a third, and the typical family gained some breathing space.
But this hugely successful experiment ended abruptly in December when Senator Joe Manchin joined 50 Republican senators in rejecting President Bidens Build Back Better Act, which would have continued it.
They cited concerns over the experiments cost an estimated $100bn per year, or $1.6tn over 10 years. But thats less than big corporations and the rich will have saved on taxes from the Trump Republican tax cut of 2018. Repeal it, and there would be enough money. The cost is also less than the increase in the wealth of Americas 745 billionaires during the pandemic. Why not a wealth tax?
The experiment died because, put simply, the oligarchy didnt want to pay for it.
Oligarchic economics coupled with racist nationalism marks the ultimate failure of progressive politics. Beware. When the people are no longer defended against the powerful, they look elsewhere.
More here:
Beware of this deadly mix: oligarchic economics and racist, nationalist populism - The Guardian
- Scholz warns of the rise of right-wing populists ahead of EU elections - Euronews - April 8th, 2024 [April 8th, 2024]
- An ex-GOP congressman blasts the 'populist wave' that he says has corroded conservatism: 'Now we're impeaching ... - Yahoo Canada - April 8th, 2024 [April 8th, 2024]
- Thinking About A Truly Populist Party - Above the Law - April 8th, 2024 [April 8th, 2024]
- The Polish response to the WCK incident exposes the dangers of populism - Ynetnews - April 8th, 2024 [April 8th, 2024]
- Greatest threat facing EU is populism, Mitsotakis tells ND faithful - Kathimerini English Edition - April 8th, 2024 [April 8th, 2024]
- Polish pro-EU wing wants local vote to end 'age of populism' - EURACTIV - April 8th, 2024 [April 8th, 2024]
- US election: how populists encourage blind mistrust and how to push back - The Conversation - December 19th, 2023 [December 19th, 2023]
- Lessons from the Netherlands on the rise of the populist radical right - UK in a Changing Europe - December 19th, 2023 [December 19th, 2023]
- Opinion | From Jacobites to Populists - The New York Times - August 2nd, 2023 [August 2nd, 2023]
- Why Right Wing Populism Is Unable To Address the Climate Crisis - Impakter - August 2nd, 2023 [August 2nd, 2023]
- In our debased world, a new, benign Manhattan Project is ... - The New European - August 2nd, 2023 [August 2nd, 2023]
- Populism has given the elites more power than ever - Financial Times - July 19th, 2023 [July 19th, 2023]
- Starmer should beware a Left-wing insurgency - UnHerd - July 19th, 2023 [July 19th, 2023]
- The French Far-Right Tsunami Is Coming - The Media Line - July 19th, 2023 [July 19th, 2023]
- Can Spain hold back the right? - The New European - July 19th, 2023 [July 19th, 2023]
- Populism, authoritarianism and agrarian struggles - Transnational Institute - July 19th, 2023 [July 19th, 2023]
- Mainstream Conservatives Are On The Run in Europe, Too - POLITICO - June 30th, 2023 [June 30th, 2023]
- Opinion: The Perils Of Populism - Hingham Anchor - June 30th, 2023 [June 30th, 2023]
- In the global struggle with populism, elections are a salve - Frederick News Post - June 30th, 2023 [June 30th, 2023]
- Column: The push me-pull you of political populism - Omaha World-Herald - June 30th, 2023 [June 30th, 2023]
- Why the World Is on the Brink of Great Disorder - TIME - June 30th, 2023 [June 30th, 2023]
- Europe's liberals should take a page or two out of the populist movement's book - Euronews - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- Smith, Trump and the Paranoid Populist Assault on Democracy - TheTyee.ca - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- Other GOP candidates still pave the way for Trump's vile populism - National Catholic Reporter - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- Terrorism and voting: The rise of right-wing populism in Germany - CEPR - May 31st, 2023 [May 31st, 2023]
- From Donald Trump to Danielle Smith: 4 ways populists are ... - The Conversation - May 31st, 2023 [May 31st, 2023]
- Pluralism vs. Ultra-Nationalism: The Real Cleavage Behind Turkey's ... - E-International Relations - May 31st, 2023 [May 31st, 2023]
- The Erdogan era lives on, as does the power of populism - asianews.network - May 31st, 2023 [May 31st, 2023]
- Democratic backsliding in Mexico: Lessons for opponents of ... - Wilson Center - May 31st, 2023 [May 31st, 2023]
- Can Ron DeSantis Out-Populist Donald Trump to Win the GOP ... - Boston University - May 31st, 2023 [May 31st, 2023]
- Danger of populism - Daily Pioneer - May 31st, 2023 [May 31st, 2023]
- Algeria: A populist leader challenging our notions of what is possible in the Middle East - Middle East Monitor - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- How Imran Khan's populism has divided Pakistan and put it on a knife's edge - The Conversation - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- Slovakia to Get 'Expert' Government But Return to Populism Looms - Balkan Insight - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- Portuguese president: empowering youth will be the death of populism - EURACTIV - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- LETTER TO THE EDITOR: The anti-intellectualism of conservative ... - Winnipeg Free Press - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- The populism of Matthew Goodwinand its many problems - Prospect Magazine - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- The Business Nightmare of Dealing with Government - The New York Times - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- Ciarn Fitzgerald: Focus on food prices is mere populism - Agriland - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- Populism in the United States - Wikipedia - February 26th, 2023 [February 26th, 2023]
- What is Populism? | Political Science - Stanford University - February 5th, 2023 [February 5th, 2023]
- Why Populism Is Rising And How To Combat It - Forbes - February 5th, 2023 [February 5th, 2023]
- Mexicos Dying Democracy: AMLO and the Toll of Authoritarian Populism - December 28th, 2022 [December 28th, 2022]
- Trump, Brexit, and the Rise of Populism: Economic Have-Nots and ... - December 26th, 2022 [December 26th, 2022]
- Pope lunches with poor, denounces sirens of populism - December 21st, 2022 [December 21st, 2022]
- 3 steps forward, but 2.5 back for populism - bangkokpost.com - November 25th, 2022 [November 25th, 2022]
- Pence warns of 'unprincipled populism,' 'Putin apologists' - Fox 34 - October 21st, 2022 [October 21st, 2022]
- London lesson: The 44-day govt in Britain is a reminder to our politicians to give up fiscal populism - Times of India - October 21st, 2022 [October 21st, 2022]
- Left-wing populism - Wikipedia - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Populism on the rise in Canada as unelectable Pierre Poilievre sweeps ... - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- The Left Is Demonizing PopulistsFor Pushing What the Left Once ... - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- DAILY | Poilievre vs. Media Party; Trudeau on populism, disinfo; Mayor ... - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Globalization is fueling the populism surging across the Western world - The Hill - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Smith rides high on populist wave Winnipeg Free Press - Winnipeg Free Press - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- J. D. Vance and the Collapse of Dignity - The Atlantic - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- 7 non-fiction book releases to add to your TBR - The Daily Vox - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Ian Bremmer: How crises opened the way for some positive change in Europe - New Zealand Herald - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- From OPRF to Poland with a focus on Ukraine - Wednesday Journal - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Florida's DeSantis takes conservative populism to the Rust Belt - October 6th, 2022 [October 6th, 2022]
- Journalism and the Threat of Neo-Populism - Geopoliticalmonitor.com - October 6th, 2022 [October 6th, 2022]
- History As It Happens: The 'fake' populists - Washington Times - October 6th, 2022 [October 6th, 2022]
- European populist parties vote share on the rise, especially on right - Pew Research Center - October 6th, 2022 [October 6th, 2022]
- DYER: Progress and decline of populism Red Deer Advocate - Red Deer Advocate - October 6th, 2022 [October 6th, 2022]
- The Populist Pugilist Vying to Replace Conor Lamb - The American Prospect - October 6th, 2022 [October 6th, 2022]
- Understanding Europes shift to the right - POLITICO Europe - October 6th, 2022 [October 6th, 2022]
- Trump still "king" and "kingmaker" to some in Pennsylvania - CBS News - October 6th, 2022 [October 6th, 2022]
- Investigation reveals Poilievre, populist and pro-natural gas groups spread fertilizer disinformation to whip up outrage against Trudeau - Canada's... - October 6th, 2022 [October 6th, 2022]
- Citizens or consumers | The Times - The Wellington Times - October 6th, 2022 [October 6th, 2022]
- The Challenges of Epistemic Communities in Shaping Policy in the Age of Post-Truth - E-International Relations - October 6th, 2022 [October 6th, 2022]
- The EU, not Meloni, is the threat to democracy - Arab News - October 6th, 2022 [October 6th, 2022]
- Bulgaria's elections could threaten NATO and EU unity on Ukraine - Washington Examiner - October 6th, 2022 [October 6th, 2022]
- I'm not optimistic about the future of the global economy and I don't expect the next 10 years to be particularly good - CTech - October 6th, 2022 [October 6th, 2022]
- Brazil's election: The rise and impact of populism - University of Michigan News - September 29th, 2022 [September 29th, 2022]
- Opinion | Right-Wing Populism May Rise in the U.S. - The Wall Street Journal - September 29th, 2022 [September 29th, 2022]
- Survey: Right-wing populism ex pat Estonians' main negative image of home - ERR News - September 29th, 2022 [September 29th, 2022]
- Jair Bolsonaro's Hard-Right Populism Is Horrifying. But He Didn't Come From Nowhere. - Jacobin magazine - September 29th, 2022 [September 29th, 2022]
- The Wild Ones - by Nick Catoggio - The Dispatch - September 29th, 2022 [September 29th, 2022]
- Political scientists to study populist rhetoric as a threat to democracy - The Source - Washington University in St. Louis - September 27th, 2022 [September 27th, 2022]
- Italy's opposition blame disunity and populism for defeat - Reuters - September 27th, 2022 [September 27th, 2022]
- Utopian Nostalgia and the Radical Right - The Dispatch - September 27th, 2022 [September 27th, 2022]