There is a lot of hand-wringing among establishment Republicans – and a fair amount of Schadenfreude among Democrats – in response to the defeat of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor by an Ayn Rand-quoting, Bible-thumping Libertarian economics professor in the Virginia primary. Likewise, there is much nervous chin-stroking among establishment pundits over the surprisingly strong showing by rightist and xenophobic parties in the elections for the European parliament.
That the Virginia Senate candidate and many of the European
parties attracted voters with an appeal against the ruling elites, the banks
and Big Finance is also a failure of Progressives to provide convincing
programs to attract those segments of the population facing economic hardship
imposed by the various ruling “1 per cents.” That is why the movement to
raise the minimum wage is so important – and why it is so damaging when
Democrats show a willingness to cut Social Security benefits, a measure opposed
by big majorities across the political spectrum.
Cantor, a hard-core
reactionary, very cozy with Wall Street and big Republican donors – as well as
a very reliable spokesperson for Israel’s Likud government in the US House –
will not be missed by any of us. But we also know from history
that when “popular” parties do not offer meaningful alternatives to a failed
status quo, then “Rightwing Populists” will move in to fill the vacuum -- with
the backing of the very corporate interests that were supposedly the targets of
resentment. Koch brothers, anyone?
This kind of movement used to be called by its proper term –
Fascism. Recall that the middle names of the original German Nazi Party
were “Socialist” and “Workers” and that Hitler was able to secure the
backing of the powerful Krupp armaments family.
And the stoking of racial/anti-immigrant/religious bigotry is
always part of the Rightwing Populist formula. To imagine that Progressives can
somehow unite with the new Rightwing Populists is a very dangerous game, even
though there may be some tactical agreement on certain issues. Eventually, the
populist mask always comes off to reveal a burning cross – or a Swastika.
The Triumph of Rightwing Populism in Virginia
Dave Brat’s victory over House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has
been widely attributed to Brat’s opposition to immigration reform. But in his
campaign, Brat and his Tea Party backers gave equal weight to denouncing Cantor
as a tool of Wall Street, the big banks, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the
Business Roundtable. Brat’s campaign reflected an old strain of rightwing
populism that continues to be an important part of our politics… Brat’s
case against immigration reform was directed at big business as much as it was
directed at the immigrants themselves. “They get cheap labor,” he said of big
business, “but everyone in the 7th district gets cheap wages.”… If
he is elected in November, Brat may, of course, jettison the anti–Wall Street
and anti-big business side of his politics. His actual economic views appear to be close to those of the Cato
Institute and Ayn Rand. More
The So-Called European Earthquake
Parties that targeted unemployment, austerity and the growing
wealth gap in Europe did well, and the dramatic breakthrough of right wing
racist and xenophobic parties in France, Britain, and Denmark had less to do
with a neo-Nazi surge than with the inability or unwillingness of the
opposition in those countries to offer a viable alternative to a half decade of
economic misery. Indeed, if there was a message in the May 25 EU elections, it
was that those who trumpeted austerity as the panacea for economic crisis were
punished… In contrast, where there was a clear choice between economic
democracy, on one hand, and “let’s blame it on the immigrants and Roma,” on the
other—as in Greece, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, and most of Central
and Eastern Europe—voters went left. More
The signs of disaffection are not hard to detect: across the
world, ordinary citizens are coming to realize that the confident assumption
that liberal democracy would deliver prosperity, security, and some kind of
existential reassurance may be a mirage… If the heartland of capitalist liberal
democracy can be riven by an expectations gap, there is reason to wonder
whether what we call “democracy” may not be so different from other political
systems after all: perhaps only our arrogance has kept us from seeing it as one
type of rule among many, struggling to satisfy the high expectations of its
people in a time of economic stultification and stratification.
More
The Plutocrats Still Lead With Control
Not only do the rich have a system built for them, but they have
their own market geared just for them. The rest of the population, on the other
hand, must contend with the growing income inequality and hope our interests
correlate with the interest of the rich. This uncovers a system built on the
premise of inequality not only in the economic sense, but also in the political
sense. It has been raised incessantly how there are issues that require
attention, but it is a legitimate point. What is the point of a country that
states it is for democracy when it the market and governmental elites focus on
an exclusive group of people? The corporate media structure may be focusing on
the upcoming elections as an indicator of where the country is heading, but a
report by Bank of American Merrill Lynch on Thomas Piketty’s new book and
central theme may already show what direction the country will be heading.
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