Part of the problem, I think, is that the fascism well that Trump is drawing from is rooted in deep dissatisfaction with real things--which neither major party is currently addressing. When we have people who are getting the short end of the stick in large numbers, they're going to want to address that--and liberalism has been too watered down to do so (plus it's seen unrightfully as giving too much to "those" people--the others), while "conservatism" has turned away from anything compassionate or helpful to an unholy marriage of libertarian economics and social conservatism which offers no help to blue collar workers at all.
Of course, in the past, we've had similar populist movements; 1920s labor was racist, isolationist, and pro-worker, and of course the communist revolutions that swept Europe somewhat later were all about channelling the dissatisfaction of the working class. To a large degree, I think this only really went into remission with the Cold War and the Red Scare. Having a communist boogeyman simultaneously provided an external enemy and provided a counter-balance to communism as a movement offering an outlet for rage and a promise of real change.
So right now, the Soviet scare is mostly in remission. So while we don't have lots of people going that communism isn't all that bad, we're still seeing the racist, populist right flex their muscles again. My guess is that this will continue until at least one of:
1. They manage to elect a leader, and, predictably, it doesn't hurt (because implementing isolationist+racist solutions doesn't actually work, though it does hurt a lot of people).
2. We manage to successfully pronounce a new Evil Enemy in an effective way (probably by ISIS or a successor doing something really scary), and the people torn by populism and fear of the Other go for militarism instead for a while.
3. We manage to implement enough of a successful social safety net that the racists+fascists are left with just racism as a platform, and that one's sufficiently discredited that they wouldn't be able to form as much of a movement then.
I'm hoping for #3, of course, but not counting on it.
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Date: 2016-04-14 09:26 pm (UTC)Of course, in the past, we've had similar populist movements; 1920s labor was racist, isolationist, and pro-worker, and of course the communist revolutions that swept Europe somewhat later were all about channelling the dissatisfaction of the working class. To a large degree, I think this only really went into remission with the Cold War and the Red Scare. Having a communist boogeyman simultaneously provided an external enemy and provided a counter-balance to communism as a movement offering an outlet for rage and a promise of real change.
So right now, the Soviet scare is mostly in remission. So while we don't have lots of people going that communism isn't all that bad, we're still seeing the racist, populist right flex their muscles again. My guess is that this will continue until at least one of:
1. They manage to elect a leader, and, predictably, it doesn't hurt (because implementing isolationist+racist solutions doesn't actually work, though it does hurt a lot of people).
2. We manage to successfully pronounce a new Evil Enemy in an effective way (probably by ISIS or a successor doing something really scary), and the people torn by populism and fear of the Other go for militarism instead for a while.
3. We manage to implement enough of a successful social safety net that the racists+fascists are left with just racism as a platform, and that one's sufficiently discredited that they wouldn't be able to form as much of a movement then.
I'm hoping for #3, of course, but not counting on it.