Populists on Right and Left Struggle with Globalists

By JASON SIBERT

The world of the democratic nation-state has been upended by anti-establishment politics as of late.

We’ve seen the rise of a populist right-wing and a populist left-wing in the United States, Europe, other parts of North America and in Asia. The key to understanding them both is understanding the impact that globalism has had on the lives of those in the democratic-nation state. Also, and little mentioned in the media, is the impact that right-wing populism could have on a peaceful and orderly world.

The election of President Donald Trump in the United States represented a victory for right-wing populism. The fact that Viktor Orban in Hungry and Andrzej Duda in Poland rose to be leaders of their nations is also a win for this form of politics. Politicians like Marine LePen in France and Nigel Farage in the United Kingdom also represent right-wing populism in their respective countries.

Right-wing populism claims to represent the people against those forces that seek to oppress him or her: Muslims, immigrants, other countries and international institutions. It blames that which is foreign for our woes. Left-wing populism, as represented by Bernie Sanders in the US, Jeremy Corbyn in the UK and Jean Luc Mélenchon in France, possesses a narrative that says that the little guy has been crushed by the rich elite, corporations, banks and governments that don’t care about the little people.

Good news for democracy came recently in Greece where the center-right New Democracy party rode to victory. They defeated Syriza — a populist left party. Why does the progressive populist like the election of a center-right government? New Democracy is not the populist-right Greek Solution or the fascist Golden Dawn party. The Golden Dawn didn’t even meet the minimum vote for election to the parliament. They lost the few seats they already held.

Anti-establishment politics received a shot in the arm when the great recession hit in 2008. There is an economic component to populism of the left and right. People on both sides of the Atlantic were feeling economically squeezed. Greece suffered 25% unemployment during the recession when Syriza came to power. Syriza’s program was restrained by the European Union. However, unemployment has dropped and normalcy seems to be returning to the country. Normalcy went hand and hand with economic recovery.

Technology has brought us a global economy, but our politics has not found a way to include the unincluded. Globalism has brought us shuttered factories and communities left behind in poverty. In addition, technology has also brought us a poorly paid personal service worker class (restaurant workers, retail workers, healthcare workers, or hotel/motel workers) that are not winners in the game of the global economy. The populist-left has some genuine answers to the problems the service class faces: a higher minimum wage, a robust national health insurance and a childcare system. These things could bring about a greater middle-class.

How is economic security related to peace and security? The wildly nationalistic politics of the populist-right drives the individual nation-states of the world further and further apart and this makes it tough for arms control agreements to control the world’s deadly arsenal. This makes war an even more deadly game than it would be otherwise.

Psychologist Abraham Maslow talked about a hierarchy of needs and said man pursues more lofty needs – self-actualization – when his physiological needs are met. The key to a global consciousness that seeks to control weapons of destruction can be pursing policies that lift large portions of our country out of poverty.

Jason Sibert is the Executive Director of the Peace Economy Project in St. Louis, Mo. Email jasonsibert@hotmail.com.

From The Progressive Populist, September 1, 2019

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