The election results in France are a timely reminder of how the rise of extremism is a global issue rather than merely a local one. As we struggle to understand the rise and continued popularity of Trumpism here, we should note France, with Le Pen running close to Macron, Alternative für Deutschland remaining a scary presence in mainstr…
The election results in France are a timely reminder of how the rise of extremism is a global issue rather than merely a local one. As we struggle to understand the rise and continued popularity of Trumpism here, we should note France, with Le Pen running close to Macron, Alternative für Deutschland remaining a scary presence in mainstream German politics, and the similar existence of Vox in Spain, now partnering with the conservative Partido Popular to form a majority government in the state of Castilla y León. There are other examples. The question remains: why? Somebody please enlighten me as to what is so appealing in this era about extremism and turning away from fundamental humanistic values that have endured and prospered in these places for decades, even centuries. (For my part I blame social media as much as anything, the Pandora's Box that empowers the lowest common denominator among us and their ability to reach huge numbers of people with the logical and intellectual equivalent of fertilizer.) Perhaps this is simply a phase that some power on high has decided that we must go through in our evolution. Maybe human beings are overrated compared to our animal companions that aren't taking the Earth over the abyss. All I know is that each day/week/month/year seems to be a little worse than the one before and that gravity works in all manner of platforms -- bottom line: what rises inevitably falls.
My answer to the question of why extremism is so appealing: one important aspect of it is, to quote from Mark Hartling's piece in today's Bulwark, - a failure in "finding purpose - even profundity - in the mundane." For me that's pretty much the key to "the good life." It is elusive and never permanently achieved. So some look for it in the wrong places.
I've seen tradcons suggest that the government should be in the business of providing us with "meaning and purpose," or partnering with particular religious institutions to do so, and that otherwise we'll all be hopelessly adrift, or (horrors) we might choose the wrong meaning and purpose.
Er, that sounds pretty strange. For traditional conservatives, that's anathema: the gov't is the last place such a person would look for meaning/purpose. That said, it wouldn't surprise me if some Trumpy evangelicals angling for a theocracy said something like that, but that's not traditional conservativism.
I have the same questions, Timothy. There’s an aura of inevitability in the global swing to the right; similar to the prediction that Republicans will sweep the midterms because that’s the formula, regardless of facts on the ground.
I agree with you about the novel forces brought by social media. I’d add mass migration too. That is almost always socially and culturally destabilizing; demagogues like Trump and all the right wing “leaders” out there are reflexively ready to pounce.
"Somebody please enlighten me as to what is so appealing in this era about extremism and turning away from fundamental humanistic values that have endured and prospered in these places for decades, even centuries."
The flourishing is never consistent, and the turn away is usually the result of fear. In this case, it's the fear of death. The West is getting old demographically, and the politicians are catering to an increasing population of old men (there's some women among them, but not that many) who look at a messy world of ambiguity with death waiting for them, and have convinced themselves that the world they saw when they were children, that seemed simple and filled with possibilty, was both an actual reflection of reality and something to which they could be returned. It's why Trump was so obsessed with "suburban lifestyle dreams;" he's selling to the people who remembered them as having the freedom of childhood, not to anyone who lived in them as an adult and who remembers the bad parts, or who weren't allowed there in the first place.
The election results in France are a timely reminder of how the rise of extremism is a global issue rather than merely a local one. As we struggle to understand the rise and continued popularity of Trumpism here, we should note France, with Le Pen running close to Macron, Alternative für Deutschland remaining a scary presence in mainstream German politics, and the similar existence of Vox in Spain, now partnering with the conservative Partido Popular to form a majority government in the state of Castilla y León. There are other examples. The question remains: why? Somebody please enlighten me as to what is so appealing in this era about extremism and turning away from fundamental humanistic values that have endured and prospered in these places for decades, even centuries. (For my part I blame social media as much as anything, the Pandora's Box that empowers the lowest common denominator among us and their ability to reach huge numbers of people with the logical and intellectual equivalent of fertilizer.) Perhaps this is simply a phase that some power on high has decided that we must go through in our evolution. Maybe human beings are overrated compared to our animal companions that aren't taking the Earth over the abyss. All I know is that each day/week/month/year seems to be a little worse than the one before and that gravity works in all manner of platforms -- bottom line: what rises inevitably falls.
My answer to the question of why extremism is so appealing: one important aspect of it is, to quote from Mark Hartling's piece in today's Bulwark, - a failure in "finding purpose - even profundity - in the mundane." For me that's pretty much the key to "the good life." It is elusive and never permanently achieved. So some look for it in the wrong places.
I've seen tradcons suggest that the government should be in the business of providing us with "meaning and purpose," or partnering with particular religious institutions to do so, and that otherwise we'll all be hopelessly adrift, or (horrors) we might choose the wrong meaning and purpose.
Er, that sounds pretty strange. For traditional conservatives, that's anathema: the gov't is the last place such a person would look for meaning/purpose. That said, it wouldn't surprise me if some Trumpy evangelicals angling for a theocracy said something like that, but that's not traditional conservativism.
I have the same questions, Timothy. There’s an aura of inevitability in the global swing to the right; similar to the prediction that Republicans will sweep the midterms because that’s the formula, regardless of facts on the ground.
I agree with you about the novel forces brought by social media. I’d add mass migration too. That is almost always socially and culturally destabilizing; demagogues like Trump and all the right wing “leaders” out there are reflexively ready to pounce.
"Somebody please enlighten me as to what is so appealing in this era about extremism and turning away from fundamental humanistic values that have endured and prospered in these places for decades, even centuries."
The flourishing is never consistent, and the turn away is usually the result of fear. In this case, it's the fear of death. The West is getting old demographically, and the politicians are catering to an increasing population of old men (there's some women among them, but not that many) who look at a messy world of ambiguity with death waiting for them, and have convinced themselves that the world they saw when they were children, that seemed simple and filled with possibilty, was both an actual reflection of reality and something to which they could be returned. It's why Trump was so obsessed with "suburban lifestyle dreams;" he's selling to the people who remembered them as having the freedom of childhood, not to anyone who lived in them as an adult and who remembers the bad parts, or who weren't allowed there in the first place.