I don’t mean only the US but in much of the world: in many European countries the populist far right is unseating Christian-Democratic parties (conservative parties), like in Hungary, Slovakia or Czechia. In others like Germany or France the far right is at the gates of power, in the UK, Reform UK is running high in the polls. In Turkey autocratic Erdogan is copying the Putin playbook to systematically dismantle the social-democratic opposition. In Japan, a neo Thatcherite that doesn’t hide she honors Japanese war criminals is about to become the new PM.
Something common I see in all these parties is strong disaffection with the current state of their countries and a longing to an idealized past they promise to bring back, to make countries great again…
Except that societies have changed beyond recognition in the last 40 years, emerging China, India, Mexico and a myriad of south east Asian countries can produce cheaper than us in the developed countries, so called first world democracies are now much older and indebted than 40 years ago (no wonder societies have shifted so hard to the right), buying a house is now waaaay more expensive than 40 years ago, you cannot earn a livable wage just assembling toasters like 40 years ago, you just cannot roll automation and digitization back, no matter how much you complain…
The past cannot come back, neither will it come back just because some people want it to. It’s completely futile, but people are not rational about this, they’re completely emotional and tribal.
It’s like a huge, collective effort in denial: denying that we in the developed world are older, not the first ones in the world anymore, that other countries we always considered inferior to us are even surpassing us technologically while we complain and hope for a savior that brings us 40 years back when we, the white guys, ruled all over.
I don’t see it happening: being angry and voting the far right may make some people feel good, it may make them feel they’re somehow taking their country back, but it’s not going to stop China, India and other countries from developing, investing in new technologies and even creating trade alliances that bypass the US or the EU.
My question: was there a moment in history where societies were so shifted to the right like today? How long did it last?
Yeah, I suppose that’s fair to an extent. The slow burn of Faux Snuz brainwashing and anger buildup definitely contributed as you mentioned, but it is possibly unusual in that the buildup period was so long (Republicans have been working from a basic plan since the mid 70s when some strategist of theirs came to the realization that abortion would be an extremely effective wedge issue) before it reached its peak without anything happening to break that spell.
I’m not really a history buff, so I don’t have a lot to compare to off the top of my head. My argument was based more upon what I know of human psychology - a subject of much more interest to me personally, but which doesn’t have nearly the same amount of documented historical details with which to compare.
Honestly, though, the only thing I think is different today is our level of knowledge and understanding. Data warehousing, statistical analysis, psychological profiling, etc., etc. are all new additions to the dynamic that I strongly suspect have made successful manipulations possible at such as massive scale.
People themselves are still the same as they’ve basically always been - some good, some not, some smart, etc. It’s just now we have the ability to give those in power much more certainly with regards to methods of achieving their goals. Since those who actually desire to be in positions of power are almost invariably the types who shouldn’t have it, the end result is sadly predictably ugly.