In both the US and the UK, the populists seem to be very strident in their opposition to the (imperfect) institutions that have stabilized their respective countries for half a century. What's less clear to me is what they are 'for'. There are labor shortages in both countries, yet the populists are adamantly anti-immigration. There are looming international crises that they would happily ignore in their fervent nationalism, as though ignoring the issues is equivalent to solving them. Populists in both countries decry experts and turn a blind eye to climate science, again as though ignoring a crisis means the crisis itself evaporates. What type of society will they build, what type of government, how will they address broad societal issues? There's never an answer, just heated unhinged rhetoric, goading one another to destroy, never plans for what comes next. It's like watching children play with dynamite. Am I missing something? Is there a positive to populism that makes it make sense?
The only thing that I can see is that they care deeply about their cultural traditions and don't want them to be swamped. So they are for their culture. But that of course is a pretty narrow understanding of what a culture is.
Also, deeply flawed if this is the rationale. The UK widely use/share/partake of multi-ethnic foods/American fast foods/American music/Chinese technologies, etc. Other than the myths of Anerican exceptionalism and 'rugged individualism', it's challenging to identify an American culture. From what I can tell, in the US at least, openly embracing racism, bigotry, white nationalism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny, anti-government sentiment, and incoherent conspiracy theories seem to be the animating factors. But these are not cultural aspects, but rather a permission structure for the worst of human nature to flourish. Perhaps that's enough for them, even as nothing is built or created, and chaos reigns.
Actually, the closest thing to an American culture are its political traditions of liberalism. But, ironically, that's precisely the thing that the right is attacking in the name of protecting American culture!
In both the US and the UK, the populists seem to be very strident in their opposition to the (imperfect) institutions that have stabilized their respective countries for half a century. What's less clear to me is what they are 'for'. There are labor shortages in both countries, yet the populists are adamantly anti-immigration. There are looming international crises that they would happily ignore in their fervent nationalism, as though ignoring the issues is equivalent to solving them. Populists in both countries decry experts and turn a blind eye to climate science, again as though ignoring a crisis means the crisis itself evaporates. What type of society will they build, what type of government, how will they address broad societal issues? There's never an answer, just heated unhinged rhetoric, goading one another to destroy, never plans for what comes next. It's like watching children play with dynamite. Am I missing something? Is there a positive to populism that makes it make sense?
The only thing that I can see is that they care deeply about their cultural traditions and don't want them to be swamped. So they are for their culture. But that of course is a pretty narrow understanding of what a culture is.
Also, deeply flawed if this is the rationale. The UK widely use/share/partake of multi-ethnic foods/American fast foods/American music/Chinese technologies, etc. Other than the myths of Anerican exceptionalism and 'rugged individualism', it's challenging to identify an American culture. From what I can tell, in the US at least, openly embracing racism, bigotry, white nationalism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny, anti-government sentiment, and incoherent conspiracy theories seem to be the animating factors. But these are not cultural aspects, but rather a permission structure for the worst of human nature to flourish. Perhaps that's enough for them, even as nothing is built or created, and chaos reigns.
Actually, the closest thing to an American culture are its political traditions of liberalism. But, ironically, that's precisely the thing that the right is attacking in the name of protecting American culture!
Great point!
"...his attendance two parties in violation..." Attendance to two parties? Attendance to parties?