Populist Right

To some extent I know these people because I grew up with them – they are the family and community of my upbringing. In the UK the populist right are very quiet, traditional people – many going to church. They are traditionally Tory voters primarily because they feel the Tories will look after their money, live nice tidy lives in suburbs, and have a disguised façade so that they cannot be see for the racists and sexists they are. These people have a basic compassion. Primarily they care for their families but within their community they will be caring and helpful. But they don’t see beyond this as their responsibility – maybe they contribute to Oxfam. Historically these people have had a trust in the system, and this trust takes much to be broken down. Significantly they fear change, and in the case of my community this can be traced back to WWII. My parents were teenagers during the war, and this must have been devastating for them – they never discussed it. But they resisted change, and when change came in the 60s and 70s there was a strong reaction to it. My whole generation were attracted to this change, and there was a conflict – it was mostly described as “they will grow out of it”. In fact Brexit indicates they were correct. Most of the people who were active amongst the movements of the 60s and 70s “sold out”, found themselves positions in the system, and when they became propertied accepted the same traditional approach – conditioning - as their parents. For me this makes Steve Bannon’s “woodstock mentality” a complete contradiction to what I saw happening around me, whilst there are some who have held to ideals and principles they developed through the hippie consciousness most have just returned to the conditioned wage-slavery they were brought up with.

I watched Michael Moore in Trumpland. This gave me an indication as to a majority of Trump voters. On the Trump campaign trail I saw voters whose behaviour was unacceptable – Hillary called these people “deplorables”. I have no problem with that whilst these people, Truthstream Media - who I believe are populist right yet caring compassionate people, do have a problem. I don’t want to get involved in the Trump-Hillary division because there is so much created disagreement, but basically the populist right are not the same as the violent racists and sexists (deplorables) – in the same way the violent on the left (exploited in the Poll Tax Demo) don’t represent the left. I think Hillary was trying to appeal to the populist right who could never accept such violence as a tactic to separate them from these “deplorables”. Quite rightly a politician should not be using derogatory terms about voters. As a Unity Platform violence can never be acceptable. The 1%-system uses military and police to maintain their exploitation. In my view seeking a violent solution against such armed might is both self-defeating and lacking in compassion; a solution has to be peaceful. A United Platform presents such a peaceful solution.

I do not know the Trumpland audience but I would surmise that they are working people who are suffering under the 1%-system. I suspect they have been losing their jobs – maybe even their homes with the way the economy is being handled. As with the community I grew up with, their status – relative position in society – has been eroded in their lifetimes - from the 60s until now, and they are angry and frustrated about this. Under the 1%-system the large corporations have come in and exploited them, either by putting them out of business or by taking them over gradually stripping their assets. These people have slowly seen their standard of living eroded and seek someone to blame. The 1% appear untouchable, and their blame has turned towards the left who they perceive do not represent them. In my discussion about the left this blame has some merit, and it is important for a Unity Platform that the concerns of all the 99% are represented.

Because of this work on the Unity Platform and because of my general dissatisfaction with Brexit and Trump, I have begun to examine the right-wing – mainly through the internet. As with the left, right interests are diverse and I do not have an understanding of them. Why should I? I seek a Unity Platform not an identity of interests. There must be some form of mutual respect and I believe this starts with communication soon would follow compassion. Despite differing ideologies the majority on the left and right are compassionate people seeking what is best for the majority of people, seeking to end the system that exploits the 99% by the 1%. Underneath the rhetoric I also see a morality.