How Do You Understand Anti-Elitism?
How Do You Understand Anti-Elitism?
Article in question from CBC
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/adam-gopnik-anti-elitism-antisemitism-anti-urbanism-1.7458841
Trying to make sense of the current political storm, this article helped me.
I keep coming back to the question: what’s the end goals/motivations of Trump supporters? They know he wants to break the government and, yet, thinks it’s worthwhile. Why? Motivation will be multifaceted and we read all kind of proposition from dementia to dark gothic MAGA (as a plot from billionaires to each be king of their own techno-feudal city state). I don’t want to be naive but don’t want to be fear mongering either. Any agenda is enabled by the population and sufficient support.
This article’s take on anti-elitism as a rejection from the uneducated mass of educated immigrants because they perceive them as competition and as being responsible for their failure to achieve success… it leaves me a bit depressed because it takes effort to open up to any difference (immigrants, sexual orientation… ) and the mass of average (poorly) educated population doesn’t have the ressources to make this effort. And then the division in our population can be exploited by dangerous individuals for further pain.
How do we fight this now (and frankly forever because this weakness is intrinsic to this world, for every generation)?
It's counterproductive to tie current populist movements to a single cause. They've attracted a lot of people who have different motivations.
Some of them are legit racists and antisemites. They deserve to be called out.
But there are a bunch of people who are suffering from the cost of living crisis. They can't afford what they think they deserve (given what their parents had and their educational attainment) and they're angry. These are the people that voted for Obama and Trump. They're the ones who voted for Trudeau and will vote for Poilievre.
In Canada, this group includes people who can no longer afford decent housing and can't find a family doctor.
These are legit concerns that political elites aren't addressing. Trudeau's collapse in popularity was (at least partially) because he didn't seem to acknowledge the problems.
As progressives, I think we do ourselves a massive disservice when we fail to acknowledge and address these concerns.
I understand anti-elitism as being anti-intellectual, like all of the other "anti" groups. There is no logic and reason involved because there is no logic and reason in hate.
The problems are a lack of education, and extreme propaganda. The only reason people like Trump exist is because the majority is ignorant. Which is true regardless of the populist in front of you.
Pierre Poilievre is a perfect example of how we as Canadians are very close to making the same mistakes the US did, and we desperately need to educate our people better before that happens.
Isn't the obvious answer to, "Why?" that he is trying to end the era of American global dominance? He comes right out and tells us that on his hat when you consider everything he says is either a projection or a lie.
Ending the era of US global dominance to what end? Paying less in overseas military bases? Just progressively close a few of them; if you don’t want to subsidize German defence: leave Germany… I can imagine the strategic position to have big manufacturing capacity in what’s relevant to future war effort inside the US boarder, but why reducing your commercial network?
Trump could always be petty and want to break things if he perceives to have been wronged in the past. Let’s believe that for a moment. Then consider the next piece of the puzzle : the 30-60% of the population that support him are all sharing this deep pettiness of being taken advantage of by the government and without the hint of fear at less government, more problems? The solution to the Trump problem lies in what does the population want, how is Trump successful at convincing people? Hence the anti-elitist proposition.
He is literally a foreign asset. He is a deeply flawed, weak-minded individual who openly worships foreign dictators. His behaviour is AT BEST a pathological need to get the approval of these authoritarians, but I truly think that in addition to that which we can plainly see, he is being influenced by foreign states.
Well, mission accomplished.