Silent majority driving global right-wing shift: The Telegraph
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Allister Heath, an editor at The Telegraph, believes that the "woke" ruling elite is to blame for the rise of the right wing in many Western nations.
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The Patriotic Europeans gather in Dresden, Germany, on February 6, 2016 (AP)
According to Allister Heath, an editor at The Telegraph, a majority of voters in Western nations are enraged with the political establishment and looking for other options. These voters believe society is broken and express that globalization, lagging behind massive cultural and social changes, is not sitting well with them.
Hundreds of millions of people no longer feel in control, appreciated, or even consulted by the "self-satisfied ruling class" from New Zealand to the Netherlands. According to a YouGov poll, 70% of Britons feel the country is heading in the wrong way, and an NBC poll shows 74% of Americans believe their country is in danger.
Heath believes this to be the longest era of popular discontent since the industrial revolution, warning that things must be addressed promptly in order for nations not to submit to demagogues.
He notes that economic growth, life expectancy, and useless elections contribute to the general feeling of families being under great strain.
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A spiritual hole, according to him, has also been produced due to secularization, arguing that in many nations, "woke stormtroopers" have completely hijacked culture, education, and business, fueling "nihilistic gender extremism and critical race theories."
To make matters worse, the ruling elites, he explains, have never apologized for their blunders from Covid to money production.
European nations almost unanimously agree that there is excessive immigration while integration is commonly regarded as a failure in France and numerous other countries. There is rising skepticism of surveillance society and the war on cash, as well as a growing urban-suburban divide.
Heath remarks that as usually occurs in times of discontent, a small fraction has embraced explicit conspiracy theories or hatred fueled by rabble-rousers with no meaningful answers.
The editor articulates that the hopeful belief in progress in the West has been replaced by despair, resentment, and general unhappiness.
Heath notes that when the ruling elites were conservative, such alienation may have pushed the masses into the arms of the Left. Today's elites, however, are center-left "utopian technocrats", while counter-revolutionaries are on the right. Almost everywhere, populist energy, the yearning for change, is concentrated.
Oliver Anthony, a previously unknown artist who rose to stardom with Rich Men North of Richmond, represents this transformation in America. He screams against low wages, welfare, government-subsidized obesity, woke social control, and wealthy Left-wing elites. His song, which is currently number one on Apple, depicts how right-wing populism has become the worldwide anti-establishment movement.
Heath points to Germany and the rise and support for the AFD and similar support for Marine Le Pen's populist party in France, citing the same trend across the entire continent of Europe, Spain, Scandinavia, New Zealand, Argentina, and even Paraguay.
He details, however, that some nations remain the exception such as Brazil and Britain. He attributes Britain's shift to general "tory uselessness," highlighting how Boris Johnson could have held power for much longer but instead, along with Rishi Sunak, "blew it" by failing to control migration and adopting net-zero.
