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?

  • Formfiller@lemmy.world
    222·
    3 days ago

    In ww2 Europe 65-75 people had to die before the pendulum swung back. The far right always is responsible for millions of deaths when in control. I think the best prevention would be identifying people with narcissistic and psychopathic personalities and not let them become leaders. We currently reward them in our system

      • ilinamorato@lemmy.world
        13·
        3 days ago

        They probably meant “65-75 million,” but hey, even the typo is correct as long as you’re talking about a very specific 65-75 people.

        • Dicska@lemmy.world
          1·
          7 hours ago

          Oh, I was thinking they meant 65-75 people before the pendulum (the second counter on the grandfather clock?) swung back, so 65-75 people per second. I didn’t think so deeply about the maths behind it, just accepted it as a possible meaning. But I’ll do it now.

          UPDATE: Checks out for 2-3 years, but something is telling me there was enough time for even more years to fit between 1939 and 1945.

          UPDATE: Unless you consider “swung back” as 2 seconds, because then it’s even possible.

          • ilinamorato@lemmy.world
            1·
            6 hours ago

            Colloquially, “the pendulum” here is probably public political sentiment. It’s commonly understood, whether true or not, that a population swings back and forth between progressive and conservative values; illustrated by a pendulum swinging from left (progressive) to right (conservative). In the US, this is further inflamed by the two-party system, which unintentionally encourages such polarization and swings in political will.

            So, in the US for instance, the Gilded Age (far right) gave way to the Progressive Era (far left), which led to the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression (right), which led to the New Deal (left), which eventually led to Reaganomics (right), which led to Obama (slight left), which led to Trump (super far right).

            The original question was asking, how long until this pendulum swings back to the left again. The “65-75” answer, it seems, was talking about WW2 in Europe, when the pendulum swung to the right as Hitler took power, and didn’t swing back to the left until after 65-75 (million) people died.