@hightor,
Quote:I fear for Britain’s future.
As I fear for America's.
The problem is not some sort of rebirth of early 20th Century fascism (although it may eventually lead to that) it is the perception of common everyday citizens that the elites running their governments (and their lives) not only don't respect their views and traditions but consider them, at best, boorishly ignorant and at worst, evil.
There are clear reasons why the "working class" of the UK, which has long been the backbone of Labour, is now turning to the Tories and it isn't because they went to school with a Torey chum at Eton, nor is it because they are blindly ignorant racists. There are equally clear reasons why the "working class" in the US (long the backbone of the Democrat party) are turning to the GOP.
The elite, professional class in the UK and the US have also switched sides and so the entire political landscape in both nations is turning on its head.
The primary difference and most concerning aspect of this shift is that the class that has moved from the right to the left expresses publically utter disdain for those they left behind and who have taken their place.
We are in the midst of a Western Civilization Culture War. Those on the left will predictably sneer over such a statement as if it was absurd or the sign of a troglodyte, however, this is why the left will lose this war. Arrogant dismissal of your enemy has always led to defeat. If you don't believe that check out the Roman/Carthage Wars, the Persian/Greek wars the American Revolution and the Vietnam War, just to name a few.
But, but, but, progressives will argue, those on the right are equally disdainful of those on the left.
Nonsense
First of all those on the right (unlike those on the left), rarely if ever, express contempt for everyday Americans who vote Democrat. Yes, they absolutely deride and insult arrogant elitists and Woke Wonders but unless you believe such people are the majority of the Democrat rank & file, my contention holds firm.
The average Democrat in 2019 sneers at Walmart Shoppers, Watta-Burger Eaters, virtually everyone living in the South, and Trump supporters, because they now see themselves as members of the elite: college-educated professionals who know so much more than a welder or farmer, and are, by far, morally superior to any Alabama or Texas cracker.
To be certain, when the highly educated professional class were Republicans (or Tories) they also sneered and derided the unwashed masses. There is nothing about this disgusting behavior that is ideological. It is a distressing aspect of human nature.
The difference with today's Democrats/Labourites/Liberals/Progressives is 1) Their education has been thoroughly infected with left-wing propaganda, 2) Their privilege allows them to focus on the trivial and 3) They all long for facile affirmation of their virtue which, apparently, can only be achieved through public condemnation.
At least when they were Republicans and Tories they saved their sneering for dinner parties.
One of the best things that ever happened to me was that I married very young (18) and decided not to go to college. For four years I worked in factories and construction and drove a truck. During that time I got to meet and make friends with people who I probably never would have otherwise and which, frankly, as a young liberal from a liberal middle-class home, I vaguely believed were beneath me. Some of them were total jerks and some were very stupid, but most of them were decent human beings working very hard to support their families. Some were very well self-educated and some, educated or otherwise, very wise.
It is astounding that the Western Left now, consistently, looks down its collective nose at the working class of the world (and please don't insult me or yourself by offering any cynical, fraudulent quotes from Pelosi or her droogs about how they are championing "working men and women" in this country)
Don't get me wrong, I'm not claiming that the GOP is now 100% the party of the working class. It is far too beholden to the Establishment for that, but it does offer these folks a political harbor that the Democrats have utterly abandoned. Their words to the contrary are seen for what they are, fraudulent.
At some point, blatham may swoop in with nonsense about anti-intellectualism. I revere intellectualism, but not if it requires contempt for those who don't pass the test of pseudo-intellectuals.
The Establishment elite was gobsmacked over Trump's victory. They had been so thoroughly venal and self-interested that they supported the thoroughly corrupt and sociopathic Hillary Clinton. From the day he won they moved to remove him.
For what? Because he was found to have talked about grabbing pussys? In response to that, I need only cite JFK, LBJ, and FDR (to mention but a few)
Because he was colluding with the Russians? We now know that this was an entirely false charge perpetrated by a corrupt FBI and CIA
Because he won't kowtow to a corrupt media? Please tell me what he has done in this regard that compares to past presidents like Lincoln, Wilson, FDR, LBJ, Nixon, and Obama.
The ignorant and hysterical imbeciles who liken Trump or Boris Johnson or Nigel Farage to Hitler or Mussolini, have no idea of what is in store for them if they keep ignoring and insulting the concerns of everyday Americans and Brits.
Keep it up and you will bring something far worse on yourselves and the rest of us.
