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This is part 2 of my blog from last week about political extremism. In this blog, I will explain what most people get wrong about the root causes of dangerous political movements, both left and right.
Let me begin by saying if you are primarily fearful of living in a society that is racist and discriminatory, you should be very concerned with what is happening with the political far left. If your primary fear is moving our society towards socialism and communism, then you should be mostly fearful of the political far right. That statement may seem counterintuitive, but it is absolutely true.
Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host, and conservative pundit, recently said in an interview with Ben Shapiro, “If 24-year-old college graduates wake up one day and find out they can’t get a job where they can buy a new car much less afford a home or a family, why should we be surprised when a high percentage of them think socialism is a good idea?” He said, “I think capitalism is the best economic system there is, but it should not be treated as a religion; we should be able to make decisions for the betterment of our society that don’t perfectly adhere to capitalistic ideology.” I don’t know a liberal who doesn’t despise Tucker Carlson, and I certainly disagree with a lot that he says, but he understands how politics work, and in this case, I think he is 100% correct.
If you look at communist countries from a historical perspective, they were usually preceded by governments that produced extreme income and wealth disparities and were absent of strong social programs and safety nets for the poor and disadvantaged.
If you are genuinely concerned about our country becoming socialist to the point where people are no longer rewarded for their hard work or innovation, you should be extremely concerned about the widening wealth disparities in our country, and you should be generally supportive of certain social programs such as Social Security and Medicare, and yes, welfare programs and free college education. If people feel like they have a fighting chance to succeed and have a decent quality of life, they won’t try to tear down our systems; they will fight to preserve them.
The same applies in reverse; extremes on the left will undoubtedly force even the most reasonable among us further to the right. I was going to title this blog “Why I Love Trump Supporters,” which would seem very odd coming from someone who does not like Donald Trump. I think he was a bad president and a horrible person, but I think I understand why so many people support him.
Take an issue like transgender women competing in women’s sports. People who challenge the fairness of that are immediately called bigots by many on the left. I think it’s ridiculous that some people won’t even tolerate a discussion on the subject. As a sports fan and someone who hates every form of discrimination, I think it’s a fair issue to question.
The label “racist” or “bigot” should be reserved only for the most vile individuals, but when average people are called those names by the far left, we shouldn’t feel surprised when those people feel threatened.
I think a lot of people like that Trump fights aggressively against the far left, and when reasonable people feel threatened, they don’t want a leader who is going to play nice; they want a leader who is going to fight aggressively for them. Donald Trump isn’t the political movement that he is because Americans are innately racist. We do have racists in this country, and most of them love Donald Trump, but there aren’t enough of them to elect him president. Donald Trump was elected president and might be a second time because reasonable people on the right and center feel threatened and vilified.
It doesn’t take a lot of courage for people on the right to disagree with people on the left, but it takes a lot of courage for people on the right to disagree with people on the far right, and the same applies to the left. I agree with Trump when he says our country is in decline, although probably not for the same reasons. There was a brief moment in our nation’s history when we could disagree with each other with respect and compassion.
Our country won’t be the best version of itself when the far left takes over or the far right. It will be the best it can be when reasonable people on the center of both sides can debate freely and with passion but are willing to find a compromise. The true definition of patriotism is placing country above ideology and political fanaticism.
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