Trump: a European style right winger?
Does Donald Trump have an ideology? He has dumfounded the Republican Party,
and has accomplished the unthinkable, forged an alliance against him of
traditional establishment types, social policy, fiscal, and small government
conservatives, free trader Republicans, and
mutual defense strategists. Trump is all
over the map but usually non supportive on their issues, and he is either doubling
down or backing off of some and filling in the blanks in none. Where he has been consistent is reaffirming
his anti-immigrant, nationalistic, Muslim ban, trade protectionist campaign. If
he does not fit the GOP’s traditional elements that make up their party, that
does not mean he has a political philosophy. He does. We can find his ideological cousins
in Europe and some in American history.
Aside from
the demographic groups he has alienated with his racist, sexist, and xenophobic
remarks or his style of demagoguery and strong man, he has found a sympathetic
niche. They are mostly white blue collar males who feel left out of economic recovery
from the great recession, those who fear the US will become a country governed
by Sharia law or threatened by secret infusion of ISIS terrorists, or are the
last gasp of a white male dominated country they see slipping away from them. They
are willing to overlook his economic solutions, other than protectionism and
infrastructure development. Trump’s original positions would have provided
more tax relief to the rich and he was hostile to raising the minimum wage.
This would counter gains in job creation by protectionism and infrastructure
funding. (He is since waffling a bit)
He does fit
into an ideological slot, however, and we have seen some of it before from
George Wallace, to the late 1930’s American Firsters, to Pat Buchanan, but none of these have risen be within
striking distance of the White House.
Most Americans have to be reminded of these movements because since they
did not succeed, they have faded from many memories nor they do not see him as resembling
a Nazi or a South American dictator.
In our
current era, he most resembles Europe’s extreme right. These are not social or fiscal conservatives,
but hyper- nationalists, ant- immigrant, protectionist drum beaters. Many
attribute the terrorist attacks by militant Muslims from Charlie Hebdo, to
Paris, to Belgium, to the failure of Europeans to integrate immigrants into
their culture, driving them to ghetto sanctuaries of fellow ethnics where a
first generation born person is nurtured and attitudes developed. Sadly, there is a long tradition in Europe of ethnic
conflicts and tribal loyalties which fertilize the roots of these extremists.
San
Bernardino was an outlier. The shooters were benefitting from the American
economic dream and integrated into the work place. However, they were a two
person sleeper cell who came to the US with an agenda, initially radicalized
not by ISIS but by the Saudi Salafist clerics that also gave rise to Al Qaeda and many
others.
The hostility and discrimination toward
Muslims is fueled by these extreme right
wing parties such as the National Front in France led
by Marine Le Pen, the Fidesz Party in Hungary, the Freedom Party in Austria, and
others in England, Poland, and Sweden.
An encouraging development last week was London electing a Muslim mayor
when Muslims are only 12% of the population.
http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/publications/analysis-donald-trumps-tax-plan
http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/06/europe/uk-london-mayoral-race-sadiq-khan/
https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-cnnn-cuomo-enabler-interview-141213499.html
https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-cnnn-cuomo-enabler-interview-141213499.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_active_nationalist_parties_in_Europe#/media/File:Nationalist_parties_in_Europe..
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