Should we be worried about right-wing populism?

www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/25/left-behind-eu-referendum-vote-ukip-revolt-brexit?CMP=share_btn_tw

I feel there is a convergence going on here! I absolutely agree on your comment re autocratic government. That is why the working classes are so unhappy.

No idea what's been said on this thread since I last posted. I'm picking up from my comments about left-wing populism. The student union at York Uni has apologised to a Jewish student and will be paying out financial compensation to him because of all the harassment he received while studying there. It's a start and it's an admission of something that many people have denied exists.

Well that's alright then.

Don't be silly, ww. Wasn't it you who asked if there was any evidence of left-wing populism? I think there is plenty and am providing some. Change to left-wing populism (or any other kind) will only happen when people accept that it exists and is a real problem. And when they start to realise something must be done about it.

and that there is a real...

Yes it was bags but I am not talking about what is going on in universities that has always been the case. It was when I was there, it was when my children were there it was ever thus. What I am talking about is large scale populist movements . This conversation started because you argued that right wing populism is a reaction to left wing populism. I asked where was the evidence for this large scale left populist movement and you came back suggesting it was going on in universities. Well yes but that doesn't amount to large scale.

Exactly WW- universities represent a tiny % of the population and have always been left-wing. Populist though?

Nothing wrong with left or right wing populism.

I think you mean far left and far right.

According to my daughter, universities aren't left-wing, apart from a few groups (who might or might not be quite vocal).

Populism implies that it is popular amongst the populace, not just in universities. There are a handful of left-wing populist groups in the UK, such as UK Uncut, but they are a reaction to right-wing populism, not the other way round.

Never thought of UKUncut as being the opposite to the EDL.
Not going to stop me supporting them, though.

www.ukuncut.org.uk/about/

I've just heard that people in this country have been going up to EU members and asking them 'when are you going home'.If this is true I'm even more ashamed of being British than I was before.I was at Fountains Abbey and coachloads of foreign students were driving past signs saying 'we want our country back'. I just wanted to apologise to them.

I don't think UKUncut is the opposite of the EDL, because they don't use bullying tactics and are generally peaceful. However, it is a left-wing populist group, which is what this discussion is about. Even so, they didn't cause right wing populism. If anything, it's the other way round.

Right wing populist groups have been around for at least a hundred years.

I wouldn't be at all surprised to discover that left-wing influence on thought is just as high as right-wing influence. In any case, at the extremes, the two are not so very different, both having strong authoritarian and intolerant tendencies.

Plus, I don't believe racist (are there other kinds? or is it all called racist?) right-wing populism is as widespread as some posts and some media reports seem to imply at the moment.

I think you live in another world to me, then.

And me. Actually, you do not have a television, do you, bags, so do not watch much news of people saying that they want foreigners to go home. You do not see EDL marches. So yes, that is a different world.

Yes I heard today that the Portuguese husband of someone I know was shouted at "When are you going home". They run a business in N Wales and he has been here for many years. As some commentators have observed (including Brendan Cox, widower of Jo) that mainstream politicians have fanned the flames of racism rather than standing up and explaining the importance of immigrant labour to our economy.
I think the uncut bunch are more lefty/anarchisty/fringy activists - rather than "claiming to represent the common people" I follow sisters uncut on Twitter. occasionally they have small but dramatic demonstrations about women's rights.

Same thing happened to a friend of my SIL.

Anybody watched the channel 4 film it is the English fans. Something has to be done this can't go on!!!

I feel like crawling into a corner. I cry for our country, what is happening to us? Only a tiny minority you might say. It was only a minority in Germany to begin with.

My poor mum saw it all start in Munich in 1933- same sort of behaviour. Will they start throwing stones at shop windows soon?

There has to zero tolerance. They must all be rounded up as they come back through Customs.

We must pursue other fascist behaviour with vigour. Bugger free speech!!!!

Granjura; my daughter teaches bout theabout that period of history and what is happening now scares her. Did anyone see Garage being interviewed at The Somme? How did he stage manage that?All the talk about those who died in WWI: what has it got to do with him? (by the way my computer won't print his name properly).

I've posted this on another thread too. It seems appropriate to re-post it on this one:

In my continuing search to try and find out what drives racism and xenophobia, what helps the rise of right-wing populism, I found this article, entitled A Few Quick Thoughts on Brexit, by Chris Arnade in which he argues that "The language we use to talk about those who have been left behind [he means the poor] is rife with nasty attempts to turn them into lesser humans. We use the tactics of racism, and apply it to economic losers".

As he's American he lists the sort of terms used there: "We call them dumb. Idiots. Religious freaks. Rednecks. Thugs. Hoodlums. Ghetto trash. White trash".

He says elitism and inequality are racism's ugly cousins and that they drive people to racism and fascism by undervaluing the less successful: "Fascism understands that people want to feel valued and integral part of something larger. Racism is, sadly, the easiest and cheapest way to do that".

Reading the article will aid understanding of his point.