Have you ever tried to critically analyse how the global economy structurally functions or which underlying factors influence the world's socioeconomic ecosystem? Edward Bernays, a renowned author and propagandist, states in his book ‘Propaganda’, that “We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of”.
This quote precisely reflects how our fundamental socioeconomic realities are shaped and how we are subjected to exploitation by global capitalism. However, we don’t seem to question the core essence of our socioeconomic framework. Many of us tend to ignore the layered complexities of it and perceive it as a universal law that can’t be challenged.
Without questioning the credibility of the neoliberal economic model from an economic perspective, let’s examine the cultural impacts of neoliberal capitalism and how it primarily undermined the political legitimacy of people and played a pivotal role in exploiting the masses structurally.
With the arrival of Reagan in the White House, the world discerned a revolutionary transformation in the global economic framework. Privatisation of major components of the welfare state, deregulation of economic markets, liberalization of several crucial elements of the American economy, and finally, the outsourcing of labour to other countries to generate more profits and disenfranchise existing working class, proved to be the primary economic objectives of Reagan administration.
This whole structural overhaul transpired in the name of ‘freedom’. But by ‘freedom', I don’t mean the prioritisation of democratising the economy; I mean it to be the dismantling of social safety nets and corporatisation and financialisation of the general economy.
This kind of brutal deregulation over several decades proved to be one of the defining factors in the marginalisation of the American working and middle classes. Many of the global contemporary crises that we are dealing with today, indeed, are profoundly rooted in our world financial system – a system fundamentally based on the exploitation of people and focused on creating more wealth for the economic elite of society instead of establishing an institutional framework where everyone has an opportunity for upward mobility.
This deeply unpopular type of architectural approach to reshape the global economic order has ultimately led to several radical sociopolitical consequences. People have become more polarised and begun to feel alienated from their own status quo and political structures. This sort of extreme unfolding of socioeconomic insecurities took place worldwide, especially in the countries already grappling with major economic turmoil. Those countries saw a drastic rise in extremism and gradually relied on other ways, often violent, to achieve their goals.
Many so-called Western democracies, led by neo-liberals/conservatives, are wrestling with the soaring rise in right-wing populism and are visibly unable to withstand its devastating impacts on our social fabric. The triumph of Donald Trump in 2016 and 2024 over centrist candidates Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris demonstrated this distinct phenomenon of right-wing populism crushing centrist political narratives flawlessly.
Both of President Trump’s political conquests ultimately showed a troubling exhibition of institutional failures and fundamental problems within the contemporary status quo.
In 2024, a similar kind of political trend unfolded in the UK. Even though the Labour Party somehow managed to win in the general election, it was mostly thanks to the collapsing Conservative Party. However, voter turnout was a record low, touching merely 59.7 per cent. And Keir Starmer was hardly able to secure 33 per cent in terms of vote share. For context, Jeremy Corbyn’s vote share was 40 per cent in 2020, notably higher than Keir Starmer’s number.
The British working class is radically moving towards far-right populists and conmen like Nigel Farage and other Reform Party members. These fundamentalist and reactionary politicians will be moving up the ladder as the fragile socioeconomic and political structures continue to rot from the core.
Several liberal and mainstream political pundits and commentators, in their analysis, tend to ignore the driving factors that are legitimising the popular support for these ultra-right-wing parties and instead primarily focus on their political tactics by highlighting their charismatic personalities, mass appeal and fearmongering rhetoric. They entirely disregard the core problems of our global economic framework and overlook the crucial factors such as rising systemic poverty, accumulation of wealth in fewer hands, exacerbating income inequality, a significant decline in living standards of the working class and disenfranchisement of the middle class via structural ways.
As much as I agree with centrist political pundits about their critique of right-wing populism, one has to grasp the genuine causes of growing economic uncertainty and rising insecurity faced by the working class.
To put things in perspective, I don’t fundamentally disagree with the idea of using populist means to organise the people. The inherent concept of utilising populist rhetoric has played a pivotal role in challenging power structures and transforming the sociopolitical structure eventually. Dr King’s movement to address systemic racial injustices revolved around the popular narrative of ‘Justice for all’. The notion of ‘taxing the rich’ also has profound meaning and appropriately engages with the issue of income inequality.
An overwhelming majority of people also favour these thoughtful solutions to resolve all the issues within our sociopolitical system. However, it becomes virtually impossible to execute these unique policies due to the influence of the elite class and their inevitable intervention in the political realm by spending billions of dollars.
Bernie Sanders’ 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns accurately exemplify this phenomenon, marked by his opponents’ attempts at maligning his character and deliberately painting him as a ‘crazy guy’. His opposition spent millions of dollars in character assassinating, villainising their personalities and eventually calling his policies ‘radical’ and ‘unfeasible’.
The mayoral nominee from the Democratic Party for New York City, Zohran Mamdani, is also facing a similar smear campaign from his opponents, who have painted him as an antisemite and fundamentalist Muslim who vows to ‘destroy’ New York City via his leftist policies. These attacks on his character and his identity are profoundly racist, Islamophobic and xenophobic – a clear effort to delegitimise his nomination and the movement he stands for.
Both conservative and liberal media organisations have relentlessly targeted progressive candidates by portraying them as a threat to the American imperial and corporate empire. If institutional loyalists and establishment defenders continue to ignore the popular sentiment of the public, serve the oligarchic class and constantly work on behalf of a fragile capitalist framework, the people will become more radicalised and alienated from mainstream politics.
This not only represents a significant democratic backsliding but also an invitation to right-wing populism to skew people’s sentiments against the system.
The writer can be reached at: bilalmustafach786gmail.com