Political fear, no matter how unformed or ambiguous, cannot be ignored. That is the lesson that must be learned from the current rise in populism.
There has been an excess of top-down governance in recent years, from Supreme Court decisions to nuclear agreements to immigration executive orders to gubernatorial reprieves of death sentences. These decisions, and others, have been executed, technically speaking, in a legal manner, but they leave those opposed feeling disenfranchised.
A disenfranchised populace is unhealthy. Swaths of the population who feel their voices aren’t heard can lead to dangerous places; these people feel the system is broken.
Ignoring people’s fears doesn’t make them go away. Branding people’s fears as “ignorant” or “bigoted” also doesn’t make them disappear. When the governing powers secure an agenda without broad consensus, there will be a backlash.
This is what the momentum behind Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders is reflecting. It is not, however, an exclusively American phenomenon. Europe has seen a rise in populist parties, many of which campaign against the open immigration the European Union has wrought. It doesn’t matter that on balance the free movement of people has been a boon to the European economy; the fear of unrestricted migration in the face of an unprecedented refugee crisis is very real.
If it is ignored by those who govern, the people will respond, which is exactly what may happen in the upcoming “Brexit” referendum, through which the British people may decide to leave the EU.
Here in America, we’re seeing a rise in populist candidates on both sides, left and right. Large chunks of the American populace do not support the Washington agenda but feel that their opposition is simply ignored — despite the fact that Washington is intended to represent the views of the American populace.
Some might argue for top-down governance, pointing to Supreme Court decisions such as Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which forced the desegregation of public schools. However, that decision went hand in hand with a grassroots Civil Rights campaign that informed governance at the highest level.
We are living through a phase of anger-fuelled politics. Sometimes this can lead to positive change; but more often, that anger is hijacked by leaders looking to secure their own power. The Soviet Revolution of October, 1917 comes to mind. America, be careful!
Copyright © 2016 by the Intermountain Jewish News
