Andy Szasz calls it the politics of inverted quarantine - walling oneself off from as many risks as possible and thus learning and doing nothing about the roots of any or all problems... it's neoliberal consumerism, whatever the valence. ___________________________________
I was hanging out with a friend from Paris. He mentioned that the hard right in France is growing stronger and more numerous, and that it is now 25% of the electorate. And I said, why, why is there no reciprocal consolidation and growth on the left. His reply was interesting and I think very close to the mark. He said that what everyone is being told is that there's not enough to go around, that we live in a world of increasing scarcity and that the general population of the West is convinced that sharing with the developing world is not feasable, and that if it were, it would certainly mean less for the rest of us. So the swing to the right is a vote for that party which looks more consistent and more willing to fight the encroaching hoards.
This made a lot of sense to me. And maybe I'm the only one on the block who didn't see it, or maybe I just naively think that the feeling of human brotherhood is stronger than it actually is. Anyway. I had an ah ha moment, and I'm passing it on.
Joanna