Vox failed to meet expectations in the Spanish election, and the reactionaries lost control of the UK when Boris left town, but elsewhere, things are looking up. A reactionary is the PM of Italy; a reactionary will probably go into the next French presidential election as the favorite; the German reactionary party could be in the next government; and, of course, the most dangerous reactionary of all is the presumptive GOP nominee for president in the US. Right-wing populism is a European as well as an American phenomenon. Why?
Europe and the US have three things in common:
- The replacement of a manufacturing-based economy with one based on services and knowledge, which devalues the strengths of men and consequently threatens their social and economic status relative to women;
- Large amounts of illegal immigration; and
- Decreasing numbers of Christians, which troubles the devout greatly.
These issues aren’t going away any time soon, so neither are the reactionaries.