Cool. Another cycle of the press trying to downplay racism by saying it’s not authentic racism it’s just economic anxiety.
Anti immigration sentiment always exists at some level, but it tends to be kept to sub clinical levels where it isn’t a significant part of the political discourse unless the economy isn’t doing well, and then it surfaces. Sure, I acknowledge thee are positions on immigration that want more restrictions that are not racist per se, but is that where the discourse goes during these times? Are people in the US making arguments about changes to the H1B visa because are careful analysis of the impact on US workers or because they’re just wound up into an anti immigrant froth and find Indians an easy target to lash out against?
Does that matter? The point remains. It’s still trying to answer the same question that has been asked and answered over and over and over again and doesn’t mean what they pretend it does.
Did you read the report? Some of their support is just unthinking xenophobes, but a reasonable chunk are more concerned about the cost of living.
I thought it was a reasonable analysis. There are a lot of people who are easily swayed by a zero sum fallacy of economics. Mainly because it is simplistic and easily (mis)understood. However, unless you know what people’s real concerns are, it is difficult to address them.
Voting Reform would likely make their lives worse. However, it is worth knowing why they would want to and why they think their problems are not dealt with.
I know. Everyone should already know. Reform is just the latest incarnation of the thing that we’ve been dealing with as a primary force in the west for over a decade now.
I get if you’re in the trenches and thinking about tactics it’s important to understand people’s underlying motivation if you want to reach them. I get that it’s interesting from a purely understanding people perspective. But it is not new. And each time we treat this as new where that inevitably heads as too much of a pass for the racist bullshit because “actually it’s economic anxiety.” It is important even if only for the sake of our souls that we treat the racism that bubbles up out this economic anxiety as an AND issue…it is often both coming from a place of economic anxiety AND still expressed as racism.
Not if you dont know better, and that is the issue. A whole load of political apathy and a pied piper like Farage promising to fix real problems delivered in a really easy to understand message is swallowed willingly. Of course a healthy dose of RW rhetoric on social media helps things along.
The complete lack of knowledge on core issues out there is honestly astounding. The Tories and Labour really havent twigged onto this at all.
Bottom line is money. There is very little going around. It is not that difficult to see that people will get angsty. The fracture lines are relatively predictable.
In this day and age of information accessibility? They surely know exactly what they are voting for.
I wish for a “moon shot” equivalent speech outlining a path for Europe for the next 50 years - but maybe that can only work in times of largess. The chances of that happening in these hapless times is as close to zero as is theoretically possible.
You would think so, but I’m seriously not convinced. I’ve honestly come across people that think Hitler was a far left socialist because his party had “socialist” in the name.
People are angry with the same old politics, same old stories and excuses. It’s really easy to promise something different and outrageous.
You know what? I slate Reform-led Kent County Council all the time on here, but credit where it’s due! They have repainted the ‘School Keep Clear’ markings on both sides of the road outside Halfway Houses Primary School on the Isle of Sheppey, so it’s clear that they are taking the safety of children incredibly seriously.
I mean the school did close down back in October 2016, but if the kids ever do move back onto the site then at least pick up and drop off will be that little bit safer.
There’s a phenomenon in economic/psychology where consumer satisfaction has an inverse U shaped relationship with the number of choices available. Your supermarket adding a second option for marinara sauce is well received. Adding 15 more is poorly received because it is too much information to mentally work through and people emotionally shut down when asked to make a decision in that situation and often just reflexively grab the one the were buying when it was their only “option”.
Figuring out what is happening in the world from the internet is similar, and that is even before you get into the additional warping effect of AI we’re seeing now. Factor in that many voters really dont even try to put much effort into figuring shit out and we should expect a quite poorly informed electorate.
I agree on the whole and the saucy analogy is apt but there is the somewhere there (in the quote) the rub. The question of why people don’t bother is quite important. Yes, the struggle to just get by may be all consuming and similarly a high functioning individual may fall through the same sieve of not having the time to get to the facts. However ultimately, it all relies on the assumption that our stability and growth in the West is and can be everlasting. Governments want to project this and people want to believe it and so there is no real need to bother with chasing the reality.
edit - Indeed no government is getting elected with “we need a 20-30 year plan” and so by default they all become all snake oil salesmen to a degree and will fail sooner or later…
edit #2 - the original source of this conversation was why people vote for Reform
Cllr Mike Whiting
