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Trump's Popularity and the Rise of Authoritarian Capitalism
Trump's Popularity and the Rise of Authoritarian Capitalism
Wednesday, 23 March 2016 00:00
By Jamil Khader, Truthout | News Analysis
The rise of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is a clear symptom of the catastrophic normalization of authoritarian capitalism around the world. Many recent debates about his popularity, however, have missed this point: They are being framed in post-ideological terms that obscure the relation between Trump's rise and the deepening contradictions of the global capitalist system.
In its recent worldwide restructuring process, global capitalism has forcefully embraced authoritarian values that promise to sustain capitalist growth. This results in disastrous consequences to personal freedoms and economic security and justice for large unemployable segments of the population. Trump's brand of populist, protectionist and isolationist economic policies resonate with the current sharpening of the contradictions of the hegemonic global capitalist system, revealing how US neoliberal capitalism is in imminent danger of a transformation into authoritarian capitalism.
Trump's objection to outsourcing, rejection of free trade treaties and his call for more government economic intervention are all symptoms of the fact that neoliberal economic policies and the democratic values associated with them can no longer drive capitalist growth. As a result, the crisis of global capitalism today is driving nations worldwide toward new forms of politico-economic organization -- namely authoritarian capitalism.
Many critics have lashed out against Trump's fascist rhetoric, coded Nazi gestures and incitement to violence, but in truth these are merely the tip of the iceberg.
The Authoritarianism Debate
In a recent national study that received wide attention, political researcher Matthew MacWilliams concluded that the strongest measure of voters' support for Trump in the South Carolina Republican primary was their authoritarian attitudes. He identified various common behaviors to which these voters seem to be disposed: They enforce conformity and stability, have zero tolerance for deviance, maintain social norms, scapegoat the Other, obey aggressive and violent leaders and fear the threat of terrorism. MacWilliams thus warns that such attitudes usher in "America's Authoritarian Spring" and serve as a clear indication that "rising authoritarian attitudes [are] playing a newly significant role in American politics." .................(more)
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/35331-trump-s-popularity-and-the-rise-of-authoritarian-capitalism
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Trump's Popularity and the Rise of Authoritarian Capitalism (Original Post)
marmar
Mar 2016
OP
2naSalit
(86,054 posts)1. K&R!!!