I know quite a number of people who
are far right by the strict definition of the word and,
while I am not, I respect them as individuals of honour.
This snippet is not a comment on right wing politics. It
is, rather, my opinion on how the right wing movement is
succeeding in Europe, the US and here in little New
Zealand, "down under."
While we all claim to be democratic countries, it is
useful to note that democracy is the new kid on the block.
Some commentaries go so far as to call it an experiment.
My suspicion is that the far right, and ultimately the
suspension of democracy, succeeds because voters are
disillusioned with democracy. Urging people to vote misses
the point.
Hypothesis
Recently we have seen, and I write realising France is in
a state of flux, the success of Le Pen in the French
elections. The method of fighting back, with some left
wing candidates stepping down, certainly is not a good
answer at all.
Likewise in the US, Trump is sweeping aside his
competition who seem largely unable to grasp the fact that
their impending loss is due to their own failures.
Here I put forward the hypothesis that the current
non-right politicos are aiding the right wing into power.
I hypothesis that they are doing this by failing to give
voters what they want.
As an example, here in New Zealand the core voting "need"
is the success of our public health system, if only a nose
ahead of a stable economy. Get that right in New Zealand
and democracy will survive here.
But the Government is treating the public health system as
a business. It over works and under pays doctors, nurses,
aged care workers, dementia care workers...
The Government creates needless demands on that overworked
sector by using outdated chlorination practices to poison
water supplies, the oxidative mayhem doubling the critical
markers of poor health, such as cancer rates and heart
failure rates.
The Government also strips magnesium from water supplies
with the not unexpected increase in depression and suicide
rates.
And the Government continues to fluoridate water supplies,
which disadvantages our urban children and stunts the
growth our young men.
Voters not being listened to is one thing, but now when
professionals oppose this madness by our Ministry of
Health, a misnomer if ever there was one, that opposition
is increasingly met with brutal pushback through the
courts, unwarranted dismissals and so on.
This failure by government to get it right, and even to go
in the opposite direction, will likely push voters
to the right in the hope of better care and a promise of
recognition of human rights currently lacking.
In the US, and I write as an foreigner of course, it
appears that American voters want a man with hair. Trump
does that rather well. The danger with Trump, apart from
the obvious, is that he is now being seen by Republican
Christians as appointed by God. Have these people not
considered they might be adding fuel to the fire?
The current opposition to Trump is a man, regardless of
his merits, who has lost most of his hair. Unfortunately,
possible front runner and presently Vice President, Kamala
Harris, doesn't seem to realise her hair is public
property and that the current style is not going to cut
it.
And in Europe the diverse far right parties are making
headway over immigration and, notably, consolidating their
position by acting together on the European stage.
Conclusion
My simple hypothesis is, is democracy giving birth to a
new right? If yes then the question becomes, is this
deliberate or not?
Stephen
Butcher
20
July 2024