The recent victory of the right-populist National Front in France and Donald Trumps’ continued lead in the polls for the Republican nomination are exposing a hole in Western politics. A significant fraction of our population feels left out of our discussion and feels like its interests are being ignored. Seeing no viable alternative in either the mainstream right or the mainstream left, these voters are turning to strange combinations of left and right. Feeling ignored by free market, constitutionalist nationalism, voters are turning to more statist nationalisms. It doesn’t have to be this way.
The allegedly “far right” French National Front are to the left of that country’s mainstream right on size and scope of government issues. Many Republican-leaning nationalists have rallied around a recent supporter of single-payer health care and eminent domain abuse.
Trump’s support is drawn disproportionately from working-class whites. These are the voters that Henry Olsen described as caring more about family and stability than about upward mobility. They worry about potential perverse incentives in government programs, but also feel that they need a government backstop in case of disaster. They are suspicious of free trade, and don’t see the need for increased low-skill immigration.
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