In the U.S., Donald Trump — the lifelong Democrat who ran for and won the White House as a fire-breathing Republican — stands at the head of this new anti-establishment wing of the spectrum, banding together with Hannity, Palin, Assange, and Vladimir Putin in challenging the trustworthiness of the sitting American president and Central Intelligence Agency.
The last time the spectrum buckled and turned back on itself like this was during the 1930s, when anti-liberal movements on the extreme left and right surged in popularity in numerous European countries and held the liberal center in a pincer. Still, the parallel is imperfect. Aside from the temporary, secretive, and unstable alliance of reactionary and radical totalitarianisms represented by the Hitler-Stalin Pact, members of the far-left and far-right continued to view each other as ideological opponents standing poles apart.
Not anymore. Which may be a sign that the very terms “left” and “right” are beginning to lose their meaning and force in the world. A metaphor meant to enhance our clarity of thinking, the directional image is fast becoming a hindrance to it. That may mean the metaphor needs to be scrapped and replaced by another.
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