Three Huge Advantages the Far Right Has Weaponized Against Democracy

By now, it is painfully obvious that the far right is on the rise throughout the Western world. This is particularly true in the US, where Donald Trump ‘rules’ and the far right now dominates.

What is not so clear, however, is why. Many historians and pundits point to economic malaise as the main cause, as if people are driven straight into the arms of fascism, racism, and hate by financial insecurity. But I find this explanation both facile and inadequate. It’s one crucial piece of the puzzle, true. But to my mind, it does not fully account for the rapid rise and growing domination of the far right.

As I contemplated this issue over the past decade, I began to see rising far-right dominance as the inevitable result of several ongoing and pernicious structural problems in Western societies, especially the US. When these structural problems are linked (deliberately) with the weaponization of basic weaknesses in the human psyche, then voila — we get exactly the type of hateful social and political domination that’s now occurring.

For the sake of simplicity, I’ve condensed these sociopolitical patterns into three huge advantages that enable and empower the far right. Sadly, these trends are woven into the fabric of modern Western societies and are thus quite difficult to reverse or control. But it is not impossible to do so — IF we develop the political will to forge new social pathways. That’s a very big ‘if,’ though.

Perhaps a better understanding of what we’re up against can help us move forward.

Three huge advantages enjoyed by the far right

Here are the three huge advantages (minimum) that support and empower the far right. First, I’ll state them briefly. Later, I’ll explore each advantage in greater detail.

1) The far right has no problem with using lies, deception, threats, and bullying to get its way. Thus, the far right is not bound by the social contract underlying modern societies and is ‘free’ to impose its will and favored ‘alternate reality’ and abuse the societies that allow it to flourish.

2) The far right persistently sabotages rationality, compassion, and reasoned investigation, and instead amplifies fear, anger, and resentment. It purposely inflames people’s ‘lower emotions’ and instills a lasting, damaging fight-or-flight response in its followers.

3) The far right is allied with both evangelical Christianity and much of the billionaire class, so it gets constant support from racist, misogynistic ‘Christians’ AND the growing ranks of wealth-addicted, conservative billionaires.

Notice, none of these huge advantages springs directly from economic insecurity experienced by our citizen ‘consumers’ — although the vast wealth imbalances enabled by our unfair economic system are directly implicated. The horrendous problem we face is that these three potent advantages all support and intensify each other, as will become apparent in the following sections. Together, they are creating a perfect storm of socio-political abuse, amid widespread angst and misery.

Lies, and the scheming liars who tell them

Now, for a more detailed exploration.

To me, this is the cornerstone of all fascist, autocratic, or authoritarian regimes, for they all rely heavily on constant lies, disinformation, and deception. Modern liberal democracy requires good faith buy-in and honesty from its citizens. But the far right persistently undermines and sabotages our faith in modern society and democracy (for instance, by screeching that elections the left wins are always ‘fraudulent’).

In the US, the far right’s lies and deceptions have proven wildly successful over the past decade, to the point that many Americans now believe — without any evidence — that the 2020 election was ‘stolen’ and Trump ‘really won.’ Or that the Covid-19 pandemic was a hoax and vaccines kill people. Or that Trump is ‘sent by God’ to save the US from the supposed ‘deep state.’

None of these things is true — yet the far-right propaganda machine is SO ubiquitous and effective, now, that tens of millions of people are submerged in a false ‘alternate reality.’ Fox ‘News’ is a big part of the problem, of course — but its success merely underscores the fascist technique of the Big Lie, and the fact that ongoing lies, repeated endlessly, soon become the truth for many conservatives.

The unfortunate bottom line is that the far right is ‘free’ to make up any idiotic, nonsensical BS it wants, since public lying is not illegal in the US, unbelievably. The only places lying IS illegal are in a court of law, where it is called ‘perjury,’ or in testimony to Congress. The ability to lie and deceive the public at will gives the far right a huge advantage over more scrupulous, more truthful citizens, public servants, and politicians. (Note: I’m not saying the left is always honest and above-board — just that the right is far more dishonest.)

My wise wife has often said to me, ruefully, “You can’t win against liars.” This truth is scarily evident in the devastating rise of the far right in the US and elsewhere.

Emotional ‘grooming’ and entrapment are rampant

From a psychological and emotional point of view, this perverse and quasi-demonic ‘gift’ — or scheme — of the far right is an utter disaster. It amounts to persistent racist, misogynistic, and antisocial ‘programming’ that insists one race is better than another, men are better than women, heterosexuals are better than gay folks, ‘tradwives’ are better than ‘liberated’ women, etc.

The far right always trades in fear and resentment and fosters growing hatred of various evil ‘others’ who want to ‘steal’ our freedom … or our wealth … or our women … or morality … or freedom of religion.

Physiologically, the far right’s constant appeals to fear and anger and its efforts to build rage and resentment in its followers create über-dangerous effects that are very difficult to control or overcome. These effects trap people in their most primitive emotions and ‘reptilian brains,’ and in the process, trap people in a hateful, racist, and/or paranoid worldview. The key thing to understand is that this ‘trapping’ is quite intentional, for only if such trapping is successful can the far right grow and thrive.

Sadly, at our current (low) level of human evolution, it is incredibly easy to trap people in this way and turn them into racist, misogynistic, antisocial robots. All you have to do is keep scaring them and fanning the flames of resentment and anger. Then their ‘lower minds’ kick into high gear — and soon, they are trapped in a perpetual state of alarm, fear, and paranoia. This nasty inner condition parallels the tortured inner state known as PTSD — Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

And, similarly to PTSD, far-right ‘programming’ is extremely difficult to undo or counteract. This fact points to its crucial role in the success of the far right. It’s not an exaggeration to say that this ancient, automatic tendency of the human mind is the essential ingredient that allows far-right ideologies to spread, grow deep roots, and prosper.

Antisocial capitalists, evangelical Christians, and the far right are busily destroying democracy

Simply put, these two alliances show that the far right gets potent, ongoing support from both the dominant religion in the US and the dominant economic/financial system, predatory capitalism. The Christian Nationalists seek to use the far right to speed the return to simpler, ‘better’ past times (the main theme of MAGA) and reinstate ‘biblical’ values, as well as hasten the onset of the Rapture. The predatory capitalists and most multi-billionaires prefer the far right because it is also predatory, cruel, and utterly ruthless — just like them. Like aligns with like.

In truth, there has always been a fundamental contradiction between unfettered capitalism and liberal democracy. Capitalism is all and only about individual gain and ‘wealth,’ while liberal democracy depends completely on citizen involvement and good faith efforts to support the common good. The two are actually … incompatible.

The frightening reality we face is that, for many Christians and predatory capitalists alike, there is NO real interest or commitment to the common good. Evangelical Christians seek to save themselves, believing as they do that Jesus will waft them up to Heaven in the Rapture — while everyone else gets ‘left behind’ and condemned to eternal pain and torture. Screw the ‘common good’! Meanwhile, predatory capitalists also have no interest at all in the common good, and are willing to do, say, and promote anything that will bring them greater profits — no matter how antisocial, dangerous, or destructive.

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Is there a viable, healing path forward?

In summary, the far right in the US and elsewhere is deeply aligned with anti-democratic economic and political forces that are built into our modern societies, especially in the US. It’s well known that many US corporations and ‘captains of industry’ both cooperated with and profited from the Nazi regime under Hitler. What is not so well known is that many were allowed to slip under the radar (wink, wink!) and suffered no serious repercussions — and today, corporations and wealthy CEOs are engaging in similar activities and ruthless profiteering. Their amoral support for the far right goes deep — and it is all totally legal under our current (bonkers) system.

Over the past decade, far-right pundits and politicians have come to dominate the public narrative about the direction the US and other nations should pursue. They have deliberately and very successfully ‘owned’ the free speech issue, so today, right-wing voices have almost free rein, while liberal and progressive voices are increasingly squashed or silenced. This is happening both in our government and public schools and universities, as well as in public media.

The far right has even vilified all DEI efforts as anti-American, anti-White, and too ‘woke,’ when in fact, the ideals of diversity, equity, and inclusion merely reflect and honor the (supposed) founding ideals of our nation. Thus, the current vilification of DEI is deeply disgraceful; it is a repudiation of every social value the US claims to stand for.

What is the road back to democracy and sanity? The way back is very unclear, now, and may prove incredibly difficult or even impossible. So much has already been undermined, distorted, denied, or destroyed. Yet, we simply have to keep searching for a viable way forward.

That’s because everything we hold dear is at stake. And, if we capitulate and let the far-right haters win and keep dominating our societies, that’s a sure recipe for deepening disaster.

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This post was previously published on MEDIUM.COM.

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