Socialism Doesn’t Speak to the Lower Classes Anymore
And that’s its biggest problem and challenge for the 21st century
The far-right is on the rise everywhere, not just in the United States.
In the Argentinian primary elections in September, the ruling Peronist coalition party, Frente de Todos (FdT), was dealt a massive surprise in the villas miseria, or slums, of the capital.
Peronism usually loses elections in the rich city of Buenos Aires but maintains firm control of the poverty-stricken slums both in the city and the province of Buenos Aires. This time, though, the libertarian candidate Javier Milei, with a populist style and extreme right-wing views, gained some of those votes.
While Peronism isn’t exactly socialist (Perón himself was a well-known admirer of Mussolini and a personal friend of Francisco Franco), it’s an example of how the loyalty of the lower classes is shifting from their traditional political representatives to new right-wing radicals across the world.
In the United States, non-college-educated white men are increasingly identifying as Republicans, despite it often being against their best interest. But this happens in many European and Latin American countries, too.
