Episode 80: The Rightward Shift in Europe and Disintegration of Social Fabric

We discuss the rightward political shift in Europe, reflected in both the recent EU election results, and the rise of Nigel Farage's Reform party in the UK this week. Jen gives her prediction that Marine Le Pen will win the French election, and explains why it is in part due to tactical errors of the Left. Plus, how Nigel Farage is pitching himself as the U.K. Trump, making voting Reform seem like a protest vote against the political establishment, in a  way not totally dissimilar to Brexit. We put forward that due to the Global North not providing an alternative vision to the status-quo, many are looking to the political Right for change. Increasingly, this is within the context of globalisation vs anti-globalisation / nationalism replacing the traditional political Left / Right dichotomy. More widely, the disintegration of societal institutions has made the ‘outsiderism’ of Trotskyism, critical theory, and nerd Millennial culture, deeply unpopular. The backlash to the evaporation of social fabric is that being a ‘normie’ is becoming cool, and that it's a sign of superiority to have the hallmarks of social institutions like marriage and religion, given their cultural disavowal and decline. Japan has led the way ahead of us in terms of social trends, such as celibacy, and their housing crisis arriving before ours. Japan's political landscape is one where the younger generations are the most conservative, with older generations being more politically liberal or radical, a situation that is also likely our future.