Illiberalism
Fig. 1. Photograph by Joachim F. Thurn, August 1991, Bundesarchiv, B 145 Bild-F089030-0003, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE.
It’s all going to hell, and certainly not just in the U.S.:
The rise of the right in Europe is of a piece with increasing authoritarian and non-democratic trends throughout the world, certainly. And the right has been building toward this moment over the past 15 years: Right-wing parties have been steadily gaining influence in Europe since the AfD started in 2013, and Marine Le Pen of France took over leadership of National Rally (formerly National Front) in 2011, toning down the party’s most noxious and hateful ideologies, particularly about migration, to make it more palatable.
For decades after World War II, though right-wing parties existed they were quite fringe and were deeply associated with fascism and Nazism. Over the past decade especially, though, as that time becomes more remote and Europe has faced multiple overlapping crises including the failure of its immigration system and the Covid-19 pandemic, that has created space for these parties to take hold — and, over time, normalize themselves within their societies. . . .
But it’s also important to remember that elections are often rejections of the incumbent, especially when people are struggling with daily cost-of-living expenses; inflation remains elevated, especially in countries like Austria, and sanctions on Russian fuel have driven up energy costs. That means these elections weren’t just about embracing the right, but voters wanting to rebuke centrist and left-leaning policies they felt weren’t working for them.[1]
Victor Goury-Laffont, “French far right obliterates Macron’s camp in EU election,” Politico, June 9, 2024, https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-european-election-results-2024-far-right-triumphs-france-emmanuel-macron-camp-fight-second-place/
Nette Nöstlinger, “German conservatives first, far-right AfD second in EU election: Early projection,” Politico, June 9, 2024, https://www.politico.eu/article/conservatives-finish-first-germany-eu-election-early-projection-cdu-csu/
Victor Goury-Laffont, “France’s conservatives and far right explore uniting to beat Macron,” Politico, June 10, 2024, https://www.politico.eu/article/french-far-right-jordan-bardella-president-emmanuel-macron-election-european-election-national-rally/
Gilead
Abortion, reproductive freedom and health
Fig. 2. Sign at demonstration in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, May 3, 2022. Janni Rye, via Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.
Jennifer Rubin, “MAGA Republicans tip their hand: They’re after contraception, too,” Washington Post, June 10, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/06/10/maga-contraception-vote/
Donald Trump
Fig. 3. Donald Trump, depicted in an orange jumpsuit, reportedly by the Drudge, date unknown, via Mediaite,[2] fair use. Apparently, no mugshot was taken when he was actually arrested over hush money paid to Stormy Daniels.[3]
Eugene Robinson, “Is Donald Trump okay?” Washington Post, June 10, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/06/10/trump-sharks-electrocuted-boat-story/
Neoliberalism
Democratic (neoliberal) Party
Joe Biden
Hunter Biden
Ankush Khardori, “The Hunter Biden Case Is Solid. There’s Something Rotten About It Too,” Politico, June 7, 2024, https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/06/07/hunter-biden-trial-truths-column-00162083
So-called ‘ridesharing’
Drivers
Fig. 4. Yeah, this is me. The sign says, “If you’re whining about a labor shortage, STOP ignoring my job applications!” And the QR-code leads here. Photograph by author, January 16, 2023.
I had assumed the case of California’s Assembly Bill 5, which had attempted to require gig economy companies to treat drivers as employees rather than as independent contractors had been rendered moot by Proposition 22, which expressly allowed gig economy companies to preserve their exploitive business model. Apparently not. And Proposition 22 awaits a ruling from the California Supreme Court[4] but that hearing didn’t go well.[5]
Levi Sumagaysay, “California gig worker law withstands challenge from Uber at federal appeals court,” Cal Matters, June 10, 2024, https://calmatters.org/economy/2024/06/ab-5-california-uber/
- [1]Ellen Ioanes, “Why Europe is lurching to the right,” Vox, June 10, 2024, https://www.vox.com/politics/354601/european-parliament-elections-macron-afd-national-rally-far-right-fidesz-france↩
- [2]Alex Griffing, “Drudge Puts Trump in an Orange Jumpsuit as Site Monitors His Potential Indictment,” Mediaite, August 29, 2022, https://www.mediaite.com/news/drudge-puts-trump-in-an-orange-jumpsuit-as-site-monitors-his-potential-indictment/↩
- [3]Sarah D. Wire and Alexandra E. Petri, “Trump charged with 34 felony counts in alleged hush money cover-up case,” Los Angeles Times, April 4, 2023, https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2023-04-04/donald-trump-alleged-hush-money-investigation-indictment-arraignment↩
- [4]Levi Sumagaysay, “California gig worker law withstands challenge from Uber at federal appeals court,” Cal Matters, June 10, 2024, https://calmatters.org/economy/2024/06/ab-5-california-uber/↩
- [5]Bob Egelko, “California justices appear likely to uphold Prop. 22, keeping gig worker law in place,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 21, 2024, https://apple.news/Azgu3gIIXRsi2XhRkAf61wg↩