While I can't call them informed people, simply because if they were - at least on social and natural sciences - they would most probably be on our side...
You are completely right on the rest. Racism is one of my weakness and blindspot when it comes to the far right, I tend to self tone police myself a little too much and give them a bit too much leeway. I want to believe that there is more to it than just their hatred.
But yeah... this is mainly what it is, racism.
That's actually a lesson I had to learn the hard way this past three month since I literally felt into the Colombe trap just like other liberals and sos dems.
For the context, a famous "journalist entertainer" choosed to interview far right voters (first problem) at the end of a far right rally to humanize them a little (second problem). There, he met Colombe, an old lady. She explained to him that she was living under the minimal living wage and was, despite that, still helping donating food to people in difficulty. She also explained that the far right leaders were talking to people like her and understanding her problem and that's why she was voting for them.
This story went viral in France and broke a lot of liberals and sos dem hearths (mine included) at the time. A famous leftist even went on a rant to explain that the left should try to change its rethoric to try to appeal more to people in difficulties and working class people like Colombe and that we should not let the far right appeal to those people.
The problem however is that this rethoric literally negated the fact that Colombe was a long time far right voter. She is fully aware of the racist politics that the far right is trying to implement.
This is the problem the left is facing with social democrates and soft leftists: We have a BIG racist blindspot. A part of the left (the right side, social democrates) refuse to attack the problem of racism or islamophobia, they are only focusing their interest on the working class. This creates a situation were those leftists are sometimes saying literal racist stuff or excusing racism for the sake of tone policing or to appeal to the working class voting for the far right.
But there is one thing those people don't understand : The far right voters in the working class don't vote for their own interest, they vote for the far right because of their racism !
And this affirmation was proven this last month: Bardella, the leader of the far right party was literally incompetent on ALL subjects in debates. In fact the program of the far right was inexistant for both the european and the legislative elections ! Worst, the more we digged, the more we discovered who many dangerous individual there were in their rank and how incompetent they were:
https://cartedelahonte.github.io/ << this map represents all the deputee who have a """background"""" in term of very problematic rethoric (homophobia/racism/antisemitism etc..), legal problem (fraud/actual past condamnations), white supremacism, violences etc..
The observations were clear : the far right is incompetent, they don't understand politics, science or economy and they are only trying to "appear" as friends of the working class when in reality, they are friends of the capital and the bourgeoisie.
We are only left with this explanation: If the far right doesn't vote for their own interest or because of a concret program, the voting base is only acting on behalf of one thing, the backbone of far rightism, the start of racialist politics.
In other words, the vote for the far right (and here, for Trump) is a racist one. Not necessarily against black people at first, but against migrants, certainly.
I had to understand and open my eyes on this blindspot the left has as I believe strongly in intersectionnality. This is why I no longer call myself a simple leftist, but a radical one now.
You are completely right on the rest. Racism is one of my weakness and blindspot when it comes to the far right, I tend to self tone police myself a little too much and give them a bit too much leeway. I want to believe that there is more to it than just their hatred.
But yeah... this is mainly what it is, racism.
That's actually a lesson I had to learn the hard way this past three month since I literally felt into the Colombe trap just like other liberals and sos dems.
For the context, a famous "journalist entertainer" choosed to interview far right voters (first problem) at the end of a far right rally to humanize them a little (second problem). There, he met Colombe, an old lady. She explained to him that she was living under the minimal living wage and was, despite that, still helping donating food to people in difficulty. She also explained that the far right leaders were talking to people like her and understanding her problem and that's why she was voting for them.
This story went viral in France and broke a lot of liberals and sos dem hearths (mine included) at the time. A famous leftist even went on a rant to explain that the left should try to change its rethoric to try to appeal more to people in difficulties and working class people like Colombe and that we should not let the far right appeal to those people.
The problem however is that this rethoric literally negated the fact that Colombe was a long time far right voter. She is fully aware of the racist politics that the far right is trying to implement.
This is the problem the left is facing with social democrates and soft leftists: We have a BIG racist blindspot. A part of the left (the right side, social democrates) refuse to attack the problem of racism or islamophobia, they are only focusing their interest on the working class. This creates a situation were those leftists are sometimes saying literal racist stuff or excusing racism for the sake of tone policing or to appeal to the working class voting for the far right.
But there is one thing those people don't understand : The far right voters in the working class don't vote for their own interest, they vote for the far right because of their racism !
And this affirmation was proven this last month: Bardella, the leader of the far right party was literally incompetent on ALL subjects in debates. In fact the program of the far right was inexistant for both the european and the legislative elections ! Worst, the more we digged, the more we discovered who many dangerous individual there were in their rank and how incompetent they were:
https://cartedelahonte.github.io/ << this map represents all the deputee who have a """background"""" in term of very problematic rethoric (homophobia/racism/antisemitism etc..), legal problem (fraud/actual past condamnations), white supremacism, violences etc..
The observations were clear : the far right is incompetent, they don't understand politics, science or economy and they are only trying to "appear" as friends of the working class when in reality, they are friends of the capital and the bourgeoisie.
We are only left with this explanation: If the far right doesn't vote for their own interest or because of a concret program, the voting base is only acting on behalf of one thing, the backbone of far rightism, the start of racialist politics.
In other words, the vote for the far right (and here, for Trump) is a racist one. Not necessarily against black people at first, but against migrants, certainly.
I had to understand and open my eyes on this blindspot the left has as I believe strongly in intersectionnality. This is why I no longer call myself a simple leftist, but a radical one now.
