This time a year ago, I dreaded the
thought that I might be writing a blog post on how, not one, but both of the
two most ridiculous political nightmares taunting the West could emerge as
realities. The Brexit and Trump winnings have finally concluded that liberalism
and acceptance are converting themselves into concepts of the past. We are
regressing towards a dangerous world of ignorance and selfishness, where racism
and sexism don’t matter anymore because if the president elect can call
Mexicans rapists and brag about grabbing women by the pussy then why can’t we
all? The common denominator between 2016’s various branches of illiberal
politics has been the façade that this new wave represents ‘working people’; the
only way 2017 will be a more optimistic year is if we realise that this is all
a lie.
My first question – who exactly
are ‘working people’? Michael Gove provided the highly uncooperative response that
they/we are the ones who have been failed by the EU, and about half the country
qualify. But to me the ‘working people’ is more of a conceptual idea than an
actual demographic. It’s the visionary white family on a low income who feel agonizingly
alienated as they walk down their local high street only hearing conversations
in Polish or Punjabi, unable to integrate because their town has been taken
over by immigrants. They’re racist, but that’s fair, because they’ve been so totally
failed by their hyper-liberal government (key word here: visionary, because these people do not actually exist).
Firstly, to assume all people with
low-paid jobs are racist, unaccepting and ignorant is “both incorrect and
patronising” (see Phil McDuff’s article expanding on this topic – it’s a really
good read). Secondly, ‘working people’ is a construct invented with no relation
to economic status, it seems to be more about peoples’ opinions and political
stances. If you’re from an average background, but are left-wing, aren’t
anti-immigration or come from an immigrant family yourself, do you count as
part of this demographic? Most likely not. Essentially, ‘working people’ has
developed as politicians’ code-word for xenophobes.
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| Are multicultural groups backing more refugees still 'working people'? http://www.tombrake.co.uk/refugees_welcome |
Both Trump and Farage played
incredibly tactfully on this ‘working people’ disguise to draw closet racists
out of their hiding during their campaigns. It’s a vicious cycle: politicians
suggest racist and xenophobic opinions are acceptable for the working classes,
so people begin to voice these opinions with less shame. The politicians can
then maximise their own nationalistic rhetoric, most notoriously in the case of
Trump’s proposed ban on Muslims, and the uproar is less severe since society
has become just slightly more accustomed to the notion that these ideas are now
becoming normal. The politicians aren’t
being unfair – they’re saying what the ‘working
people’ think. It’s a great way to draw in voters, and it’s what eventually
resulted in the success of Donald Trump and Brexit.
The most upsetting part of this
cunning politics is how disloyal it will prove to be over the upcoming years. Donald
Trump’s plans to rob Americans of their health insurance and start a trade war
with China will not benefit low-income white Americans. Brexit has already
proved disloyal to those ‘working people’ who voted for it: poster boys Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage
have pretty much vanished from humanity and it’s already come out that £350 million
is not going to the NHS. Those who believe this right-wing political wave will actually
benefit the working classes must ask themselves when exactly was the last time
the Tory government did something to help the poor.
"I want politicians who don't see the working poor as fucking peasants" - random guy on YouTube. We must remember just how
and why the political car crashes of 2016 managed to happen, and not let the
idea that this is what ‘the working
people’ want stop our revolt against racism and xenophobia. ‘The working
people’ is a concept constructed by the elite as a method of allowing prejudice
into politics, do not accept it as a justification for bigotry.
