Comment by skissane
4 years ago
What exactly does "far right" mean in this context? Where do we draw the boundary between "soft right", "hard right", "far right", etc? I'm not sure if you and I would draw those lines in the same places.
You speak of "ethno-nationalism" in association with the "far right" – do you mean to say that ethno-nationalism is "far right", or only "extreme" forms of it?
Does appeasing a group, or being beholden to them, make you a member? Neville Chamberlain famously sought to appease Hitler – while I think his appeasement of Nazism deserves severe criticism, he was no Nazi himself. von Hindenburg and von Papen made Hitler Chancellor because they thought they could manipulate him, only to find out too late that it was really Hitler who was manipulating them – but neither man was a Nazi at the point of making that foolish decision (although von Papen later became one)
You talk about Trump "centering" the "minority" of the Republican base to become the new majority of it – my impressions differ somewhat from yours, but I wonder if there is any objective way to decide whose impressions are more accurate? Is there any objective measure of what constitutes the minority or majority of the "base" at any given time? Any relevant survey data or other quantitative measures?
>What exactly does "far right" mean in this context?...I'm not sure if you and I would draw those lines in the same places
This is an invitation to murky waters, wherein it is impossible to have a discussion. I don't think figuring out where to draw the lines terminology-wise is as important as the fact that there has objectively been a hard rightward shift in the GOP.
>do you mean to say that ethno-nationalism is "far right", or only "extreme" forms of it?
Again, it is not as important to make this semantic distinction as it is to note that there's been a decisive shift towards ethno-nationalism in the GOP, and that sentiment is associated with right-wing politics. So this is further evidence of their rightward shift.
>Neville Chamberlain famously sought to appease Hitler
Neither did Nixon going to China make him a Communist. That would be a silly assertion, right? But, of course, the correct analogy here would be Chamberlain courting and appeasing a faction of Nazi sympathizers within his own country for political game.
>Trump "centering" the "minority" of the Republican base to
Yes that's part of it. There was also a rightward push of more moderate constituents, which is of course what happens in these lurches.
>Any relevant survey data or other quantitative measures?
Yes. Everywhere.