Comment by jquery
14 days ago
I haven’t seen any progressives in favor of this. Disaffected voters on the left want more housing and universal health care, not tariffs on avocados. Disaffected voters on the right just like to see libs getting owned… but they won’t appreciate their wallets being liberated of their money.
You know back in the 80’s free trade was a right wing Ronald Reagan Republican position and it was the left wing democrats who supported protectionism.
Even in the United Kingdom. The neoliberal Margaret Thatcher supported free trade and an end to the manufacturing jobs of North England and it was the left wing socialist Labour Party of the UK back then that wanted protectionism for English manufacturing workers
Yeah, I know protectionism used to be a ‘left’ position. I agree with parts of the reasoning, like opposing transnational DRM schemes, which the TPP tried to push. But hardcore protectionism has always felt more populist than leftist to me, kind of like how hardcore nationalism isn’t inherently right-wing, but often ends up there.