What happens to a middle class that’s squeezed by stagnant wage growth, high house prices and a growing tax burden (not to mention pressure on wages from immigration labour)? It has the potential to become politically radicalised. Ask Austria. This from columnist Brendan O’Neill on the results of the Austrian elections (emphasis added is mine):
72% of working-class voters in Austria voted for Hofer, the far-right candidate, and only 5% of them voted for Van der Bellen, the green. This is the real story of the Austrian election: the left in Europe, and the European Union, now have no connection whatsoever with working-class people. The left is celebrating Hofer’s defeat, seemingly unaware that the more profound defeat is theirs. The rupture between the left and the working class in Europe is now complete.
I would say the problem is even broader than the condescension the left shows to working class voters worried about jobs. Political elites, largely immune from the consequences of their own policies, have badly underestimated how insecure people feel. This is why they, and their sycophantic enablers in the mainstream media, are so consistently surprised at “unexpected” election results.
The elites, having made a lucrative career of “public service”, are also out of touch with how hard it is to buy a house, raise a family and get a good job these days. You can still do it, mind you. But you have to load up on a lifetime of debt and indenture yourself to the personal misery that comes with owing instead of owning. For the first time in a long time, people in the Western middle class aren’t confident their kids will have a better future than them.
And you wonder why the pollsters are getting it so wrong? They’re asking the right questions. But it’s become politically incorrect to give honest answers these days. So people don’t. They hold their tongue, bide their time and tell pollsters what they want to be told. Then they vote how they really feel.
Category: Economics