WORKING CLASS CITIZENS YEARN TO BE HEARD …
A June 15, 2019 article in the Wall Street Journal explores the reasons why new national populist leaders have emerged in Europe and the United States.
ILLUSTRATION BY BRIAN STAUFFER; PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES
Populist leaders in the United Kingdom (Nigel Farage), France (Marine Le Pen), Italy (Matteo Salvini) and the U.S. (Trump) are promoting policies that address the concerns of voters who feel neglected and disdained by liberal elites.
The WSJ article identifies four currents now colliding in European (and U.S.) politics:
Distrust: People without degrees in the working class do not trust political institutions that have become less representative of the groups that are most likely to cast a vote for national populists.
Destruction: Widespread fears that national identities, cultures and ways of life are slipping away.
Deprivation: Not objective economic loss, but relative depravation. Tens of millions in Europe (and the U.S.) feel that their ethnographic-cultural group is being left behind relative to others, while liberal politicians, media and celebrities devote far more attention and status to favored migrants, minorities and other newcomers.
Dealignment: Historic tribal loyalties to the older parties are breaking down across much of the West.
These currents of concern are not only prevalent among “white” populations in the U.S. and Europe. For example, similar sentiments are found in the third of Hispanic / Latino voters who voted for Trump. In Britain, one in three Black and ethnic minority voters endorsed Brexit, as did large swaths of the working class.
The common and primary concern of voters who support national populist leaders is a desire to reduce immigration. “Many are simply worried about the pace and scale of immigration, and they feel that their concerns have gone unaddressed.”
Using the interactive graphing tool on the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) website, we created the chart below that plots immigrant percent of population in multiple countries over the past six decades.
After studying the chart, we offer the following takeaways:
Major Western Democracies Are (Too?) Generous In Welcoming Migrants … The Western countries in our study all have immigrant populations equaling 10% – 15% of their populations. The United States has the highest percentage at 15.3%, which is a 168% increase since it was 5.7% in 1970. Germany has gone from 0% in 1980 to 14.3% in 2017, an increase of 143,000,000%. It’s no wonder that countries like the U.S., UK, France, Italy and even Germany have seen a rising number of working class voters preferring national populist leaders who address their concerns about the pace, scale, economic and security repercussions of runaway immigration — such as downward pressure on wages, upward pressure on social support systems, and increased crime.
What’s Up With Mexico? … For a relatively safe, democratic and wealthy country that should be attractive to migrants seeking work or asylum in North America, Mexico has a surprisingly low 0.9% of immigrants in its population. So, even though Mexico has a very low percentage of migrants in its population, why did Trump have to threaten Mexico with import tariffs to get them to a) stop Central American migrants from transiting through their country to the U.S. southern border, b) keep asylum seeking migrants in Mexico until U.S. courts can adjudicate their application, and c) offer migrants work and visitor visas to stay in Mexico?
No One Migrates To Communist / Socialist Countries … The percentage of migrants in the populations of China and Cuba has been consistently at 0.1% over the past 60 years. It’s not surprising that China and Cuba respectively ranked only 100th and 178th in the Heritage Foundation’s 2019 Index of Economic Freedom and scored only 11 / 100 and 14 / 100 in Freedom House’s Freedom in the World 2019. Who wants to migrate to countries without basic economic and political freedoms?
We are proud of and support U.S. and European humanitarian efforts to accept asylum seekers, refugees and meritorious workers seeking legal entry to their countries. As the welcoming words of the sonnet on the plaque at the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor say: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door.” There’s no doubt that most immigrants coming through that golden door have made Western countries richer for having admitted them. But there can also be too much of a good thing. Western governments must listen to the concerns of their working class citizens and adjust immigration accordingly. Furthermore, they should ensure that new immigrants assimilate into their country’s existing culture, obey existing laws, and improve the economic conditions of its existing citizens. Otherwise, the pace and scale of immigration must be reduced until they can. It is government’s obligation to protect and support its existing citizens before opening up its golden door to add more.
Elections have consequences. Politicians still pushing for open borders would be wise to listen to their working class voters or risk being replaced by populist leaders who care.