Deplorables

Spiked has posted the film below “about the transatlantic populist revolt” with this introduction:

Brexit and Trump were two ballot-box revolts that, though different in many ways, shared one clear thing in common: the fury they provoked from the establishment. Politicians and commentators, in the US and UK, immediately denounced voters as uneducated, racist and deplorable. Democracy itself was called into question.

We travelled from the Rust Belt to the Essex coast, talking to writers, academics and voters, to find out who these so-called Deplorables really are, how we got here, and where these populist revolts might be headed next. This is not a film about Donald Trump or Boris Johnson; it is not about those members of the elite that benefit somewhat from the new populist movements. It is a film about voters – the people who had long been forgotten, but who now cannot be ignored. We hope you enjoy it.

Spiked has also posted deputy editor Tom Slater’s related report on Erie, Pennsylvania (featured in the film) “The Democratic town that took a chance on Trump.” Brown University Professor Glenn Loury appears as a sort of Greek chorus commenting on the American version of the populist revolt. I rate this one worth a look.

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