I'm here in Europe at present and the spike in cost of living seems to be the big concern coupled with the influx of migrants. Its a shock from pre-Covid.
When the economy is down and the working class is in strife for a crust the traditional thing was to turn to Labour (Labor) or left leaning policies. But recently due to the MSM peddling blatant RW propaganda there seems to be a return to the 1930s RW populism by the working class . The capitalist response to that had been war.
IMO we'll see more Independents (the ultimate populists) spring up because the main political parties still pander to the uber rich while sprucing jobs and social programs out of the other side of their mouths. Ireland being #2 on the wealth list for 2024 is turning to Independents big time simply because the "Trickle Down" is not happening
The political cool aid test is ultimately the division of wealth and since the GFC the billionaires have simply tripled their wealth while the working class standard of living has deteriorated
But I guess our working classes in the West still aspire to be millionaires or better so Socialist Policies for them are on the nose because as Yeats said: "Thread softly because you thread on my dreams"
I guess that's why Lotto is popular!
Of course, over the longer term if the capitalist system causes the wealth gap to increase at the current rate , the likely outcomes are either dictatorships or revolutions like that of the French & Russian .
In that sense , China is an interesting Hybrid of Capitalism & Dictatorship, IMO.
