Taru Anniina Liikanen
1 min readOct 29, 2021

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That's a pretty exhaustive list! :D I agree with you, but I think there's more to it. People who believe in conspiracy theories, are racist and reject science are definitely an integral part of the GOP today, and the old 'fiscally conservative' Republicans who just didn't like paying their taxes are a minority.

But there are so many people going down that rabbit hole, and so many of them previously "normal" people, that you have to start thinking about the deeper reasons behind it. Take any authoritarian movement, analyze it, and you'll always notice there are historical and economic issues behind them. These people with grievances are more easily led by leaders resorting to fear and hatred.

What I'm trying to say here is that the working classes across the world found representation in socialism in the 19th and 20th centuries, but the left has lost it in many places to the right. Of course, this analysis won't apply to everybody in the lower classes, but things rarely do (for example, some immigrants are Trump voters and terrified of the Democrats).

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Taru Anniina Liikanen
Taru Anniina Liikanen

Written by Taru Anniina Liikanen

Stand-up comedian and recovering political ghostwriter. Finnish by birth, porteña at heart. Bad jokes frequent.

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