What has led to the rise of right-wing authoritarianism? One view is that globalisation and capitalism are responsible. Another view is that it is related to patriarchy fighting back against feminism. A third view is that liberalism is flawed and that authoritarianism has never been very far from liberalism.
All three may be correct. Right-wing authoritarianism may have different causes and trajectories. One driver of authoritarianism that has not received sufficient attention is popular culture – film, television and fiction. These media entertain, but they also reflect and shape social attitudes. Popular culture is affected by economics, gender relations, and prevailing political values and practices. But it also has a degree of autonomy from these basic structures.
What is striking is the paranoid turn in popular culture. It is not recent, but it has grown. The basic paranoid story line is well known. A hero, male or female, fights an authority figure or figures who are self-seeking, two-faced, violent, exploitative, even deranged. The authority figures are politicians, business tycoons, scientists and engineers, as well as religious leaders and activists. The hero uncovers or is embroiled in a conspiracy by authorities. He or she battles against a rotten “system” as much as a particular individual and in the end wins though at great personal cost.
A consistent theme in these media is that under the genial facade of normal and seemingly liberal social existence are dark forces that are working to control others and take away their freedom and dignity, or their lives. The broad message is that authority is corrupt and cannot be trusted. Political and other authorities in liberal societies are in these depictions shown to be illiberal, selfish and violent even if they pretend to be otherwise. The audience is left with a view that though the hero has triumphed, the dark forces will return and have not been entirely defeated.
Why does this paranoid theme flourish against liberalism above all? It does so because other kinds of political dispensations are assumed to be reactionary, controlling and violent. A film, television serial, or a novel that deals with the heroic resistance to a ruthless dictatorship is too predictable, or sentimental, and provides no “kick”. It is only in science fiction that heroic action against monstrous foes excites and entertains. On planet earth, it is liberal structures and practices that provide a more interesting backdrop to the story. Underneath the seemingly normal and open existence we take for granted in a liberal society, the narrative shows that there are terrible forces at play below the surface. It has shock value and challenges our complacency, and that makes for good viewing or reading.
In essence, films, television serials or pot-boiler novels with these kinds of storylines provide us with the comfort that there may be simple answers to complex social problems. Poverty, inequality, unemployment, everyday violence in the streets, social malaise, environmental damage and confounding antagonisms with other countries are traceable to corrupt, self-seeking politicians, business executives and entrepreneurs, scientists and other experts, religious figures and activists. Well-meaning liberals exist, but they are shown to be foolish, cowardly or stymied by legal niceties in dealing with the villains. It takes a hero who sees things clearly and sets aside the normal and the legal to put things right.
It is this that provides the political narrative that authoritarian leaders and movements use to unsettle democracy and come to power. Crusading leaders and movements are the heroes that see the corrupt and violent forces below the surface of a seemingly liberal existence. They must unmask and reveal what is going on and use extraordinary, even unconstitutional means to do battle and triumph on our behalf.
We live in a time of dark and dangerous conspiracy theories. As we ask why, we should consider that popular culture has played a role in encouraging our increasingly paranoid and heated imaginations.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
