Establishment Politics: Anger Rises

“Turkish armed forces have completely taken over the administration of the country to reinstate the constitutional order, human rights and freedoms, the rule of law, and the general security that was damaged”

These were the words that were emblazoned on every TV channel across the globe last Friday night. The Turkish military were staging a coup, a coup the world believed was a success, until it suddenly wasn’t.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has smothered democracy in the Turkish land, with the military regarding him as a dangerous Islamist. Ironically, the President who refuses interviews, condemns social media and imprisons journalists, appealed to his supporters over FaceTime to fight the coup. The political atmosphere in the country is tense, it is angry and it is all too common.

Global politics is going through a very dangerous transition at the moment. We have had politics fuelled by anger before  - yes, every Dictator in history was bolstered by hatred and every genocide that has ever been reported started with some kind of anger behind it, and now we are seeing it again. People in the US are angry, people in the UK are angry, people in Turkey are angry, and these are only the heavy hitters.

Trump Piggy Backing on Fear

Donald Trump embodies the people's rage - it really is a simple and basic as that. He is not bringing with him a solution to better healthcare, a cure for homelessness or even a plan to stop the rampant gun violence in the US. No, Donald Trump is the man  with a megaphone urging the people to shout more, the stamp their feet a little harder and to throw caution to the wind in the face of authority. This is the right of every US citizen but is it the smartest? Honestly, probably not.

The Republican electorate has chosen their nominee, they support his right wing movement, his extreme views and his constant, unapologetic attacks on anything different. Confronting diversity when people are worried about immigration is the winning ticket for The Donald. The GOP have reluctantly sided with Trump even though it has caused deep splits amongst senior party members.

Britain Breaking Free

Britain leaving the EU was no accident. No matter how many people complain about being uneducated about its implications, the majority voted to leave and therefore they are leaving. Like any messy break-up, the mud slinging was expected. A campaign that was characterized by fear of immigration, anger over a perceived undemocratic bureaucracy and trust in a charismatic political outsider, it was never going to be pretty. A vote NO was more a vote against the establishment than a real want to leave the EU. Breaking it down, the young wanted to stay in and the older voters wanted out, game over.

Even as the European Union began to grapple with a new and potentially destabilizing period of political uncertainty, the British vote also will inevitably be seized upon as further evidence of deepening public unease with the global economic order. Globalization and economic liberalization have produced winners and losers — and the big “Leave” vote in economically stagnant regions of Britain suggests that many of those who have lost out are fed up. Once again, anger rears its ugly head.

The Era of Mobilizing Anger

We have seen how Trump is mobilizing fear and anger stateside but just how important is this?

Well, everything is short term because getting short term goals achieved is a priority for Trump. There is no road map for how he is going to deal with immigration except for the much-parodied wall he’s building. Getting rid of the irritation that has manifested across the globe is not going to be fixed overnight. The phenomenon that is Trump is nothing more than people in fear needing a leader and while he may not win the race to the White House, it still gives a scary outlook of the tensions that exist in the US.

The widespread feeling of resentment towards the political establishment can’t be ignored much longer so while the Government won in Turkey, the people won in Britain and the final di is yet to be thrown in the US, challenging times still lay ahead.