Austerity is the Fuel for the Far-Right’s Fire

The shadows of history are lengthening across Europe. As recent electoral shifts in Germany and across the continent demonstrate, a familiar and dangerous brand of reactionary populism is no longer a peripheral threat—it is a central protagonist in the story of modern democracy. While the specifics differ by border, the underlying engine of this movement is identical to the one we face in the United States.

In a recent discussion published by The New Republic, analysts explored the mechanisms required to halt the rise of "Trumpism" in Germany. The conversation highlights a chilling reality: when the center-left fails to deliver material improvements in the lives of working people, the vacuum is filled by those who trade in grievance, xenophobia, and the dismantling of democratic norms.

The Failure of the Neoliberal Consensus

For decades, the prevailing wisdom among centrist governments in both Europe and the U.S. has been a commitment to fiscal austerity and the privatization of the public square. The logic was that by shrinking the state, we would unleash market efficiencies. Instead, we unleashed precarity.

When rural hospitals close, when public transit becomes unreliable, and when housing costs outpace wages, people feel abandoned by their institutions. The New Republic’s reportage on the German political landscape suggests that the rise of the far-right isn't merely a cultural phenomenon; it is a reaction to a perceived—and often real—loss of agency and stability.

If progressives want to stop the momentum of the far-right, we cannot simply rely on warnings about the threat to democracy. Democracy is an abstract concept to a family that cannot afford rent or a worker whose factory has been shuttered without a social safety net to catch them. We must prove that democracy can deliver.

Labor as the Bulwark

The most effective antidote to the divide-and-conquer tactics of the right is a robust, multiracial labor movement. In Germany, as in America, the erosion of union power has left workers isolated. Without the collective identity provided by the workplace, people are more susceptible to identities rooted in exclusion and nationalism.

We see this reflected in the way reactionary movements attempt to pit native-born workers against immigrants. This is a classic bait-and-switch. The threat to a German worker’s pension or an American worker’s healthcare is not a refugee; it is a tax code that favors billionaires and a corporate class that views labor as a liability to be minimized.

Progressive parties globally must stop apologizing for wanting to tax the rich and fund the public good. We need a massive reinvestment in green infrastructure, healthcare, and education—not just because it is the right thing to do for the planet and the economy, but because it is a political necessity for the survival of the democratic project.

The Internationalism of Grievance

The "Trumpism" discussed by The New Republic is an international franchise. These movements share consultants, social media strategies, and a common enemy: the idea that a diverse, pluralistic society can thrive through cooperation. They thrive on the scarcity mindset created by decades of neoliberal policy.

To counter this, progressivism must also be internationalist. We must recognize that the fight for workers' rights in Berlin is the same fight as the one in Detroit. When we allow capital to move freely to wherever labor is most exploited, we create the very conditions of desperation that demagogues exploit.

The bottom line

We cannot defeat the far-right by being a slightly more polite version of the status quo. To stop the rise of reactionary populism, we must aggressively dismantle the era of austerity. Governments must return to the business of providing universal public goods and protecting the right of every worker to bargain collectively. If we do not give the people a future rooted in shared prosperity, the far-right will continue to offer them a future rooted in shared resentment.