"Recent exercises in taking stock after one year of Trump 2.0 for many an eternity of terrifying news and political traumas tended to leave something out: the fact that, a mere 12 months ago, plenty of pundits (and politicians, for that matter) were instructing us to accept that a global vibe shift in favor of the right had taken place. And that, in the face of what supposedly felt like a landslide, resistance was pointless and cringe."
"A way of thinking occasionally dubbed reactionary centrism plays an important role; it could yet again become influential in hindering or at least holding up post-Trump radical reforms which US democracy desperately requires. Consultant and political communications specialist Aaron Huertas coined the expression reactionary centrism in 2018. The basic idea is that self-declared moderates claim equally to oppose extremes on the right and on the left but hard-hitting criticism is reserved almost exclusively for the left."
"This perceptive observation was inadvertently vindicated in thousands of columns that contributed to a moral panic about wokeness and identity politics. It convinced readers that, sure, Trump was horrible, but what was happening on campus (translation: anecdotes from one or two elite places, endlessly recycled) was also putting US democracy in peril. The point is not that what progressives do must never be criticized;"
Many observers earlier portrayed a global shift toward the right after Trump’s return, urging resignation and characterizing resistance as futile. The concept of reactionary centrism, coined by Aaron Huertas in 2018, describes self-styled moderates who profess opposition to extremes on both sides but direct severe critique mainly at the left. That pattern fueled a moral panic about wokeness and identity politics through repetitive media accounts from a few elite campuses. The resulting false equivalence softened scrutiny of the right and complicated efforts to push post-Trump radical reforms, shaping public perception and political priorities despite unclear electoral impact.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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