Decline of leftism

In the former Soviet Union, a popular joke was that the workers pretended to work and the Soviet Union pretended to pay them.^[1]

The dissolution of atheistic, communist Soviet Union on December 26, 1991 was a watershed moment in terms of the decline of leftism and the secular left (See also: Decline of the secular left). Politically, atheists have a history of skewing politically to the left (see: Atheism and politics).

In September 2018, Pew Research indicated: "Due to the decline of the center-left across much of Western Europe and the comparative steadiness of the center-right, most Western European countries are led by center-right parties, as measured by the party of the prime minister or other head of government."^[2]

According to the University of Cambridge, historically, the "most notable spread of atheism was achieved through the success of the 1917 Russian Revolution, which brought the Marxist-Leninists to power."^[3] The collapse of atheism in the former Soviet Union led to rapid desecularization in the region of the former Soviet Union and was a significant blow to the secular left.

USA and the UK: Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher[edit]

Ronald Reagan[edit]

Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan was president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. Reagan was a movement conservative who succeeded in moving the nation to the right in terms of reducing federal regulation and lowering taxes. He promoted Individual Liberty and the conviction that government was the problem and private enterprise the solution. He cut taxes but despite his proposals, spending and the federal deficit went up. After a short sharp recession early in his first term, the economy was strong by 1984. Proclaiming "It's Morning Again in America", Reagan carried 49 of 50 states to win reelection. He moved the Supreme Court and the federal courts to the right with his appointments.

Margaret Thatcher[edit]

Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990, and the first woman to hold the position. Her leadership permanently moved Britain to the right and reshaped the nation's political environment to stress economic growth and international competitiveness. The Labour Party in response under Tony Blair jettisoned their old leftist ideas and followed Thatcher-lite programs. Despite being in power for 13 years from 1997 to 2010 Labour did not remove any of Thatcher's anti-union legislation and has refused to even consider doing so.

Decline of 21st century leftism in the Western World Anglosphere[edit]

President Donald Trump

In the 2010 decade period, so far there has been a marked decline of leftism in the United States and Britain respectively.^[4] In the United States, Democrats lost 1,042 seats—including U.S. House, Senate, state governorship, and state legislative seats—during Barack Obama's eight years in office.^[5]

The 2016 election of President Donald Trump was a significant blow to American leftism as the Trump administration has pursued right-wing/conservative policies. The U.S economy has seen significant growth since Trump's election (see also: Donald Trump achievements).

The U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was appointed by Trump, is a judge who has ruled in favor of religious liberty in his past decisions.^[6] U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, who was also nominated to the court by Trump, gave a favorable ruling in the Hobby Lobby case in respect to religious liberty.^[7] See also: Morale of the atheist movement

Political conservatism has grown in Australia. John Howard, who became prime minister in 1996, was the first holder of the office to describe himself as a conservative.^[8]

Decline of the 21st century atheist movement in Western World Anglosphere[edit]

The 2011 Elevatorgate controversy deeply fractured the Western World Anglosphere atheist movement and led to the decline of the atheist movement (see: Decline of the atheist movement and Western atheism, schisms and political polarization).

A number of atheists have declared that the "atheist movement is dead".^[9]

Rise of right-wing parties in Europe[edit]

In the 21st century, right-wing nationalist parties have been growing in Europe due to: the Eurozone Crisis; Euroskepticism (backlash to the increasingly centralized European Union and its globalist/open border policies); high youth unemployment in some European countries; low economic growth in various European countries; backlash to immigration and the European migrant crisis; a growing Islamic terrorism problem and growing levels of government debt in various European countries.^[10]

The Guardian reported in 2015 that merely a one-third of European countries are ruled by center-left governments.^[11]

In 2017, the New York Times reported that Italy is "one of the last major center-left governments standing in Europe."^[12] In November 2017, the Irish Times reported that "Italy takes sharp turn right ahead of general election",^[13]

In August 2017, the Express reported:

Decline of leftism and violent left-wing backlash[edit]

See:

• Antifa

• 2017 left-wing violence

Emergence of the alt-right[edit]

See also: Alt-right

The Alt-right, or alternative right, is an emerging faction of the right-wing that opposes unrestrained multiculturalism, un-"skilled" immigration, and globalization.^[15][16] The alt-right has emerged as one of the central opponents of the Establishment. Although originally intended to refer to nationalist and anti-establishment conservatives, liberals/leftists have used the term and have used it to describe white supremecists and neo-Nazis.

The alt-right movement's central theme is as follows:^[17] The alt-right is not defined by any particular school of thought, but by the neoliberal school of thought it rejects. The alt-right, in the simplest terms, is an unapologetic purging of liberal idiocy."

Decline of the secular left in the world at large[edit]

See also: Global atheism and Desecularization and Decline of militant atheism in the West

Since 1970, global atheism has been shrinking as a percentage of the world's population (see: Global atheism statistics). In addition, much to the dismay of the Communist Party of China, evangelical Christianity is experiencing explosive growth in China (see: Growth of Christianity in China).

American culture war, demographics and expected tipping point after 2020[edit]

See also: Culture war and liberal

An unborn child in the womb. Liberals believe that the unborn child has no right to life. By the end of the century, three quarters of America may be pro-life.^[18]

The Birkbeck College, University of London professor Eric Kaufmann wrote in his 2010 book Shall the Righteous Inherit the Earth? concerning America:

See also[edit]

• American liberalism and 21st century political losses

References[edit]