US capitalism casts millions of citizens aside, yet Badenoch and Farage still laud it | Phillip Inman

NNext month, Donald Trump will host a poor family to see his plans for a glitzy $300 million ballroom at the White House. The event will be held as part of National Poverty Awareness Month in America, the time each year when charities document the number of U.S. residents surviving on low incomes.

Of course, the president will do no such thing, preferring to summon the press to watch him rub shoulders with the billionaire class, as he did last month at the black-tie dinner for the Saudi leader and his entourage.

Trump can be expected to ignore calls for policies to reduce poverty and reject the annual outreach campaign, leaving him free of any guilt that previous presidents might have felt when looking in the mirror and seeing Louis XIV staring back.

Poverty levels in the United States are significant in the United Kingdom and across continental Europe because the increasing level of poverty in the United States – a trend that dates back to the turn of the century – is a direct result of a particular form of capitalism that increasingly popular right-wing parties say should be embraced.

Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party and Kemi Badenoch’s Conservatives praise the United States, but seem to care little about how it promotes a style of capitalism that leaves millions of people on the sidelines, hurt in one way or another, allowing others to work, spend and save with little regard for those less fortunate.

There could not be an opioid crisis in Europe like the one that happened in the United States. It is not possible to have a mental health crisis of this magnitude, nor high levels of obesity or poverty. Even after years of austerity in Europe, the level of government intervention in the United States remains much lower.

And more cinematically, the United States also exports its financial crashes around the world, knowing that the cost to itself is only a fraction of the repair work faced by countries that care about their people.

If you feel a responsibility to the environment or to those who have been left behind, there is an easy way to cut taxes and reduce levels of regulation.

It’s worth remembering this the next time you read that the European economy is only growing every year, with the UK not far ahead.

A kinder nation, one that takes into account the views of ordinary people, will by definition grow at a more measured pace. Regulation that prevents financial crashes could slow the adoption of dazzling new financial products, but it would bear fruit if the worst was avoided or its effects minimized. Again, it must be remembered that since 1929 it has been reckless American governments that have exported financial chaos, not the more prudent guardians of British or European financial centers.

For those who think there must still be a way to grow at a faster rate, there are countless reports on how the UK and EU governments could do a better job.

Mario Draghi, former Italian prime minister and former president of the European Central Bank, provided a broad critique of Europe’s lack of growth and proposed solutions, most of which involve further integration.

Draghi is not a socialist, but his efforts were socialist. Taken as a whole, his reforms aimed to finance a large and generous state.

Farage and Badenoch are, unsurprisingly, resistant to the ideas behind Draghi’s report and the lesson from the US is that European markets are not sufficiently integrated.

They prefer to follow other lessons from the United States. That financial markets must be liberated, that monopolies are acceptable if they stimulate investments. And the poor and unhealthy need to understand that it is most likely their fault and therefore they can expect only the most rudimentary support from the state.

Studies of the modern electorate show that older people are most sensitive to the Farage/Badenoch argument. The only sacred aspect of the state is the health service – for obvious reasons.

Everything else can be sacrificed to prevent the state from demanding more taxes from its citizens. The AfD in Germany, the National Rally in France and Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party all subscribe to the same philosophy.

In the UK there is a clear correlation between the over 60s and those who vote in frustration and anger to destroy the society created by older voters.

Without recognizing the link with the continent’s far-right parties and the Trump White House, it is the baby boomers who are speaking out in favor of low regulation, a financial sector free to do the worst and leaving charity to take care of the most deprived.

Those with more progressive views are in the minority in this age group.

The government should argue for a phased approach and explain how it protects most people. It protects against disasters and, when disaster strikes, has the ability to offer support where needed. This builds resilience.

The United States is setting aside the poorest in the most insensitive way. It’s true that this has always been the case. But these days, his colossal wealth and income make that unnecessary.