Populism In America

The constant journey to a perfect form of government continues to be traveled and questioned when any matter of rule comes into question. Many things can factor into new forms of government emerging. For example, the U.S. financial crisis mentioned in “Why Young Americans are Giving Up on Capitalism” brought into question not only liberalization but globalization, capitalism and trade entirely. This triggered the spread of populism and the overall criticism of open borders. In addition to this change, capitalism is also losing popularity because it ended up causing many of the aforementioned problems. In response, many liberal governments have swayed slightly from being strictly liberal, and have begun to integrate other methods of governing

The Financial Crisis of 2008 triggered a domino effect of questions concerning liberalism. The majority of people in the United States, including some politicians mentioned in The Crisis of Liberation, have blamed open borders for the financial crisis amongst other things, “Trump blames globalization and immigration for the decline of the American working class.” Because of the overwhelming concern and the growing populist view on border control, liberal governments have shifted to a less democratic form of government as seen in the United States. The United States government has been trying to find a happy medium between particularism and democracy as seen in The Crisis of Liberation, “He(Obama) has been trying to square the circle: to reduce U.S. global presence and involvement without disrupting order, led in part by the belief that a new, durable equilibrium will impose itself as the United States steps back.” The reduction of U.S. global presence is exactly what is occurring in many liberal countries, they are stepping back globally ever so slightly and making room for new beliefs including populism and particularism, as seen in Trumps quote concerning the wall, “Donald Trump’s promise to build a high wall on the border with Mexico signals the end of an era that started with the fall of another wall in Berlin.” In addition,

Because banks allotted sub-prime mortgages to people who could not originally afford a mortgage, and then sold those mortgages to private companies, people began to default on their loans, and they lost their houses, jobs, and overall hope of a better life. This created a bubble economy in the housing market, and America is still experiencing the effects of the financial crisis today. After the crisis displayed the faults of capitalism, many citizens have come to the conclusion that capitalism is not the superior economic system. One of the major reasons young Americans are beginning to lose faith in capitalism is due the increasingly high cost of college education, and the debt students are in, even years after graduating. This debt is seen almost everywhere,“The college graduates you know are drowning in student debt, working for minimum wage, or toiling in unpaid internships,” as mentioned in,“Why Young Americans Are Giving Up on Capitalism.” This quote shows the hardships students go through to succeed in a capitalist economy. In addition, capitalism is also losing its appeal due to an issue occurring post-college; getting a job in a highly competitive market, “You realize the government counts everyone working part-time or gig jobs or making salaries below the poverty line as ‘employed.’ That is what employment looks like in