7/ Read the full essay in English and Portuguese at Social Democracy With Populist Characteristics and Subscribe! (Spanish forthcoming) juandarojasro.substack.com

7/ Read the full essay in English and Portuguese at Social Democracy With Populist Characteristics and Subscribe! (Spanish forthcoming) juandarojasro.substack.com

6/ Except there's a better way. Meet Based Girl Boss PM Mette Fredickson. She talks about immigration in a way that upsets upscale progressives but appeals to workers. Hint, she says that immigration should be regulated just like capital. Go figure she wins elections.

5/ "Blasted workers went from enlightened leftists to brainwashed xenophobes in just 3 years! Lets lecture some more on racism. Oh and if we did take their views seriously it wouldn't matter."

That's more or less the standard progressive cope. jacobin.com/2025/03/left...

4/ Chega, however, is also very corrupt hence immigration explains the bulk of its appeal.

The number of foreign citizens in Portugal more than doubled from 620,000 to 1.5 million since 2020 in a country of just 10 million. 70% now say they want less immigration observador.pt/2024/09/17/m...

3/ In his masterful piece at Compact
, João Ruy Faustino notes that the so-called Portuguese Miracle was largely a fraud undergirded by financialization, tourism and real estate. Endemic corruption has also played a role in Chega's rise. www.compactmag.com/article/port...

2/ The right-populist Chega tied the Socialists (PS) with 23%; in 2019, they won just 1%. What's insane is that the center-right vote has been stable since then meaning that Chega's gains have come almost entirely from the PS, Communists and Left Bloc who fell from 52 to 28%.

8/ "Democrats must embrace a politics of pluralism that champions the “problematic” social, cultural, and environmental views of workers in the service of material goals, including reigning in billionaires like Elon Musk."

Full article below open.substack.com/pub/theliber...

8/ "Democrats must embrace a politics of pluralism that champions the “problematic” social, cultural, and environmental views of workers in the service of material goals, including reigning in billionaires like Elon Musk."

Full article below open.substack.com/pub/theliber...

7/ Sheinbaum of course, isn't as heterodox but heads the party her mentor built & has shown pragmatism! She's reportedly considering fracking, has taken a tougher but also smarter line on security and banned vapes. (MP below is an opposition progressive)

6/ Workers, however, loved many of the things US & opposition progressives hated him. He prioritized energy abundance, cut funding to progressive NGOs & celebrated workers' traditional values. Here he said he preferred reactionaries to 'vibes progressives' as opponents