The Intolerance Multiplier

Alan Day Haight
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Alan Day Haight: Department of Economics, SUNY-Cortland, Cortland, NY, USA

Review of Radical Political Economics, 2013, vol. 45, issue 4, 525-532

Abstract: If prejudice divides and weakens the working class, then capital owners can impose more inequality without fearing unified resistance. Frustrated workers turn on each other as scapegoats, blaming their economic hardship on diversity (in terms of race, religion, ethnicity, immigration status, age, gender, education, sexual preference, and so on). If a demagogue shifts the intolerance curve upward, a multiplier process ensues: intolerance causes inequality, and inequality causes intolerance. Religious nationalism, right-wing control of the media, or a facade of democracy will shift the resistance curve rightward. Under fascism, hate speech is reinforced by police power, so both curves shift. Liberal arts education and exposure to cultural diversity may counter these shifts.

Keywords: inequality; immigration; riots; racism; Arab Spring; Marx; class compromise (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B50 E11 J70 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:reorpe:v:45:y:2013:i:4:p:525-532

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