Five rhetorical tricks of the radical right that you should watch out for

Like a cranial fire, the radical right is raging through Europe and America. The German AfD is the second-largest party in the polls at 20%, in November "The Madman" Javier Milei won the Argentine presidential election with 56%, at home PVV became the largest and only a miracle can keep Trump from the Republican nomination.

Strange isn't it, radical right-wingers benefit from the uncertainty and uncanny feeling that characterize our times: climate change, wars, violent inflation, to name a few. The solutions of "the powerful elite" are too complex, invasive or unfair. The radical right creates order out of chaos with a simple and effective story: they did it.

Extreme language, but with great appeal. Of course this is for many reasons, but a key success factor is that the radical right uses a number of basic rhetorical tricks. Knowing and recognizing these helps to put out this peat fire.

Therefore, five rhetorical tricks of the radical right that you should watch out for.

1.The past is sacred
Our fear of change runs deep. Reason the radical right will never try to tempt us with a future sanctuary state, but always with a return to the world as we know it. Make America Great Again... The progressives' narrative of forced change - not to regain the familiar life, but to reduce disaster - stands out.

2.Use the drama triangle (Villain - Victim - Helper)
The narrative: the villain ("the foreigner" or "the elite"), threatens the status quo and thus needlessly ruins the life of the victim ("the own people"). The helper (the radical right) promises to protect or restore the status quo. In this division of roles, the victim also has to do nothing; he gets something: his old, familiar life back. The villain is the one who must adapt, change or fuck off. The progressives contrast this with a more diffuse image: the voter is both victim and villain at the same time; she must change her lifestyle to feel protected.

3.A metaphor says more than 1,000 arguments
A well-chosen imagery immediately (often unconsciously) evokes emotion. For example, the extreme right loves the medical metaphor: the sick body is poisoned by malevolent influences. This often involves a group (immigrants, communists or elites) already inside the body and threatening to destroy it from within. Other popular imagery includes that of natural disasters (tsunami of Islamization) and language of violence to combat the villain ("Lock her up" or Milei's chainsaw).

.The higher your stakes, the more you get
By taking radical positions and continuing to repeat them, you can shift what is considered acceptable. Like frogs in warmer water, we get used to more and more extremes, so you can also get more and more support (or acquiescence) for more radical policies.

For example, staff writer David H. Graham of The Atlantic wrote in his piece Trump isn't bluffing: "The first time Trump says something, people react with shock and compare him to Hitler. The second time, people say Trump is at it again. By the third time, it becomes background noise [...]. The result is that Trump has been able to acclimate the nation to authoritarianism by introducing it early and often."

5. It's the destination, not the journey

"The less people know how sausages and laws are made, the better they sleep," was Bismarck's belief. Right-wing radicals promise to make mincemeat of the enemy, but they too look forward to describing how their mill works. Because then it will become clear: to realize these radical plans, everyone will have to get their hands dirty or make sacrifices. And that won't draw votes.

These are simple and effective tricks used by the radical right. It is important to recognize them and to be alert to lies and inaccuracies. At the same time, the question arises: shouldn't middle parties also make more use of these tricks? Their narrative is hardly a match for the radical rhetorical violence. The answer to the question may be disappointing: yes, they should do so more. Campaigning requires not nuance, but clear, evocative language that touches people and spurs them to action. Time to go full on the organ for the good cause.