In 2025 we must rethink political definitions, because old labels no longer match the coalitions and incentives now acting under them, and the mismatch skews judgment, obscures accountability, and distorts how citizens read conflict. Clear terms enable clear judgment.

Chomsky wrote in 2011 against the background of the debt‑ceiling standoff. He framed “decline” as a long process rather than a sudden break. He tied it to domestic choices. He stressed power, not mood.

Hard-right populist parties have advanced across much of the democratic world. They combine nationalist rhetoric with state activism, offering voters tangible benefits while eroding institutional checks. The result is not communism but a nationalist-statist politics that preserves private property while redistributing selectively. Its rise is best understood not as a cultural accident but as a consequence of capitalism’s own production of inequality.