During the mid-1930s, Gerald L. K. Smith became a prominent advocate for these business nationalists, many of whom were isolationists who would later oppose the entry of the United States into World War II. Smith successfully garnered public and financial support from wealthy businessmen concentrated in "nationalist-oriented industries".
The John Birch Society, founded in 1959, incorporated many themes from the pre-World War II right-wing groups that opposed the New Deal, establishing its base within business nationalist circles. The society was a major force in disseminating an ultraconservative business nationalist critique of corporate internationalists who were perceived as being networked through organisations such as the Council on Foreign Relations.[1][5]
As of 2007[update], business nationalism was represented by ultraconservative political figures such as Pat Buchanan.[4]
Criticism
According to progressive scholar Mark Rupert, the critique of globalisation offered by business nationalists is fundamentally flawed and carried significant social risks. Rupert argues that the right-wing anti-globalists worldview "envisions a world in which Americans are uniquely privileged, inheritors of a divinely inspired socio-political order which must at all costs be defended against external intrusions and internal subversion.”
Rupert further argues that this reactionary analysis attempts to challenge corporate power but ultimately fails to understand the underlying economic structure, specifically the nature of "capital concentration and the transnational socialization of production." This lack of comprehension in the reactionary analysis then contributes to societal issues: It fosters social alienation (a feeling of being disconnected or isolated), and it intensifies "scapegoating and hostility toward those seen as outside of, different or dissenting from its vision of national identity."
Rupert concludes that as alienation grows, more overtly fascistic forces will try to draw these angry individuals into a framework that justifies the demonization (making someone loos evil) of the chosen "Other."[1]
When populist consumer groups, such as those led by Ralph Nader, forge uncritical alliances with business nationalists to rally against GATT and NAFTA, an opportunity emerges for the anti-elite rhetoric of right-wing populism to piggyback onto a legitimate progressive critique. Why is this a problem? Business nationalism carries with it its right-wing baggage. Pat Buchanan’s rhetoric is an example of this baggage. His racist, antisemitic and xenophobic inclinations reflect business nationalism's right-wing national chauvinism. At the core of the right wing, populism is the "producerist narrative" where the main scapegoats are people of color, especially Blacks. This narrative diverts attention from the White supremacist subtext. It uses coded language to mobilize resentment against people of color through attacks on issues immediately relevant to them, such as welfare, immigration, tax, or education policies. Women, gay men and lesbians, abortion providers, youth, students, and environmentalists are also frequently scapegoated in this manner.[1]
↑Berlet, Chip (2007). "The New Political Right in the United States: Reaction, Rollback, and Resentment". In Thompson, Michael (ed.). Confronting the New Conservatism: The Rise of the Right in America. New York: NYU Press. p.75. ISBN9780814783290. Retrieved 2016-08-27. Ultraconservative business and industrial leaders 'saw the New Deal as proof of a sinister alliance between international finance capital and communist-controlled working-class organisations to destroy free enterprise.' [...] This sector of the U.S. political Right became known as 'business nationalists[...]' [...].
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