This video, presented by JT Chapman of the YouTube channel Second Thought, features an interview with historian Quinn Slobodian to explain the ideological underpinnings of the modern far-right. The central argument is that the rise of figures like Donald Trump, Steve Bannon, and media personalities such as Ben Shapiro is part of a larger project to protect and advance neoliberalism by deflecting blame for its failures onto social programs and minority groups.

Here's a breakdown of the key points discussed:

1. The Problem for Neoliberals: After the Cold War, neoliberals faced a problem. Despite the fall of communism, popular social safety net programs (like Social Security, civil rights protections, and environmental regulations) remained. They feared that simply dismantling these popular programs would expose the harsh realities of their free-market ideology and cause a public backlash.

2. The Alliance with Race Science: To overcome this, neoliberals formed an alliance with "race scientists." The video highlights the 1994 book The Bell Curve as a pivotal text that reintroduced eugenicist ideas into mainstream discourse. This book argued, under the guise of science, that differences in societal outcomes (like wealth and poverty) were due to inherent, genetic differences in intelligence (IQ) among racial groups.

3. Shifting the Blame: This "scientific" racism provided a powerful tool for deflection. Instead of blaming neoliberal policies (like deregulation and austerity) for growing inequality and economic precarity, the blame could be shifted onto the supposed inherent inferiority of certain groups. Social programs were then reframed not as a safety net, but as wasteful schemes that took resources from the "more capable" (implicitly white) population and gave them to the "less capable."

4. From "Red Menace" to "Woke Elite": The enemy shifted from the "red menace" of communism to a new internal enemy composed of what is now termed the "woke elite"—environmentalists, feminists, anti-racist activists, and bureaucrats who, in their view, had taken over global and national institutions.

5. Nationality as a "Haven Asset": In an unstable world created by volatile global markets, the far-right offers identity—nationality, whiteness, and traditional culture—as a "haven asset." Instead of material security through a welfare state, they offer their base a sense of superiority and belonging, positioning them as the true citizens whose value must be protected from "others."

In essence, the video argues that the far-right's obsession with race and IQ is not an isolated phenomenon but a deliberate political strategy. It serves to protect the neoliberal economic system by creating a scapegoat for its failures, ensuring that the working class directs its anger at minorities and immigrants rather than at the economic elites responsible for their suffering.