I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but hssstkrklkrkrkrPPkrkrkrkhsssss. Ha ha no j/k lol but srsly: We already know Trump supporters have reasons to be angry. The question is whether they have reasons to turn their anger on minorities.
They’re not being tricked, they don’t need you to make excuses for them from your moral Olympus, and you haven’t solved anything by “discovering” that the anger that fuels bigotry actually stems from economics, rather than esthetic disagreements about skin color (gasp).
It just doesn’t add up that Trump supporters might be holding their noses over the bigotry, while being enthused by the sensible solutions he offers. Because, what sensible solutions? Apart from blame and bullying? His entire platform is “REVENGE FOR WHITE PEOPLE”.
While I agree with most of what you said, I think maybe you just organized the paragraph poorly-- sub-living wages and food stamps are the end result of Wal-Mart driving out local businesses, not the cause. A lot of new Wal-Mart employees ended up there because their old businesses closed down-- the former hardware store owner who ends up working the hardware department at Wal-Mart is a typical example.
It’s a dangerous game republicans are playing with populist anger, the type of thing that if it turns on them results in angry mobs and guillotines. Trump is entirely the Frankenstien’s monster of the republican ID, now that they have created him they have no idea how to control or get rid of him.
While I agree with you entirely, from the point of view of someone who’s been whipped into a frightened frenzy (for rational and irrational reasons), he does offer what passes for sensible solutions. He’s going to “make better deals”. “The politicians who are making the deals currently don’t know what they’re doing”. That sort of thing.
I’m not defending his thesis at all of course, but he does offer reasons to believe in him other than his racism.
Well, all this seems to make sense, but the other part, where people get to blame their problems on this other group? Boy, that seems easier, they’re just going to go with that instead of concluding that their nickel that they saved on buying that cheaper thing from China via WalMart is the real thing ruining their life instead of supporting local businesses that cost more.
I will have to read the full Guardian article later, but the most interesting part of this analysis to me so far is the necessary requirement for self-reflection on what has clearly happened to the Democratic party over the last 30 years. My dad’s old boss used to say “I represent the Democratic wing of the Democratic party”, and the sentiment rings loudly in my ears: we have driven so far right in our chase of election dollars and congressional tenure that “liberal” requires a rearview mirror and a pair of binoculars.
“Yet still we cannot bring ourselves to look the thing in the eyes. We cannot admit that we liberals bear some of the blame for its emergence, for the frustration of the working-class millions, for their blighted cities and their downward spiraling lives. So much easier to scold them for their twisted racist souls, to close our eyes to the obvious reality of which Trumpism is just a crude and ugly expression: that neoliberalism has well and truly failed.”
True. But I am talking scale here. The Nazis and Soviets deported more people in a single week than the entire Trail of Tears atrocity. 2-3 million people is still a lot of people.
My snark was less about scale, and more about noting that America too has baggage in the “forced relocation” conversation.
Apropos of your note: size of Cherokee (among others) victims relative to their population is also not insignificant; I would wager that Jackson would have scaled the effort to the population.
The deeper truth is that no one has a fucking clue as to where this guy stands on anything; he will clearly change his mind at a moments notice if it suits his campaign (or even the conversation he is having in his head out loud).
I mean look at his sudden “reversal” on torture, as an example. For apparently 99.99% of his life, this guy has been for war crimes as a de facto military strategy. Now he’s not. Or is he? We juat don’t know.
His supporters don’t care because they don’t trust anyone who will point this out. It’s a perfect storm of mistrust, ignorance, and greed, and God help me, I can’t turn away from the shitshow.
Trump and Bernie do share some ideas in that area and it speaks strongly to a lot of us independents. Bernie and Trump are anti-TPP and both speak out against H1B visa abuse and pointless warfare. Those are the most important issues to me. I voted Bernie in the primary and I’ll vote Trump in the general if Bernie doesn’t win the primary. Considering Bernie is a longshot right now, I’m guessing I’ll end up voting Trump or maybe greens. I certainly won’t vote Hillary who I suspect will shove through the TPP, continue seeking pointless wars, and ignore H1B abuse. It’s about time the media put some attention on real issues…although waiting so long as worked out in Trump’s favor as he plays the media like a harp, plucking all the right strings with his attention grabbing antics. BoingBoing has fed right into that as it seems like it gets about 10 Trump articles to every one for Bernie.
Plus unlike the professional politicians, Trump knows how to work the media in a narrative form. Years of experience as both a reality TV host and a professional wrestling “promoter” has given Trump skills in appealing to troglodytes and playing a specific persona for an audience.
He hasn’t a clue how government actually works, but neither do his supporters. His skill has always been in promotion of things, not implementing them in a responsible manner. That sort of thing also typifies his businesses. He is great at raising money from rubes but he can’t run a functioning business for shit.
In the back of my mind is the sneaking suspicion that Trump is just pulling off an elaborate practical joke on the Republican Party. That this is all just an act to show the truly paranoid and bigoted nature of conservatives these days. Parody in its most extreme form*.
*This is what I tell myself to deny the harsh reality that Donald Trump is a serious contender for president.
They have not woken up to the fact that Trump’s supporters hate them so much there’s nothing they can say to dissuade them. And all their protests about him solidify their thinking. They know they’ve chosen wisely cause look at how upset the party bosses are.
But him personally? He’s all about brand Trump. He has nothing to lose. He’s up there hawking Trump steaks. I’m sure by his own estimates, his net worth has skyrocketed.
He’s gonna spend 25 million US. Make 100 billion Trump bucks (the national currency of Trumpsylvania… An imaginary country in his head where he keeps his permanent residence), sell some steaks. Bring back Trump University. Fuck the Republican party. Throw a drama queen hissy fit at the convention and perhaps spark some violent overthow of the party or some shit.
When it gets too weird, that dude will bail. If he starts to lose, that dude will bail.
I don’t believe he believes a word he says, and that’s just because he knows it’s not important.
But I bet you Trump hates the Republican party more than any of us at this point. And he will make them all very very sorry. And they will be in big trouble. For being a dick to him.
I’m sure he has big plans at this point to get some vile revenge no matter what the outcome.
If he leaves, he takes so many votes they lose. If he stays, he could lose to Hillary, or win. Either way… Looks like the elite repubs are out of 2016.
He’s got a long straw. And he drinking their milkshake.
To recap: Trump and his supporters may be happy to indulge in some really concerning racism, but really the driving force is reaction to a ruinous economic situation that has left so many of them poor and desperate. So I guess now we should stop comparing him to Hitler or something.
