We parents tell our children that when you know you’ve lost an argument or a race, the right thing to do is to be a good sport and to “get ’em next time.” But if there is no next time, or you know that every next time you are going to be in the loser’s lane again, what’s the use of being a good sport? It would make you look even more ignorant, and more like a loser, to pretend like you think you have a chance. The game has been rigged against you. Why not piss on the field before you storm off? Why not stick up your finger at the whole goddamned game?
Now, have a watch of this :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcq4THTBXBY
In short, the American dream that rugged individualism can get you anywhere is a crock. Like it or not, we're all in this together. The British get told from day one that you can't do everything, and learn to live with it. The Americans are constantly told they can, and so when they fail it must be their fault. Consequently... anger.
That's a crude analysis, obviously.
Understood in those terms, the idea that Trumpism is “populist” seems misplaced. Populism is a belief in the right of ordinary people, rather than political insiders, to rule. Trumpism, by contrast, operates on the presumption that ordinary people aren’t going to get any chance to rule no matter what they do, so they might as well piss off the political insiders using the only tool left available to them: the vote.
[As noted in the comments, I was briefly persuaded by this - it's a compelling narrative, after all. But the demographic statistics of Trump voters simply don't support it. Such feelings might have played a role in the crucial states in securing electoral victory, but they certainly don't explain the majority of Trump voters. Something much more complex is going on.]
https://www.thenation.com/article/this-political-theorist-predicted-the-rise-of-trumpism-his-name-was-hunter-s-thompson/
I know a surprising number of educated Brits who fall outside this analysis - and they insist Trump is doing a good job (amazingly). There does tend to be a Brexit-supporting link too.
ReplyDeleteI don't think we know yet any tiny bit of what "Trumpism" is. Even Trump never expected to win. There was definitely a revolt against the overtly corrupt establishment, but that's been a constant force for decades. "Their" media has handled that noise with ease. How Trump of all figures could beat Clinton is a bigger story, there is more to know about what consortium could challenge the Neo-lib-con trans-national monopoly. He is still alive and acting, it implies a very big force beyond any constituency.
ReplyDeleteYeah, on reflection I don't think this is a helpful narrative. The statistics - which I was aware of but forgot about - just don't tie in with a group of people "left behind" at all :
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-37943072
I forgot that too, the education stat in particular is fascinating.
ReplyDeleteSo in positing a 'consortium', the only force I can imagine would be the non-aligned nations, China and Russia at the fore. Libya had to be a red flag for them all and then Ukraine a Rubicon?
But this implies a rebel alliance in the USG backing Trump, I don't see that, but he is nonetheless standing.
Dunno if there's any kind of coordinated effort at work here or not. Oh, certainly there's been fake news put about, Russian meddling etc., but whether that amounts to anything significant I'm really undecided. Unless there was outright fraud in the sense of direct (or nearly so) control of votes, I'm not convinced persuasion tactics - even sophisticated ones - could cause a really large chunk of people to believe that whotsit Hitler is a sensible choice. A few, sure, maybe even enough to tip the balance in a close contest. But surely not tens of percent of the voters.
ReplyDeleteSee, my problem is how anyone could ever spend more than about 10 minutes listening to Trump without concluding that he's a massive dick. That education didn't seem to play much of a role in the voting demographic makes things even worse. It would be fascinating to see a more detailed breakdown of college education, and even more interesting to hear the reasons the supposedly most educated subset give for their choice.
Agree completely on significant election manipulation, it's not possible in our 50 state system, even from the inside.
ReplyDeleteIt is very incongruous; education-and-Trump voter, but one anecdote I can offer is that I myself was elated that Clinton lost, despite the cringeworthy character of Trump. I voted for neither, but the spectre of another round of Neocon bloodfeast was mortifying. And their monopoly being cracked was a miracle.
So much is wrong on many levels, he hit many hot buttons on his campaign. I think education may make one more keen to the possibilities he offered. Anything different is potentially an improvement over a known losing proposition. Perhaps Trump was a protest vote that got wings.
I'm in a place where there are a lot of Trump voters. They are currently paying exactly zero attention to the news and are carrying on precisely as they did prior to the election. Hillary jokes seem quite the thing. Pissing off libs (ie me) is fun for them. But they are vehement about one thing. Voting for Trump was not a mistake. It's a sort of political nihilism they are not sorry about.
ReplyDeleteThe soft spot is local politics where their Tea Party candidates are fucking up everything and they're sore about it.
Was Trump a mistake? I see a mixed bag, like every president. I'm a diehard socialist (anarcho-syndicalist to be more precise) and fighting the Neocon war agenda to me is about as important as it gets.
ReplyDeleteThe Empire is passing its zenith and it can either reset peacefully or with guns a'blazin. Imagine a world not dictated to by a small group of sociopaths (or more realistically, a less lethal group of sociopaths) A functional UN, a balance of power...Trump deserves a Nobel if he lives to pull that off.