Optimism regarding the Trump candidacy might sound a little like telling a lazy dad in Miami to be happy about global warming--You'll never have to take your son to the park and miss Sunday afternoon football again! Rejoice! Soon Timmy will be able to float his paper boats in the three-foot deep lake that once was your basement!
Two reasons to be optimistic about the Trump phenomenon? Have I gone plumb Trumpo? No. I do not deny that there is an enormous elephantine storm cloud hanging over our heads. I do, however, claim that I have possibly seen a tiny silver lining around it. Did I need binoculars to see it? Yes. Might it still be an illusion? Yes. Nevertheless, I see it. And I do think it is real.
First Reason to be Optimistic: The Republican Party Might Never Be The Same
The very fact that Trump was nominated by the Republican Party to run for president of the United States is the result of a (largely working-class) white rebellion. Working-class whites were, and are, furious. They are realizing at last that Republicans really don't care much about them after all. As every objective person realizes, the primary base of the GOP is the wealthy and powerful. The problem for the Republicans, however, is that the elites are in the minority. They need the white working-class vote--and the white vote in general--to get elected. So they make false promises. So they play the "race card", So they tell the gullible that cutting taxes for the wealthy is a great way to create jobs, which it obviously isn't.
One of the greatest objections I have to the current Republican Party is its us-against-them mentality. The them in this case is the vast majority of the population which would benefit, as a whole, from such things as the raising of the minimum wage, a New Deal-like job creation program to restore our dangerously neglected infrastructure, making college less expensive for those who can't afford it, raising taxes on the very wealthy, etc.
The establishment's candidate for the nomination was the run-of-the-mill Republican, Jeb Bush. He would best be able, so the elites imagined, to ingratiate himself with working-class whites, smiling while he runs them through the mill, while nearly all profits go to the owners of the mill.
This year poorer whites weren't willing to be grist for the mill. Their wages have been declining since the 1970s, while the elites have gotten the lion's share of the meat. Working-class whites aren't satisfied with slim pickings any more. They are furious. And who is Fury's (and perhaps the Furies' as well) candidate?
I've only heard two prominent people clearly state that the white-working class has a right to be angry. One was Bernie Sanders, the other one was Professor Cornel West, a prominent African-American. The white working poor have been beaten by the hands the owners of which claim that they were trying to pat them on the back.
The problem is that white non-elites are angry for the wrong reasons--this is why the Trumpcloud's silver lining is so thin. Minorities are to blame! Immigrants are to blame! President Obama (--who actually has their backs--) is beating each one of us over the head!
Getting these whites to get beyond hatred, racism, and ignorance; getting them to realize which candidates will more likely be able to help them get out of the mess that they're in--won't be easy. They don't show any signs of realizing en masse that the dreadful inequalities of this county will tend to be ameliorated by Democrats and exacerbated by Republicans. Maybe that realization will come some day--but it's apparently not coming any time soon.
But there is a silver lining--working class whites have finally realized that they've been used. The Republican Party might have to change or suffer a severe fragmentation. Perhaps they will not be able to nominate wolves in sheep's clothing like Romney or Jeb Bush any more. And that's a good thing.
Second Reason to be Optimistic: Increasing Diversity of the Population
Germany, January, 1933. The Nazis receive 43.9% of the vote--Despite failing to achieve a majority, the Nazis receive more votes than any other party. The senile Hindenburg appoints Hitler Chancellor. The darkest period of modern history begins.
The German economy had been reeling from a severe depression for years. Violence was common. The working class was seething. The most ignorant section of the working class, called Lumpenproletariat in German, gave Hitler his most ardent support.
Germany was at that time ethnically homogeneous. Hitler's supporters were just about 100% white and Christian.
Let us imagine another scenario. What if Germany's population at the time had been 30%, instead of less than 1%, Jewish, and, say, 10% Romany? Despite the stresses of economic depression, no Jew or Gypsy in his or her right mind would have voted for Hitler, who spent a good deal of his time spouting venomous hatred against them. The Nazis would obtain a much lower percentage of the votes, perhaps around 30% or even less. They would not have been able to seize power. Germany--and the world--would have quite possibly been spared that horror of horrors, World War II, and the black hole at the center of that galactic horror, the Holocaust. Their minority population would have saved them.
Today in the United States minorities may well save us. The latest polls indicate that Trump will receive only one percent of the African American vote, and much less than a majority of Hispanic votes. Without the help of minorities, an incompetent, hateful, delusional narcissist might soon be our president.
A Conclusion...
The possibility that the Republican Party will actually begin to listen to the majority of their supporters; the possibility that the acid of working-class venom will be sufficiently buffered by antacids in the form of minority opposition--Two silver linings indeed!
And a Brief Afterword
Hitler was shrewd; he remained focused on his nefarious goals. Trump just wants applause, and apparently will say anything to get it. Too bad for him that he lies like a raging stormtrooper instead of just lying like a trooper à la Paul Ryan. Trump, the extremely impolitic pseudo--politician, continues to alienate--At the time of this writing, thank Goodness, his support is waning. Maybe, just maybe, that dark cloud over our heads will blow away. Maybe the light of rationality will return to American skies. Maybe the white working class will stop voting against themselves.
One can only hope. And vote.
Two reasons to be optimistic about the Trump phenomenon? Have I gone plumb Trumpo? No. I do not deny that there is an enormous elephantine storm cloud hanging over our heads. I do, however, claim that I have possibly seen a tiny silver lining around it. Did I need binoculars to see it? Yes. Might it still be an illusion? Yes. Nevertheless, I see it. And I do think it is real.
First Reason to be Optimistic: The Republican Party Might Never Be The Same
The very fact that Trump was nominated by the Republican Party to run for president of the United States is the result of a (largely working-class) white rebellion. Working-class whites were, and are, furious. They are realizing at last that Republicans really don't care much about them after all. As every objective person realizes, the primary base of the GOP is the wealthy and powerful. The problem for the Republicans, however, is that the elites are in the minority. They need the white working-class vote--and the white vote in general--to get elected. So they make false promises. So they play the "race card", So they tell the gullible that cutting taxes for the wealthy is a great way to create jobs, which it obviously isn't.
One of the greatest objections I have to the current Republican Party is its us-against-them mentality. The them in this case is the vast majority of the population which would benefit, as a whole, from such things as the raising of the minimum wage, a New Deal-like job creation program to restore our dangerously neglected infrastructure, making college less expensive for those who can't afford it, raising taxes on the very wealthy, etc.
The establishment's candidate for the nomination was the run-of-the-mill Republican, Jeb Bush. He would best be able, so the elites imagined, to ingratiate himself with working-class whites, smiling while he runs them through the mill, while nearly all profits go to the owners of the mill.
This year poorer whites weren't willing to be grist for the mill. Their wages have been declining since the 1970s, while the elites have gotten the lion's share of the meat. Working-class whites aren't satisfied with slim pickings any more. They are furious. And who is Fury's (and perhaps the Furies' as well) candidate?
I've only heard two prominent people clearly state that the white-working class has a right to be angry. One was Bernie Sanders, the other one was Professor Cornel West, a prominent African-American. The white working poor have been beaten by the hands the owners of which claim that they were trying to pat them on the back.
The problem is that white non-elites are angry for the wrong reasons--this is why the Trumpcloud's silver lining is so thin. Minorities are to blame! Immigrants are to blame! President Obama (--who actually has their backs--) is beating each one of us over the head!
Getting these whites to get beyond hatred, racism, and ignorance; getting them to realize which candidates will more likely be able to help them get out of the mess that they're in--won't be easy. They don't show any signs of realizing en masse that the dreadful inequalities of this county will tend to be ameliorated by Democrats and exacerbated by Republicans. Maybe that realization will come some day--but it's apparently not coming any time soon.
But there is a silver lining--working class whites have finally realized that they've been used. The Republican Party might have to change or suffer a severe fragmentation. Perhaps they will not be able to nominate wolves in sheep's clothing like Romney or Jeb Bush any more. And that's a good thing.
Second Reason to be Optimistic: Increasing Diversity of the Population
Germany, January, 1933. The Nazis receive 43.9% of the vote--Despite failing to achieve a majority, the Nazis receive more votes than any other party. The senile Hindenburg appoints Hitler Chancellor. The darkest period of modern history begins.
The German economy had been reeling from a severe depression for years. Violence was common. The working class was seething. The most ignorant section of the working class, called Lumpenproletariat in German, gave Hitler his most ardent support.
Germany was at that time ethnically homogeneous. Hitler's supporters were just about 100% white and Christian.
Let us imagine another scenario. What if Germany's population at the time had been 30%, instead of less than 1%, Jewish, and, say, 10% Romany? Despite the stresses of economic depression, no Jew or Gypsy in his or her right mind would have voted for Hitler, who spent a good deal of his time spouting venomous hatred against them. The Nazis would obtain a much lower percentage of the votes, perhaps around 30% or even less. They would not have been able to seize power. Germany--and the world--would have quite possibly been spared that horror of horrors, World War II, and the black hole at the center of that galactic horror, the Holocaust. Their minority population would have saved them.
Today in the United States minorities may well save us. The latest polls indicate that Trump will receive only one percent of the African American vote, and much less than a majority of Hispanic votes. Without the help of minorities, an incompetent, hateful, delusional narcissist might soon be our president.
A Conclusion...
The possibility that the Republican Party will actually begin to listen to the majority of their supporters; the possibility that the acid of working-class venom will be sufficiently buffered by antacids in the form of minority opposition--Two silver linings indeed!
And a Brief Afterword
Hitler was shrewd; he remained focused on his nefarious goals. Trump just wants applause, and apparently will say anything to get it. Too bad for him that he lies like a raging stormtrooper instead of just lying like a trooper à la Paul Ryan. Trump, the extremely impolitic pseudo--politician, continues to alienate--At the time of this writing, thank Goodness, his support is waning. Maybe, just maybe, that dark cloud over our heads will blow away. Maybe the light of rationality will return to American skies. Maybe the white working class will stop voting against themselves.
One can only hope. And vote.
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