OK, I WAS going to give my (largely uninformed) opinion of
the US Election from the perspective of someone with no ‘skin in the game’ and
from the other side of ‘the pond’. But then I thought that not only would I
simply annoy people, and not only those who voted for Trump, but I wouldn’t be
contributing anything particularly useful to any ongoing conversation (AKA
Flamewar).
So, I’ll just say a few things and then get to the point.
Naturally (from my own PoV) I’m pleased that Biden won and, more importantly,
Trump lost. However, that needs to be tempered by the fact that over 70 MILLION
people voted for Trump even after experiencing FOUR YEARS of his ‘administration’.
That alone is enough to ponder….. What the 2020 result also clearly shows is
that Trumps election in 2016 was not a ‘fluke’ and that ‘Trumpism’ will not end
in January 2021. From my, admittedly scant, understanding of US political
history the brief Trump Presidency is far from unique. ‘Trumpism’ (which
actually has nothing to do with Trump) goes back to at least the 1960’s and
probably back to the 1860’s if not all the way back to the Foundation.
As with anything I don’t understand – I so HATE to be
confounded by things – I am naturally driven to investigate further. I already
have an inkling as to why Trump was and is so popular. I’ll see if I can flesh
that out a bit in the next four years of the Biden administration. I might also
read up a bit on *actual* Socialism to give my American readership something to
muse on.
There’s definitely going to be interesting times ahead for
my American friends. It’s most definitely NOT going to be easy. Still, those
who wanted this outcome should celebrate for a little while. But keep in mind
that there’s a LOT of work to do if you don’t want another Republican and
another Trumpist in power in 2024. Looking on the bright side, like I always
do, I suspect that a convicted felon can’t stand for President… so there is
that……
Labels
In other completely unrelated news I’ve been label thinking
again in preparation for future reading themes. So I’ve added ‘Oceans’ and ‘Poles
Apart’ – not on American political divides but the actual North & South Poles.
Both are naturally rather sparsely populated so far but that’ll change.
9 comments:
lol re the last sentence! stupidity has been rampant in America ever since they threw the tea into the harbor; i mean, why didn't they just steal it and drink it? the other elefant in la sala is reagan: he started the damage and subsequent repubs just added to it; i don't think there's ever been a gop administration that didn't do major damage to the country... one can only sigh at the apparently genetic lunacy of humans...
Reading will not help. That is the perennial mistake of the academy, dealing with the world in the abstract. If you want to know why people hold on to a man despite being spit at for it, ask them. Granted, that's hard to do from the UK -- Mr. Waffles in small-town Tennessee or wherever Trump people gather aren't exactly across the street for you, and those who frequent web forums or places like reddit are atypical, more prone to frame their convictions in terms of an ideology. Most Trump-voters I know (and being from Alabama I know a lot of them) don't approach politics with some system of ideas in their head. They have a few moral convictions, strong opinions on crime, that sort of thing. Just like most people, including their electoral rivals who vote for Democrats as consistently as they do for Republicans, many of their ideas are contradictory. They don't like taxes but they want the government to Do Something; they complain about pork in bills but believe local politicians should bring federal investment back to local areas, that sort of thing.
The appeal of Trump is not his organization (nonexistant), his flair for oratory (I don't know what word that is but I make the best speeches, they're the best, millions of people have told me), his policy ideas, etc. It is the conviction that he's on "our" side. Think of Jimmy Hoffa: a crook and a murderer a hundred times over, but he stood in the ring and he fought for the working man. He stood toe to toe with Bobby Kennedy and spit in the very face of patricians. To the Trump voter, that's Trump. They see failed factories and struggling small businesses, and Trump tells them he'll set fire to regulations that bind them and close the doors that let all the jobs go away. They're continually told to feel ashamed of their ancestors, of all the people in the history books they admired as kids, from Columbus to Robert E Lee, and Trump tells them ignore that bullshit, Columbus was courageous and Lee honorable, and we can be courageous and honorable too. It doesn't matter that Trump isn't brave or honorable himself: he gives people a reason to believe in the future again. FDR did it, Reagan did it, Obama did it. Regardless of how smug and cynical the academy likes to be, people want and need to believe.
You asked. ;-)
(And for the record, I haven't voted for the two parties since 2004 and I never will again. DC is dead to me and has been for years.)
If you do insist on reading, I'd reccommend The American Conservative, which I started reading as a progressive who was interested in finding connection points between my own beliefs and theirs -- in TAC's case, foreign policy and urbanism. It is the opposite of ideological, the opposite of National Review and salon/huffpo/etc.
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/
@ Mudpuddle: People are indeed *strange* creatures!
@ Stephen: Whenever I come across something I don't understand my natural tendency is to go to books. I had more in mind the history of why America is how it is - plus culture & stuff, rather than ideology per se. We'll see how I get on. I think its *very* difficult to actually understand another culture - even one with so much in common. There's so much you just pick up on living/growing up somewhere that you can never really appreciate from reading about it. I could sit down and speak to family Waffles and I might get *something* from it but I'm guessing that our experiences would be SO different that a LOT would be lost in translation. I don't think it'd be a lost cause but it'd be a hard one!
I've heard that a good reason why people like Trump so much is that he makes them feel good about themselves and, more importantly, doesn't make them feel bad about their lives or their history. The 'Left' (I put that in commas because your Left is nothing like our Left!) tends to make you feel bad about everything from the environment to your History/heroes.
I find it VERY difficult to vote for any of the major parties. Over the years I've voted for just about all of them except the far Left or Far right (you do see them on the ballot from time to time). I've voted Tory, Labour, Liberal, Independent, Green... But over the years most of them have managed to piss me off enough that I find I can't vote for them any more!
I very much agree with Stephen, it isn't something that can truly be understood through reading and that was the huge mistake in 2016 by all the pollsters and journalists who thought they knew everything. I am horrified that an additional 7 million people thought trump did such a fantastic job that he deserved another go at it. Biden was never my candidate but just like in 2016, I wasn't voting FOR him, I was voting AGAINST trump. (also, voting for Kamala. I still can't believe we have a female VP. It's amazing.)
i understand all the above, but i was raised to think that people have a duty to educate themselves, regardless of their social position and it makes me mad that so many don't do that... and i don't understand it; learning things is one of the best things about being human...
@ Sarah: I must admit that I was ASTONISHED that over 70 million people wanted 4 more years of what Trump has 'delivered' - essentially nothing but chaos & division. That's one of the things that I'm trying to get my head around about your STRANGE country! [lol]
Although I would've voted for Biden if I'd been able to I still think he's just too old. We need younger blood to cope with the future we have rushing at us. Hopefully he'll pick a young team to lead the US deeper into the 21st century.
@ Mudpuddle: Yes, I mean what's all that about... NOT learning new stuff? Its what I LIVE for! [grin]
Being a woman who believes with zeal in reading, I think much can be learned about any country's politics by reading, fiction and nonfiction. Of all the systems we have in America, politics is the most ridiculous in terms of results. The pendulum always swings back and forth and without huge donors no one would get elected. Governing is a hard, hard job and I am with Plato on the value of having literate and informed leaders. That is hardly ever what we get though. I admire some people who show up to be leaders but the system is so full of faults, in every country I have read about, that they always end up tainted. Perhaps there are no answers. We just muddle through.
Thank you for posting your views though!
@ Judy: Agreed, if we're going to have leaders then make them *good* leaders.... [grin] We definitely haven't come up with any close to perfect system yet! Everywhere you look there's room for improvement - and usually lots of room. Part of the story is an educated and well informed electorate and another part is competent leaders. If we ever get both (at the same time!) we'll have move a long way forward. At least we can read about them in fiction though! [lol]
I was actually thinking about your various reading projects - Presidents and Best Sellers - as a way of learning about the 'soul' of a country. It's an interesting/useful way of looking at it. Looking from the outside as I am (at least at the US situation) I was thinking of approaching it as a cultural anthropologist.... [grin] with a good bit of history thrown in.
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