Guest post: The things that struck a chord
Originally a comment by iknklast on Zero more years.
In 2016, his bitter account of the nation’s ailments struck a chord with many voters
This is one of the things that annoys me. Always saying this, without noting that the ailments he described were not in many cases ailments, but signs of a country that has people that are diverse and many of them have sentiments more in line with the modern world than with the one Trump voters long for. It’s time to quit playing this game of saying things in a way that sounds like he was describing legitimate bad things, things most of us could agree are bad, but which Trump didn’t solve.
The things that “struck a chord with many voters” include racism, misogyny, homophobia, nastiness, name calling, contempt for the disabled, contempt for everyone who is not them. As long as we keep pussyfooting around these realities, we legitimize them. Trump is not the cause of these things, he is the result of these things. His voters got what they wanted…a mindless buffoon who breaks things. A racist who works to dismantle protections for minorities. A misogynist who thinks grabbing unwilling women is just fine, and something to brag about.
I imagine the NY Times doesn’t like to think about the implications. If this is what 40% of the voters want, what does that say about this country? About our neighbors? Our families? So they act like it is all because Trump didn’t live up to what the voters wanted, rather than admitting that the voters elected the Trump they got.
Just talk to his supporters and you’ll see. They are not in the slightest bit disappointed in what they got.
Exactly. As I keep saying, there’s a non-trivial difference between:
1) being angry at/disillusioned with the system for being too unequal and unjust, too racist and sexist and homophobic, too corrupt, too undemocratic, too rigged in favor of white people in rural areas, too tailored to the interests of billionaires and corporations, too unsustainable etc. etc.
2) being angry at/disillusioned with the system for not being unequal and unjust enough, not racist and sexist and homophobic enough, not corrupt and undemocratic enough, not sufficiently rigged in favor of white people in rural areas, not sufficiently tailored to the interests of billionaires and corporations, not unsustainable enough etc. etc.
In the case of Trump supporters we can safely rule out anything but the latter kind of anger and disillusionment. There’s nothing particularly admirable about wanting “change” if the change is for the worse, and there are no sympathy points for being disillusioned with the system if what you want to put in its place is more of everything that’s wrong with the status quo, only multiplied by a million. The only “legitimate grievances” involved in this case are the ones against these assholes.