No closer to comprehending support for Donald Trump
Let’s call them Brad and Linda. I met them a little while back, found them generally likeable people, some good jokes, some less-lovely behaviors, but we got along. They live in Texas, have a daughter, and are retired. Then something fascinating. I learned that they are Trump supporters. I was delighted.
What about you, Tongue Cat? Do you understand?
A couple weeks ago I blogged about the hope Trump gives me, and only after I posted it did I think to check my facebook friend count to see if anyone wouldn’t read it before un-friending me. Because the fact is I don’t really know anyone who supports the global political clusterfuck of idiocy that is Donald Trump.
I see them on TV. They’re…well…they’re idiots. A profoundly dangerous tide of anti-intellectualism has been growing in America for years, but Trump? He’s a whole new low. Just…stunning. A level of idiocy, immorality, and statements so preposterously infeasible and irresponsible that they damage the standing of the US every time they’re repeated.
So how on earth can a third of Americans support him? I am utterly baffled. But here, in Brad and Linda, was my chance to find out. Because Brad and Linda, for all their peculiarities, clearly had brains in their heads. They had a fundamental level of intelligence that I expected to preclude support for the walking imbecility of Trump. I stocked up on patient observation to figure it out.
It took awhile. The first clue came when they suggested that Trump disclose who he’d put in his cabinet. “For example he could put The Black Guy in charge of medicine.” I wasn’t sure who they meant until they remembered The Black Guy’s name. “Carson, Ben Carson.”
Relic of Sri Lanka’s past, or glimpse of America’s future?
The Black Guy? That seemed odd. Nevermind the idea of having an Attorney General with peculiar opinions about pyramids.
But better understanding was close behind, in a story they told about their daughter. “Well, we found out she was dating some guy, you know, with a funny last name. So we put a stop to that of course.” I didn’t ask which ethnicity that funny last name belonged to. Didn’t matter.
It wasn’t that they thought Trump’s policies were strategically sound. Or that they figured a terrible businessman with a track record of fundamentally un-American values and actions would be a good leader. And it wouldn’t matter if I pointed out the contradiction between the statements “I like him because he says what he means” and “I don’t worry about his crazy comments because he doesn’t really mean most of what he says.”
In Sri Lanka it’s laundry detergent. Here it’s apparently still a political platform.
They were just racist. How terribly disappointing.
Racism like theirs isn’t an opinion, or an ethos, or a belief structure. It’s just a moral failing. A default of the intellect and human spirit in favor of small-mindedness and a refusal to address actual problems.
And as I watch Trump “talk to black voters” in a way that is clearly NOT talking to black voters, but a bullshite attempt to convince white voters that he’s not a racist (click here), it’s just so…sad. Maddening. Vile. And still televised.
So in the end, I am no closer to understanding how anyone with a brain could possibly support Donald Trump. If you know the answer, please let me know.
I can give you an answer. Trump’s 70. I’m 62. We both remember quite clearly there used to be a time when our white privilege wasn’t questioned without dire risk on the part of the questioner. That’s when (to him) America used to be “great”, when we (as a nation) also had the most money, on top of our “best military”, most robust middle class, best healthcare, and making things all the other countries wanted to buy. Most of the “bests” have long gravitated to other nations, while we have improved (though not eradicated) our formerly odious levels of racism, violent crime and cultural conformity demands.
It’s just nostalgia for an America that never existed. We always had problems. Every country has problems. But we used to be focused on different problems than we are now.
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Excellent, thank you. I think you’re right, it’s nostalgia for an America that never existed. And I can understand the appeal of a notion that we used to have (and should have again) legendary wealth, international status, and civil society. The problem for me is that not only are Trump’s ideas about our past levels of those all inaccurate, but he himself would make every single one of them worse.
The markets just hit their all-time high, as they’ve been routinely doing for years/decades, but the strangling of the middle class and wealth inequality are among the top problems in the country…and an exploitative billionaire whose plans boil down to more tax cuts for the wealthy is the worst way we could respond to that problem. How do his supporters not see that? Shouldn’t someone tell them?
And America did have better international standing after WWII than it did after the Vietnam and Iraq wars of imperialism, but every time Trump is televised saying immoral (inciting violence/espionage/assassination against any who disagree with him), illegal (throwing away international codes of conduct, for example killing families of militants), and idiotic (this wall thing is beyond stupid) things, that does more damage to America’s standing than any email “scandal.” This might matter less to his supporters, since I doubt many of them could find Mexico on a map, much less care how that country or any other see us, despite our dependence on their markets and trade.
Oy, I/we could keep going, but you didn’t ask for another rant. (sheepish look)
Nostalgia is a dangerous disorder, especially when detached from facts. Yes, in some ways we used to be better. I grew up in an age where we weren’t told to live in fear all the time. Who’s the worst voice of “be afraid!!! THEY are coming to get you!”? Trumpolino. I grew up in an age where we respected intelligence, and who’s the most unintelligent voice in politics? Well, that one’s hotly contested, but Trump’s jubilant disregard for facts or truth do rather stand out.
Right, I was going to avoid ranting. Breathe deep. Drink some tea.
Thank you for your comment. I agree, and I’ll vote for you over Trump any day.
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Sorry, but no help from me. I’m baffled too.
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It just doesn’t add up. But I think that’s because you and I are among those who believe in addition.
I think Invisible Mikey’s got the right idea. It’s nostalgia for something that never existed, and if they refuse to use their brains, then they don’t have to see that the thing they’re supporting would only make all the things they complain about that much worse.
I can’t believe he actually has a chance at winning. I just don’t believe it.
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I think you largely answered your own question.
And I quote: “They [are] just racist.”
Doesn’t explain all of it, but it certainly explains part of it.
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I think you’re right. Wait, which means I’m right. Oops. Didn’t mean to pat myself on the back, there.
Moving on, I think the presence and viciousness of racism in America can be dangerously easy to ignore/deny. So maybe I should add to my list of hopes for Trump’s candidacy the idea that he might bring its continued contamination in our nation into focus. At least for some, and I’ll take those baby steps forward over going backward.
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The operative question–at least IMO–is how this is playing out in the age demographic. That is, are younger people expressing attitudes that significantly differ from older people? Preliminary evidence indicates that the answer is “yes” and that, largely speaking, is what gives me hope.
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Good point. More hope! I heard a piece on NPR yesterday interviewing Colorado voters, and indeed, the older folks they talked to were well-anchored in their team affiliation, whereas the younger folk did seem more able to examine the actual candidacies.
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My previous comment was pretty long, but I would like to add that to me this is an exciting opportunity to publicly repudiate an actual fascist with our vote, and I’m really looking forward to it! We haven’t had this kind of chance for a mass act of civic morality since my father fought in WW2, and no one is likely to shoot at us for it, though with the presence of Trump’s “election observers”there to intimidate minority voters, one can’t be entirely sure.
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Excellent point.
Every time I hear about a swing state going towards Hilary I see it as confirmation in our shared humanity, indeed a repudiation of Trump’s fascism as you say. I fly back to work as a tour guide in about an hour, and now that when we reach Italy and Mussolini, the Trump parallels will again jump out at all of us.
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I am not from the United States, so maybe this is none of my business, and I do not generally support politicians at all (though recently there have been some exceptions to this) as I am generally anarchist-leaning in my politics. Right now, however, the world is approaching Peak Crazy, and a part of that Peak Crazy is that someone like me now wants Trump to win the election.
How so?
He is ugly, vile, racist, horrible, a liar, a misogynist and all of the other things you have said about him. But, this is so clear and obvious. Trump is what it says on the tin. Hilary Clinton, however, is another level of evil. People actually like her and believe her to be a good person. Wake up please America, before it’s too late! Have you seen the latest Wikileaks reports coming out about Clinton? No? Then maybe question why such enormous scandal on such a huge scale is almost completely absent from the news in both the UK and USA.
http://theantimedia.org/wikileaks-drops-hillary-email-bomb-that-could-end-her-campaign-but-fb-censored-it/
http://linkis.com/wikileaks.org/clinto/j35YT
https://wikileaks.org/hillary-war/
etc…
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Thank you for the input! I do have to question the idea that someone who is definitely utterly vile is better than someone who might be. Seems a bit like lighting fire to your house because there’s a chance it might happen anyway.
As for the wikileaks stuff about Clinton, it’s to be all over the media I listen to (though that does not include CNN so I can’t say what those buffoons are up to). As are occasional pieces that explore why everyone loves to hate Hillary, and the opinion that she’s somehow dishonest is taken as fact even though by all objective measures she’s among the most truthful politicians we have. I agree with the conclusion of this one:
https://thepolicy.us/thinking-about-hillary-a-plea-for-reason-308fce6d187c#.nhu1td17e
I would love to only vote for candidates who really thrill me. But that’s not what an election is about. An election is about choosing the candidate who’s best for the country. The rest of the time is about pushing for better politicians. But we (Americans at least) don’t want to actually do that work, we expect that our minimalist statement of A-or-B will somehow fix everything, despite clear evidence that the two party system, gerrymandering, and rampant corporate purchasing of officials show that this will never actually happen.
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I don’t have time to read the whole comment thread, so forgive me if I repeat someone. The reason, I think, that people can vote for Trump is that critical thinking is discouraged in American public schools. More precisely, it’s discouraged in Texas public schools, and Texas is one of the biggest markets for school textbooks, so the publishers cater to their wishes and–in history books, for instance–nothing is even brought up that could be discussed from two sides (which also makes history incredibly boring and irrelevant). If you don’t believe it, read Lies My Teacher Told Me. The Texas Republican platform specifically states that they are against teaching students critical thinking, because they might then question their parents’ beliefs. This is also the problem of having parent boards.
Nobody is born racist, as the Facebook meme says, but kids get it from their parents. And the schools don’t correct it. Other people don’t, because it’s impolite in America to bring up this kind of thing, because it’s considered “talking politics”. All anyone can do is keep on pointing out the vileness that is Trump, and racism and bigotry in general, and how to recognize it, and why it’s a fallacy, and hope that it gets through to some people.
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You’re absolutely right, that is a terrifying thing and does make sense as part of the elaborate apparatus necessary to make a monster like Trump even remotely plausible on the national stage. I think he appeals to the audience that consciously rejects intelligence, that doesn’t want to listen to any explanation or argument for anything, just wants to say a slogan and go back to angry sleep.
I feel like we as a species are on a continuous march towards progressiveism, since to do otherwise is to stay and die, or at least continue perpetrating medieval ignorance and cruelty, but the concrete intransigence of large portions of this country are baffling and worrying. An “education” system designed to reproduce conformity goes a long (tragic) way towards explaining how that is happening.
You raise excellent points. Troubling points. Almost enough to make me want to recite some angry slogan and go back to sleep. 😉 Almost.
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It reminds me of what happened where I live (Italy), where a man (who had a lot in common with the person you’re talking about) ran the country for twenty years and, if you asked, apparently no one had voted for him.
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Good old Berlusconi. I almost miss him. He made me feel better about us “electing” George Bush twice.
I seek to understand Berlusconi’s popularity through two factors: 1: Fa bella figura. He may have been corrupt and vile, but he dressed well and had “style.”
2: Italians expect their politicians to be corrupt. They have a “they’re going to be corrupt anyway” attitude, so they might as well have someone who satisfies at #1.
In the US we used to be more like the Germans, we used to expect government to function, so it did. We’re getting increasingly like the Italians, so cynical that it allows our “leaders” to sink to that level. Case in point: congress.
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You couldn’t depict the situation more clearly than you did. It is so true, that we have now a “left wing” imitation of what he was. And (as if it wasn’t a shame itself), we didn’t even vote for this one! Italians just don’t care; and, don’t go to vote anymore. Which I really hope you will all do in US! The world is already a mess the way it is. Thanks for the talk. I’m happy to read there are still “thinking” people populating the world.
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