3 ms·

Trump didn't win because some huge cohort of people thought he was the great white hope. He won because he was seen as a giant middle finger to the establishmen

Trump didn't win because some huge cohort of people thought he was the great white hope. He won because he was seen as a giant middle finger to the establishment. Trump didn't win, Clinton lost through complacency and arrogance. She and her team pissed off enough people to push them into voting against her and what she represented. Trump had a tiny base and made the Republicans go through 4 years of a schizoid identity crisis, where they had to pretend everything was normal. Trump's election was as much a disaster for them as for the democratic establishment, as it showed how absolutely superficial the politicians are. They are all as morally and ethically bankrupt as Trump, as compromised and corrupt. They're just better at playacting and presenting a palatable public facade. Trump didn't represent freedom, or draining the swamp, or anything else idealistic or abstract. Those are stories bolted on post-hoc as damage control. Trump was a giant "fuck you" to the political class from about 55 million Americans. The conditions that allowed him to gain office have gotten worse and more polarized, and it looks like all the wrong lessons were learned.

raxxorrax 5y ago
True, but that establishment was seen as catering to spite. Celebs and college grads making fun about how privileged flyover rednecks are and the establishment was seen catering to these people. They blamed the wrong people for their own predicaments, people that have no influence on the political situation at all. If you want to craft sensible policies, pointing the finger on people that cannot change course doesn't help. So who should people have voted for instead? People knew that Trump was a fraud perhaps, but it still seemed like the more sensible choice to many.
- robbedpeter 5y ago
  I think something at the level of a constitutional convention and a total overhaul of congress is needed - there not a single person currently in office that can be trusted not to perpetuate and magnify all the problems currently affecting the US. We're operating on a system designed for paper in a world run by computers. Every citizen is living under a vast array of legislation and rules that more or less negate the principles of American government. Privacy, and thus liberty, is crippled, and we lack a reasonable framework with which to deal with tech giants and massive corporations. Algorithmic herding biases people and reinforces polarization that can't be stopped without the intervention of government, but that avenue of repair is compromised. Trump was an inevitable failure mode brought about by the corruption of democratic ideals, and it may have been a signal that the America we thought we lived in is well and truly gone. The ability to iteratively self correct was the genius of American constitutional government, and that mechanism ranges from enabling local government up to collectively engaging in constitutional conventions. I think we've passed the point at which any lesser remedy can divert American society from becoming a technocratic oligarchy pretending at democracy. Meh. /rant
- quantified 5y ago
  Spite begets spite.

raxxorrax 5y ago

True, but that establishment was seen as catering to spite. Celebs and college grads making fun about how privileged flyover rednecks are and the establishment was seen catering to these people. They blamed the wrong people for their own predicaments, people that have no influence on the political situation at all. If you want to craft sensible policies, pointing the finger on people that cannot change course doesn't help. So who should people have voted for instead? People knew that Trump was a fraud perhaps, but it still seemed like the more sensible choice to many.

robbedpeter 5y ago
I think something at the level of a constitutional convention and a total overhaul of congress is needed - there not a single person currently in office that can be trusted not to perpetuate and magnify all the problems currently affecting the US. We're operating on a system designed for paper in a world run by computers. Every citizen is living under a vast array of legislation and rules that more or less negate the principles of American government. Privacy, and thus liberty, is crippled, and we lack a reasonable framework with which to deal with tech giants and massive corporations. Algorithmic herding biases people and reinforces polarization that can't be stopped without the intervention of government, but that avenue of repair is compromised. Trump was an inevitable failure mode brought about by the corruption of democratic ideals, and it may have been a signal that the America we thought we lived in is well and truly gone. The ability to iteratively self correct was the genius of American constitutional government, and that mechanism ranges from enabling local government up to collectively engaging in constitutional conventions. I think we've passed the point at which any lesser remedy can divert American society from becoming a technocratic oligarchy pretending at democracy. Meh. /rant
quantified 5y ago
Spite begets spite.