I have been ruminating lately about the state of politics in
this nation. I think we are all in agreement that a sea change has occurred in
our political system and we are now entering a new political system that cannot
be compared to anything else that has happened in our entire history and
therefore we are flying blind!
Technology has changed so many things in our lives and
continues to effect those changes at a rapid pace with many of us having no
idea how tomorrow will look or how our lives will be in the very near future.
Technology has changed politics. Politicians no longer need
to spend millions on promoting themselves and their message; they can now do
that instantly, cheaply and continuously and they don’t need a huge party apparatus
backing their efforts. The money they do need they can collect on-line quickly
from millions of supporters contributing a few dollars at a time; it adds up fast.
What this does is enable individuals to propel themselves
into the public eye without the support or even blessing of party leaders or of
party money thus, in essence, diminishing the power of political parties.
We are still scratching our heads about how a non-politician
with no real party affiliation or history, managed to become the Republican
candidate for president of the United States.
Donald Trump does not give a shit about religion but is
backed by fundamentalists. He is pro-choice and anti-free trade and calls
himself a Republican. Most top Republicans do not support him or even attended
the Republican convention…WTF?
In 2016 we have, for all intents and purposes, two democrats
running for the same office; there are not many differences between their views
except one is using a “the sky is falling because the government is not working”
approach and the other “let’s keep the progress we have made so far going”.
It is interesting that neither candidate is attacking the
do-nothing Congress. The old Republicans have been beaten up by new Tea Party
Republicans into a solid obstructionist model that prohibits anything
meaningful in Congress to move forward. Trump is running as a “Republican” so
he cannot justify attacking his own party. Hillary on the other hand should
attack the Republican led Congress but has not so far.
The attacks from both candidates have not been party vs
party but candidate vs candidate; Trump vs Hillary and not Democrats vs
Republicans.
The American electorate is also strangely divided and not by
party affiliation or preference but by perceptions as to what each candidate
stands for and promises to do. It is hard to know what Trump stands for since
he changes his mind so frequently but his followers love his one-liners,
promising in the most general and vague terms, to make them happy by making
America great again…whatever that means.
It boils down to the fact that Trump presents America as
deeply flawed and in desperate need of his leadership while Hillary says
America is already great and she will keep that greatness going.
Trump followers are described by the media as angry white,
uneducated or under educated white men. These men feel unloved and unappreciated
and basically forgotten as all the attention is going to minorities and
immigrants.
They want their manufacturing jobs back from Mexico and
China not realizing that those jobs no longer exist and cannot be brought back
and that new technology in automation has replaced the need for their manual
labor. Younger workers are developing the skills needed in this new economy but
the older guys are just stuck looking for the old economy that needed their
labor to somehow come back.
Obviously Trump cannot make good on his promises but his
followers do not believe that since his promises are all they have to rely on
to make the past come back again.
Trumps blatant xenophobia against Muslim and Mexicans has
hit their sweet spot, sadly reminiscent of Hitler’s use of Jews as scapegoats.
Again Trump cannot make good on his promise to stop Muslim and Mexican
immigrants from coming to this country as he also cannot deport them all as
well.
Populism by definition is pitting the common man against the
establishment; starting a revolution of sorts. Bernie Sanders used this
approach when he rallied his supporters against the Wall Street manipulators of
the economy who are creating unacceptable levels of poverty, hardship and
privation in the country.
Sanders was an independent running as a Democrat and did not
win the primary process; Hillary, his establishment target, did win but Bernie
was a great example of the new politician playing in the new political system
of our age; he had great success garnering a huge following.
Demagoguery on the other hand, by definition is an appeal to
people based on their emotions and prejudices rather than on their rational
side. This term is often associated with dictators and “sleazy” politicians.
This term is used to describe Donald Trump and fits him to a T.
As in past history, demagogues knew how to inflame the
population by giving voice to their emotions and prejudices which, as we have
learned, do not have to be based on rational thought and in most cases
contradict reality on the ground. BUT these emotions are based on a belief that
these people hold to be true and no amount of logical persuasion will dissuade
them from these beliefs.
This fact has been made clear to me as some family members
and friends are part of this group.
I do detect some underlying racism as well as xenophobia in
those emotions and, as mentioned before, a feeling that they are being held
down and used and abused by forces out to do them harm or forces that do not
have their best interests at heart.
To them, Trump presents a very forceful figure that will
save them from those forces and make life better for them even if he has not
said how he would do that; the fact that he says so is good enough for them.
There is also a touch of nationalism in this group. As the
mightiest nation on earth, we should behave as such and “carry a big stick” as
Teddy Roosevelt once said and not take any guff from anyone.
These are all very understandable feelings and emotions and
Trump has got his fingers on their pulse.
Some in the media are saying that the Republican party, the
party held hostage by Tea Party members and a party hewing to an ideology that
no longer resonates with the common folk but is steeped in conservative
darkness and an unwillingness to work for the betterment of their country but
only for the political aspirations of their party and of the individuals in the
party, created a TRUMP character and I think they are correct.
The daily news of silly political bickering in Congress and non-action
on issues that need action has the public looking at congressmen as childish cartoon
characters who no longer represent America or Americans. Is it any wonder that
politics and politicians are held in such low esteem?
Trump promises action and even though he is a demagogue I
think he and Bernie Sanders have brought to the surface the issues the country
wants addressed.
I am not a fan of Hillary but I feel she has heard the
outcry and will act accordingly but she will not be able to address the issues
we want addressed if we elect the same people to Congress; that needs to change
or all is for naught.
Many people have said that in this election “we have no real
choice for president as both candidates are unacceptable for many”. This fact
heralds the need for a strong “third” party like the Libertarian Party. The
Libertarian Party exists but only nominally; most people have never heard of
it.
Using today’s technology, third party candidates can bring
their message to the people without the millions of dollars it used to take to
get the public to recognize who you are as a person and your party as a
political force.
Trump hijacked the Republican Party by gaming the primary
system which was opened to non-party members to help the party gauge their candidate’s
popularity. This was obviously a mistake in this election cycle because he took
control of the party away from party stalwarts and now the party is forced to
support someone who is not a real Republican and does not toe the party line.
I firmly believe that in the future, you will have to be a “registered”
party member to vote in that party’s primary election. In this way you will
prohibit people like Trump from taking over the primary election by getting
people that are not Republicans, to vote for him. It will also prevent people
like Bernie from getting a bunch of non-Democrats to vote for him.
Yes, it will push people like Bernie and Trump to run as
independents or join another party or even start their own party. In this way,
we the American voter will get a real choice among candidates and not, as in
this election, we really do not have a good selection of candidates but rather
a ‘none of the above” kind of choice.
Well enough ruminating; let’s see where the future takes us.
