Opinion Guest Essay: Why Trump Still Has Millions of Americans in His Grip

[Crtcl Rice Theory 2,432]

 

 

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/05/opinion/trump-automation-artificial-intelligence.html?action=click&algo=bandit-all-surfaces&block=more_in_recirc&fellback=false&imp_id=652154289&impression_id=34464fd0-ae97-11eb-b946-511d084cbc99&index=5&pgtype=Article&pool=pool%2Fd7437adb-53d7-4b49-b1c7-d77e75beb40d&region=footer&req_id=812184104&surface=more-in-opinion&variant=0_bandit-all-surfaces
 

 

In “The Bitter Heartland,” an essay in American Purpose, William Galston, a veteran of the Clinton White House and a senior fellow at Brookings, captures the forces at work in the lives of many of Trump’s most loyal backers:

Resentment is one of the most powerful forces in human life. Unleashing it is like splitting the atom; it creates enormous energy, which can lead to more honest discussions and long-delayed redress of grievances. It can also undermine personal relationships — and political regimes. Because its destructive potential is so great, it must be faced.

Recent decades, Galston continues, “have witnessed the growth of a potent new locus of right-wing resentment at the intersection of race, culture, class, and geography” — difficult for “those outside its orbit to understand.”

They — “social conservatives and white Christians” — have what Galston calls a “bill of particulars” against political and cultural liberalism. I am going to quote from it at length because Galston’s rendering of this bill of particulars is on target.

• “They have a sense of displacement in a country they once dominated. Immigrants, minorities, non-Christians, even atheists have taken center stage, forcing them to the margins of American life.”

• “They believe we have a powerful desire for moral coercion. We tell them how to behave — and, worse, how to think. When they complain, we accuse them of racism and xenophobia. How, they ask, did standing up for the traditional family become racism? When did transgender bathrooms become a civil right?”

• “They believe we hold them in contempt.”

• “Finally, they think we are hypocrites. We claim to support free speech — until someone says something we don’t like. We claim to oppose violence — unless it serves a cause we approve of. We claim to defend the Constitution — except for the Second Amendment. We support tolerance, inclusion, and social justice — except for people like them.”

Galston has grasped a genuine phenomenon. But white men are not the only victims of deindustrialization. We are now entering upon an era in which vast swaths of the population are potentially vulnerable to the threat — or promise — of a Fourth Industrial Revolution.

[TBoneTX 45,498]

Stereotypes, much?

[Crtcl Rice Theory 2,432]

10 hours ago, TBoneTX said:

Stereotypes, much?

You don't feel there are groups of people who feel as Galston has observed?

[TBoneTX 45,498]

Among those who do, I've rarely heard overt animosity or venom.

[Crtcl Rice Theory 2,432]

19 hours ago, TBoneTX said:

Among those who do, I've rarely heard overt animosity or venom.

Resentment is the topic the author of the source article is addressing. Resentment wouldn't be overt, it would linger for long periods beneath the surface creating political opportunity.

 

https://www.americanpurpose.com/articles/the-bitter-heartland/

[Dashinka 24,592]

3 hours ago, CanAm1980 said:

Resentment is the topic the author of the source article is addressing. Resentment wouldn't be overt, it would linger for long periods beneath the surface creating political opportunity.

 

https://www.americanpurpose.com/articles/the-bitter-heartland/

Didn’t we experience resentment for the past four years?  What else is new?

[Nitas_man 3,100]

t’grip of t’Rump is a powerful thing