Trump Didn't Create The Mess, But He Sure As Hell Amplified It
America, teetering and ideological.
Before we get too deep into this mess, let’s just admit the logical up front: there were assholes stoking anger long before Trump. There were racists and guys referring to countries as “shit-holes” long before The Donald. There were executive-level country club guys who amassed a solid amount of material success by being bullies long before The Cheeto emerged. None of this is really new.
What did happen, though, was you had a nice intersection of things occur from maybe 2002 onward:
Jobs increasingly became more about pressing buttons and computers doing work, even blue-collar and service jobs.
We stopped training people for trades.
We also cut a lot of funding for things like “debate” and “the humanities,” instead focusing on test scores.
Obama won, which backed up the dam of racism.
Trump, who was a C-Tier celebrity in 2009 or so, used the “birther” argument to get himself back on the news.
Automation gutted the Upper Midwest.
The Democrats had a horribly-flawed candidate of their own in 2016.
COVID.
Lack of trust in conventionally-vetted sources.
When you add all of it up, there was a lot of rage among certain sectors of the American public. Their grandfather had a solid factory job and raised three kids on that, with the wife at home. Where’s that life anymore? Could Homer Simpson even be a reality these days? Many argue no.
When you are angry, you will lock eyes with anyone who is voicing that anger and think, “Yes, this person gets me.”
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