At Project Syndicate economist Joseph Stiglitz wonders what the heck is coming next:
Why did the backlash in the US come just when the economy seemed to be on the mend, rather than earlier? And why did it manifest itself in a lurch to the right? After all, it was the Republicans who had blocked assistance to those losing their jobs as a result of the globalization they pushed assiduously. It was the Republicans who, in 26 states, refused to allow the expansion of Medicaid, thereby denying health insurance to those at the bottom. And why was the victor somebody who made his living from taking advantage of others, openly admitted not paying his fair share of taxes, and made tax avoidance a point of pride?
Donald Trump grasped the spirit of the time: things weren’t going well, and many voters wanted change. Now they will get it: there will be no business as usual. But seldom has there been more uncertainty. Which policies Trump will pursue remains unknown, to say nothing of which will succeed or what the consequences will be.
He goes on to observe that Donald Trump cannot repeal the laws of economics. Those laws are rooted in human nature, consequently whether they may be repealed or not depends on how malleable you think that is. If, as I do, you think that human nature is not easily changed, you will tend to believe that economics can’t, either.
To Dr. Stiglitz’s observations I would add that an explanation he might consider is that there is presently no sense of shared sacrifice. If regardless of what happens to other Americans Warren Buffett and Mark Zuckerberg don’t suffer, we should forgive those other Americans for thinking the fix is in. That doesn’t help the political party of Warren Buffett and Mark Zuckerberg.
IMO, most people want “a fair shake.”. The rub, though, is what comprises “fairness” to each person. In acolytes of BO’s world, parity is granted by a higher power called “goverment,” and actualized through the continual shuffling and subjective rearrangement of financial assets – progressive taxation – aided and abetted by subjective moral equivalence.
However, because it’s the government who becomes the power behind the curtain creating”fairness,” the people become more “stepford-like,” followers, rather than innovators, critical thinkers, straining at the leash of mediocrity. They depend on others to pull the strings, share benefits, decide what is right and wrong. Earning a raise, a promotion, even winning a ball game is often due to someone else’s muscular interpretation of social justice versus merit or one’s own effort. Such determinations of fate, or one’s appropriate place in society, is seen by many as taken out of their hands and (by increasing mandates and restrictions) put into someone else’s jurisdiction to decide.
I feel it was this kind of social dynamic that became the root cause for many in the middle class to feel forgotten, left out of the liberal’s construct where elite’s always have the correct answers, as well as the loudest microphone to convey their empathetic brilliance to all the “little people.” As for the “poor,” they have become almost like pets to the liberal Gentry – divide them into sub groups, feed and house them, and they will be content and not look elsewhere for an alternative menu of existance.
Consequently, Donald Trump blasted his way onto the national stage, coarsely articulating, out loud, what many had been feeling for years, but too intimidated to openly discuss. So, for many, his presidential win is seen less as a mysterious backlash, than simply being a long-awaited for hole blasted into the sidewalls of unrelenting bias, liberal peevishness, and lopsided justice.
People don’t want a ‘fair shake’ they want to succeed and achieve their goal, and that is a very different matter than fairness. ‘Fair’ tends to mean that some succeed and a lot fail because only some have talent and luck and motivation, and others don’t. No one still sitting in a dead West Virginia coal town is looking for fair, they’ve got fair, what they want is to be rescued.
This gets to the essence of the problem. White Americans have grown up believing that everyone gets a pony. Black Americans know better, but it’s just beginning to dawn on Youngstown, Ohio and Aroostook County, Maine, that the last two or three decades of decline are not an aberration but a new reality. In panic at having glimpsed reality, many of these folks, rather than do something rational like retrain, or move, decided instead to vote for the idiot man-baby who told them the lies they wanted to hear. They chose the quick political sugar rush which, like meth and moonshine, leads to later disappointment, exhaustion and deepening despair.
Life is work and suffering and disappointment. And then you die. That is the essential contract. You are given life and are promptly beset by bacteria and viruses and amoeba, crippled by your own limitations, forced to struggle with the ever-present threats of accident, starvation or violence. I did some research and it turns out 100% of people die (!), and before they die they work at jobs they despise for rewards that never satisfy. All of which is par for the course if you come from a culture with a more realistic appraisal of the human condition than you can find in a Southern Baptist church. If you understand what life is for most people, then you appreciate the good times and experience love and joy and wonder and all the things which are so great because they are rare; if you don’t understand, you just end up stewing in bitterness and feeling robbed by ‘elites.’
I realize we can’t teach philosophy in school because it would enrage the religious nuts, but really, a lot of our unhappiness comes from the fact that Americans are just not very mature. If you are 50 years old thinking Trump is going to get your mining job back, well, dude you needed to grow the hell up at some point and stop believing in fairy tales.
“To Dr. Stiglitz’s observations I would add that an explanation he might consider is that there is presently no sense of shared sacrifice.”
The parent of resentment, which I think motivated a lot of Trump voters — and motivates Trump himself, though he’s resentful for other reasons..
I think it is probably fair to say that liberals forgot to seek out help for the white middle class and concentrated too much on efforts to improve things for everyone else, like minorities, gays and women. That said, it remains odd that conservatives/Republicans voted for Trump, when it is essentially GOP policies, often with support from Democrats, that have created their problems.
Steve
Stiglitz asks why a lurch to the right?
Hasn’t he heard about the corrupt DNC fixing the nomination against Sanders who as far as Stiglitz ‘s crowd in particular should feel, and as arguable, would have won?
I think that one of the factors is an increased willingness to resort to the Samson Option.
So much of reality is how one sees it. If you think reality is a dismal “dump,” than most probably the experiences coming your way will fit right into that mind model. If you see life, the goals you set for yourself, as plausible, there is a greater chance for those goals/dreams to be realized.
Tonight I met a 20 year old hostess. We talked about our mutual love of books and reading. She takes the train to work, has parents who are unsupportive, but still has aspirations to become a photo journalist and writer. She is confident of achieving this dream, and I urged her to hold tight to what she wanted to achieve. I am sure she will make it in this life, and said I would be looking for a piece with her name attributed to it in the future. In the meantime, I will be giving her books to read.
Life may indeed be full of “work, suffering and disappointments.” But, one must never stop looking for the rainbows, the moments of joy and satisfaction that are interwoven in personal struggles. It is these contrasts of failures and successes, sadness and happiness, sickness and health that make us aware of life lessons, as well as our own strengths and weaknesses. A smooth glide path yields little other than an easy landing. It is the bumpy road that challenges not only our senses, but sharpens our skills and gives us confidence we can last yet another day.
Life, although it may only be an accumulation of anguish, is dear to me, and I will defend it.
Shared sacrifice, eh?
Do politicians have to live by the laws they pass? Do public sector workers have market compensation and employment risk or “reliable vote remuneration?” Were bankers risks socialized? We’re poor credit risks subsidized? I would note that Obama just lowered PMI. Bubble redux? Does Hillary Clinton have to worry about losing her doctor? Hell, the woman doesn’t even drive. Who at CNN will go down for execrable reporting on golden showers? Or will they be rewarded for “a good, liberal smear attempt that got ratings?” NAFTA or a lost widgetmaking job? Important policy, or the vital task of legislating transgender bathrooms.
The list is endless.
Jan had it correct right out of the box. Government could do good if properly practiced and not run by people……….but that people thing is a problem. And it got out of control.
“Do politicians have to live by the laws they pass? “
Drew, that question reminds me of something I read the other day. It went something like this: “The protected make the laws. The unprotected have to live the law.”
For instance, politicians who passed Obamacare, didn’t have to use Obamacare for themselves or their family. Dems seem to be softer on open borders, and have done little to nothing to secure the border. However, look at all those rich dems who live on massive, fenced estates. The hypocrisy list is endless as to the disparity of what social progressive limousine liberals say versus how they live or what they do themselves.
That was one of the items in Newt Gingrich’s “Contract With America”. It was also one of the first things to go.