Comments by "Rob McCune" (@robm6645) on "Isn't Calling Trump Supporters Incompetent More Divisive?" video.
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Firstly I agree with all that, and a lot of shitting on Trump voters has classist, regional bias and anti-rural connotations, and these are problems that need to be resolved. However that is a long term project, as in it will take years, and there are 3 weeks left in the election. Second I find a lot of this sympathy for the white working class to be hypocritical. Having compassion for the plight of these people rather than writing them off as racist thugs who beat up people who disagree with them is being the bigger person. The thing is when African Americans express the same kind of frustration the people who have sympathy Trump supporters beating up an old woman with an oxygen tank will immediately say groups like BLM are racist thugs who beat up people who disagree with them despite the fact that there are more assaults at Trump rallies and African Americans have been hit harder by these changes than the white working class.
Third and finally there is the issue of whether or not Trump represents any kind of honest or authentic attempt to deal with this, and the answer is no on just about every level and just about every issue. Just to get it out to the way Trump is a con man, and a liar, and he contradicts himself all the time, but even ignoring those facts he is not really addressing their concerns. And to address another caveat, I'm not referring to these people not knowing about policy or economics or government. Tax cuts for the rich and corporations are a giveaway to the elite, and adults regardless of education, profession and location in this country should know that. It is easy and intuitive to grasp. Bombing ISIS and taking their oil is not a position that helps the common man, it also undermines any anti-war cred that Trump claims to have. "Law and Order" or "Stop and Frisk" don't help the common man or take on the elite. These just bluster from a wanna be tough guy. So what issues does Trump have where he takes on the elite and stands on the side of the common man? Trade, but even on trade he doesn't actually have a real plan, he just says he will threaten companies to keep the from leaving, he won't actually change the laws or tax incentives to make it less attractive to leave. It is just more of his fake tough guy bluster. There is also the TPP which is also opposed by Hillary. So basically there is one issue that these people can identify with that deals with their problems, and even then they should be able to see through it. And finally there are Trumps other issues, Mexicans are rapists, build a wall, ban all muslims and calling any opposition to that "political correctness." That is just cheap appeals to bigotry.
As you can see the common denominator with most of Trump's policies are authoritarianism and bigotry rather than any kind of anti-elite politics or rhetoric. So then what is his populist appeal if his rhetoric is authoritarian and bigoted in nature? As I see it there are two possibilities, the first it functions as some kind of scape goat or outlet for their frustrations, this I why I said Trump and Trump supporters aren't honest or authentic about their problems. It deal with the issues even on a superficial level. The other possibility is that their grievances with the elite are really about bigotry and authoritarianism. This is why so many white nationalists, klansmen and neo nazis support Trump. Both these combine to make support for Trump an illegitimate means of redressing the grievances you sympathize with .
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