Embracing the Disillusioned: Trump's Rise and Globalization's Fallout
Unconventional Ascendancy of Trump
Listen up, folks! We're diving into the unexpected ascension of a flamboyant billionaire who shook the political world: Donald J. Trump, the 45th President of the United States.
Political analysts worldwide were left scratching their heads when Trump clinched the Republican presidential nomination in 2016. But Matthew Mac Williams had predicted it all earlier in his 2016 book, "The Rise of Trump: America's Authoritarian Spring." According to Williams, Trump's rise was no fluke but a manifestation of a persistent theme in American politics-the ever-present temptation towards ascriptive politics.
Before setting foot in the Oval Office, Trump was already a household name as the U.S.' most flashy billionaire. He hinted at a presidential run as early as 1987 and even considered running as a Republican in 2012. When he announced his presidential bid in June 2015, Trump vowed to revive the American Dream, saying he'd bring it back, "bigger and better."
Trump's victory in the 2016 election was one of the most stunning upsets in American electoral history, thanks to a racial and ideological shift in American voters since the 1960s. As President, Trump pulled the U.S. out of critical trade and climate agreements, barred travel from certain Muslim-majority countries, enforced strict immigration laws, ignited a global trade war, implemented record tax cuts, reshaped Middle Eastern relations, and took on American universities-the cornerstone of U.S. dominance. Trump's economic protectionism contrasted sharply with the free trade ideals of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, inspired by economists like Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman.
Trump may not have been an overnight sensation, but he did resonate with a growing number of Americans who felt that free trade and globalization had done them wrong. It's undeniable that innovative technology helped American businesses boost profits by hiring cheap foreign labor.
Trump's campaign slogan, "Make America Great Again," held particular significance. The term "Again" played a crucial role. Renowned Polish writer Ryszard Kapuscinski coined the phrase "The myth of the Great Yesterday," which perfectly encapsulates Trump's supporters-white, blue-collar men without college degrees whose real income has remained stagnant or decreased in recent decades. They feel that today is worse than yesterday, and Trump speaks to that sentiment. In Trump, they found someone resisting globalization and combating free trade. Trump furthered his efforts with his stringent immigration policies and his crude connections between immigration and trade.
The 2016 election was a clarion call for American discontent. According to Elise Jordan's piece in Time magazine, the American voters have lost faith in their elected officials and a government that fails to uphold the promise of "by the people." But in 2024, how did the American voters end up with a convicted felon accused of rigging an election and impeached? Is this merely the latest example of the neoliberal political maxim "greed is good" from the 1980s, or is it a result of Trump's radical nationalism and isolationism?
The era between World War I and the Roaring Twenties, often overlooked, may shed light on Trump's second term. Pervasive anti-immigrant prejudice and mass deportations characterized this time. The administration of President Woodrow Wilson essentially silenced dissenting news outlets. Labor activists were jailed by federal authorities, and political dissidents faced threats and occasional assassinations by vigilantes.
Fast forward to today, and Sinclair Lewis' 1935 novel "It Can't Happen Here" might ring truer than ever. In the novel, Lewis depicted social unrest and political radicalization in the U.S. during the Great Depression. Berzelius "Buzz" Windrip, an ill-informed demagogue who won the 1936 election with the help of millions of aggrieved and destitute voters, is Lewis' antihero. The angry voters paraded with signs that read: "We are on relief. We want to become human beings again. We want Buzz!"
Almost a century later, has the scenario been largely recreated within Donald Trump? Reagan famously declared, "Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem." The Trump elite's anti-elitism may have been sparked by this diagnosis. It appears that millions of Americans are willing to buy such counter-elitist rhetoric.
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- In the realm of politics, the financial sector, and general news, President Trump's second term echoes the interwar period, with his radical nationalism and isolationist policies potentially replicating the anti-immigrant prejudice and mass deportations of the time.
- The political landscape, encompassing areas such as war-and-conflicts, policy-and-legislation, crime-and-justice, and international trade, has witnessed a significant shift, with President Trump's stringent immigration policies and his linkage between immigration and trade resonating with disillusioned voters.
- The 2016 election, a pivotal event in global politics, marked a clarion call for American discontent, exposing a widespread distrust in elected officials and the government's failure to uphold the promise of "by the people." This dissatisfaction, in turn, led to the election of a controversial figure attributed to a neoliberal political philosophy that prioritizes individual wealth over communal welfare.
