How the Open Secret of Neoliberalism and the Oligarchy Created President Trump

Conspiracy theories rarely bear fruit. It is unlikely that there exists a group of powerful, shadowy figures conspiring against the American proletariat. It is unlikely that those who walk the halls of power in this country collectively and actively seek its downfall. It is unlikely that this Great Civilization’s collapse was orchestrated — but it would make no difference if it were.

Neoliberalism is supposedly the belief that the freer the market from the hand of the government, the better for society as a whole. It is in reality the aggregate of all the decisions informed by the knowledge that the freer the market, the more lucrative for those in power. In practice, these decisions include reducing or privatizing government services and institutions, deregulating business, and eliminating the concept of “the public good”. Most importantly, however, neoliberalism actively defines the masses not as a citizenry, but as a consumer base.

“The elite” in America includes the political or government elite, the media elite, and the corporate or private elite. Though not necessarily literally colluding, almost all elite share the same ultimate goal of power, which is necessarily preceded by the goal of making profit. Therefore, they will implicitly or explicitly support the same core policies — the degree of their outward support determined by their proclaimed political affiliation.

An example that vividly illustrates the grip of neoliberalism is the subjugation of African-Americans. The government elite continues to fund schools by property taxes and use coded racial language to disparage the social safety net. The media elite continues to portray black men mainly as athletes, musicians, or criminals. The corporate or private elite continues to gentrify neighborhoods of color while simultaneously discriminating against black Americans seeking home-ownership. Each group described above benefits indirectly, monetarily, from preserving white supremacy. The Republican political elite benefits by preying on lower-middle class White voters’ racism to mislead them into voting against their own interests, while the Democratic political elite benefits because as long as they are the less racist option in a world where racism is relevant, they maintain control of the minority vote without actually addressing their needs. The media elite benefits from the sensationalism of stereotypes in news, as well as indirectly through advertisement from the private sector of products intended to help achieve a white standard of beauty. Finally, the private elite benefits in innumerable ways, but most widely, from the sales made possible by the lack of hope in the black community; sales include products to achieve whiteness, items that display relative material wealth within poverty, and music that capitalizes on the black struggle while glorifying instant gratification. The political, media, and private elite all make decisions rooted in neoliberalism that are part of a vicious feedback loop that exacerbates problems so that more “solutions” can be sold.

Through the Neoliberal “decisions” such as preserving racism, maintaining a poorly educated population, and pursuing international free trade, the rich have enriched themselves exponentially while the poor have largely grown poorer. In the short-term, neoliberalism has been successful at what it set out to be — lucrative for the elite. However, in the long-term, it will, without a doubt, backfire for two reasons. First, Americans see what’s going on. Second, they are reaching a point at which they will have nothing to lose.

In recent years, the oligarchic power structure of America and its neoliberal aims have become sort of an open secret. The military-industrial complex has been exposed by the Iraq War, the revolving door between Wall Street and Washington has been scrutinized after the Great Recession, and the tool of social control mass incarceration has been dissected in the face of widely publicized police brutality and protests. Regardless of an individual’s political leaning, less than one in five say they trust the government, as opposed to more than three in four in the early 1960s. Now, three in four think “most elected officials put own interests ahead of country’s” and that the federal government “is run by a few big interests”. Finally, and most dishearteningly, in a nation founded on the premise of a government for and by the people, about half of Americans do not believe there is much ordinary citizens can do to influence government. Clearly, we are aware that we no longer live in a representative democracy.

The middle class is shrinking. One in five Americans are in the lowest income tier. The wealthiest one-percent of Americans have almost half the wealth. Almost three in four college graduates are or were in debt. A famous philosopher once said, “Never contend with a man who has nothing to lose”. The elite clearly heeded this warning to some extent, as in every facet of American life there is a method to pacify the masses. The political elite refuse to educate us in order to prevent critical thinking, and constantly divide us on social and ideological issues in order to distract us from their true agendas. The media elite constantly push sensationalism, fear and mindless fluff pieces over substantive reporting in order to distract us from thorough understanding and compassion. The corporate elite push instant-gratification and materialism as guiding philosophies, fulfilled by unhealthy food to immobilize us, pharmaceuticals to sedate us, and technology to inundate us, all in order to distract us from a poor quality of life. Despite the masterful efforts of the elite to continue on in this way, our problems are growing too large to be concealed by sleight of hand. A magician can skillfully redirect your attention to the left, but if on your right, bombs are exploding, people are dying, and the world is going up in flames, you’re going to turn your head.

The Republican Party establishment, neoliberal in its founding philosophy, has pursued the most aggressive agenda of pacification possible. In education, they have argued for lower levels (a focus on community and technical colleges) and less accessibility (ending federal education loans and Affirmative Action). In building their constituency, they have appealed to fear and uncertainty by dog-whistling a multitude of groups as the “other”, including African-Americans, immigrants (and as a result, Hispanics in general), LGBT people, atheists, and Muslims. In their governance, they have tried to limit voting accessibility and have protected the interests of corporations (and the ability to profit from their partnerships with them).

The manifestation of this agenda is the meteoric rise of Donald Trump. To the poorly educated GOP electorate, words with too many syllables feel condescending and inaccessible, so Trump speaks clearly and simply. The base is deeply racist, xenophobic, and homophobic; coded language, drilled in over and over by propaganda, has bubbled up to the surface. Establishment leaders loudly condemn the rampant discrimination that Trump encourages but that they created — they thought it was understood that racism was to be implicit. Finally, the base is done with professional politicians. Refined, well-groomed, young sweet-talkers have clearly left the majority of Republican voters behind, disregarding their interests in favor of the interests of their corporate masters. One voter this election said, of Hillary Clinton but appropriate of politicians in general, that “you get the feeling all of [their] sentences are owned by someone.” Distrust of the motives of these officials, in addition to distrust of their ability to actually get things done, has caused these voters to back a candidate whose motives seem transparent and who (arguably) has a proven record of success.

In conclusion, it is clear to see that neoliberal philosophies created and sustained both a ruling class of politicians, media, and corporations and an underclass to serve them. It is clear that the ruling class placated the underclass for some time, but grew greedy for wealth at the direct expense of the masses to a point at which they can no longer be placated. It is clear that the tactics used by the ruling class to gain the support of the underclass are quickly spiraling out of the comfortable, useful realm. It is clear that, however deeply misguided, the spirit of American democracy, freedom, and revolution is alive once again in the hearts and minds of Trump supporters.

The Trump-led pitchfork-bearing mob is getting closer and closer to the elites’ hidden fortress, and they remain at the window in disbelief — even though they could smell the fire from miles away. They had never really considered that the monster they created would one day be real. Then again, they were so wrapped so snugly in the money’s warm embrace that they were unable to see into the distance. Perhaps they should have read Chaucer, seeing as he foretold, “And ofte tyme swich cursynge wrongfully retorneth agayn to hym that curseth, as a bryd that retorneth agayn to his owene nest”.