When Trump marched in and told people that he is going to run for the president election in 2015, everyone laughed at him, as how people in EU laughed at Nigel Farage. British people voted to leave EU a week ago and Trump is the last man standing in GOP’s primary. Major media ridiculed Trump but Trump seems to be unstoppable.
There are some reasons for Donald Trump to rise.
The Disappointment for Partisan in Washington D.C.
During 2013, Federal government shutdown was regarded as a congressional “chronic dysfunction”. Republican and Democrat raged wars, shouted their stance, but refused to cross the aisle and make real progress.
Partisan has led America to be a divided country. No deal was made. Voters are fed up with this kind of situation. Trump has vowed to bring “The Arts of Deal” into the White House. He is not really a politician, Trump claimed. That’s why he is not bounded by Republican Party and therefore more likely to get things done as it should.
In a recent NBC/WSJ poll, both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump mark higher points in “being effective and getting things done” among their leadership qualities. Hillary, under heavy scrutiny for being dishonest, people still regard her as someone who’s willing to make bipartisan plans, rather than raging wars and shut down the government.
Voters are fed up with partisan politics. They want to see a functional government, not a congress full of anger, shouting, and no agreement made. No matter whether Trump can make congress work again, at least he seems to be an option.
Excessive Emphasis on Political Correctness
It’s a universal acknowledged truth that political correctness has become a nagging trend. It’s not politically correct to express concerns about immigrants. It’s not okay to be a right wing and say a tax cut is necessary.
“Having Trump in the White House would both give me more confidence to speak my own opinion and more of a shield from instantly being dismissed as a racist/xenophobe/Nazi,” a Trump supporter said so to a politic correspondent at The Atlantic.
Trump is not afraid to say the ugly un-politically correct that some parts of the society long to hear. His ruthless comments have been a major appeal to young and old people who are not allowed to speak up their mind under the pro-political correctness social atmosphere.
Political correctness has driven some people not to reveal what they truly believe in. The whole society has become less tolerant of different ideology. Trump then became an outlet for people who may not agree with all the politically correct beliefs. He became their spokesman and people support him in hope for a society with more variety of opinions.
The war between elites and little men
What happened in U.K. referendum last week resulted in Brexit. It’s a wake-up call for politicians in the world and a huge slap right on the face of the so-called elites.
Some of Trump supporters and the supporters of Brexit have one thing in common. They are the unheard and ignored lower-middle class. In U.S., they are the group of blue collar people who lose their job while the factories move to China for cheaper labour costs. In U.K., they are the farmers outside London.
While Hillary Clinton cosies up with the Silicon Valley with her new STEM students green card policy and the large donations from Wall Street, Trump claimed to be self-funded and he is tired of the smart scheme of those articulate politicians.
The elitism that ingrains in major press leads to their mockery to Trump. However, by doing so, the supporter of Trump further feel that they are alienated by the society and Trump is their only consolation. Trump’s rise looks like a failure of major press and social media, but take a closer look, it’s a silent protest from the silent majority who do not have the right of discourse.
The Exclusivity as an American
When Donald Trump said that he is going to “Make America Great Again”, it sounded hideous. As the progress of his campaign,somehow Trump has successfully convinced American voters that he is the one who is going to bring their privilege as American back to them.
In the context of globalization, there are more immigrants than some of the Americans want in U.S. society. It decreases the overall satisfaction of the infrastructure and increases a sense of being deprived. Trump reinforced the sense of nationalism by saying “a nation without border is not a nation.” and “a nation without law is not a nation.” It tackled what people want to hear head on. They want a country who serves them first, instead of those second comers, the immigrants, no matter legal or illegal.
In the context of globalization, young and old Americans experience different levels of sufferings. Young American found themselves competing with a large sum of international students in education facilities. Older Americans found their jobs lost since the factories are moving to China and it’s harder for them to find a decent job in their middle life. Even if they do attempt to find new jobs, they are competing with illegal immigrants with no minimum wages protection.
It’s even harder to convince the people that America should fight the wars that have no direct benefits for them. For American, NATO is not necessary. The islands and the countries in Pacific Asia do not have major added-values, but the tax is what actually added up to an uncomfortable amount for unnecessary defense budgets. That’s Trump to the better-educated voters. People are tired of government spending money for the sake of staying as the hegemonic power in the world.
Trump told the voters that he will make products people buy “Made in America” again, instead of made in China, Vietnam, and the other southeast Asia countries. He told them America would be great again by removing those unwanted immigrants. Voila, the idea sold!
Conclusion
The rise of Trump is not only scary but a warning to Americans. He preys on people’s frustration, fears, and the negative sentiments and ideologies that they are not allowed to say it out loud. It’s also a result of long-term nationalism propaganda without addressing to the fundamentals. the United States has always delivered a concept of a great big nation. What Trump does is twisting the concept to an extreme way.
His somehow successful campaign so far shows that there are so many hidden issues that none of the traditional politicians seem comfortable to discuss.Trump is the kid who points out the emperor’s new clothes while the others simply turned their faces away. Trump is a punishment that voters mete to those policians who lie on their face and refuse to engage in the core problems in their own country.
Trump is a smart enough businessman who finds the weakness of the fragile, old politics scheme. What he could do as President Trump is uncertain, but what he is doing right now is an evidence of failure in demoracy.
Source
- The Atlantic, A Dialogue With a 22-Year-Old Donald Trump Supporter
- Wall Street Journal, How Political Dysfunction Fueled the Rise of Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump
- Salon, In defense of American elitism: The alarming truth about the rise of Donald Trump
- The Atlantic, Who are Donald Trump’s Supporter Really
- The Economist, Can Donald Trump flip flop the old manufacturing regions in midwest?
- Trump, Make America Great Again
