I’m not American. Watching what’s going on in America is kinda horrifying to me. I find DT and the way he talks to be so vile and self absorbed and the way he treats certain groups of people to be terrifying.
Sometimes I’ll get into a discussion with someone (mainly at work, where I’m far below the average age) and they’ll say something like “yeah he’s a bit crazy but he’s done a lot of good for America/the American economy.” This isn’t limited to the Facebook addicted warehouse workers I’m with every night.. one of my friends from highschool, one of the smartest girls I know has said the same thing and I consider her much smarter than I am.
I’d like to read something reliable that gives a genuine look into how these people see DT and the “good” they think he has done for the country.
by Immediate_Skin1739
4 Comments
That would require reality to fit their narrative, which it doesn’t
I don’t know if such a book exists. Have you considered asking them what good he has done?
I found it very hard to have much empathy for the MAGA base, until I read:
**STOLEN PRIDE**
LOSS, SHAME, AND THE RISE OF THE RIGHT
Arlie Russell Hochschild, 2024
A quote:
In the right’s deep story, the principal figure is a man patiently waiting in line, facing toward the American Dream set atop a high hill. His feet are tired. He feels his turn should be coming up, but the line isn’t moving. He is quite far ahead in line but seldom looks back to notice how very many people, especially people of color, wait in line behind him. Then the man spots some people stepping in line ahead of him—line-cutters. Who are they? They are educated women and Blacks propelled, it seems to him, by affirmative action. It’s also immigrants, refugees, and well-paid public servants. Then the man sees a Democratic president waving to the line-cutters. Is he encouraging them to bypass me? he wonders … In another moment of the right’s deep story, someone ahead of him in line whirls around to criticize the man patiently waiting: “Ignorant, sexist, racist, homophobic, redneck!” the critic says. For the man in line, this is the last straw. Among the line-cutters is a bully. He pushes everyone around and lets his friends cut in line, and roughs them up if they complain. He’s the bad bully. Then the line-waiter sees a second man, full of himself, kind of mean—a bully too. He has obvious flaws, but you forgive them, because he’s a good bully, strong enough to push around the bad bully. He’s protecting you; he’s your bully. So, when others criticize the second bully, you defend him not because he’s perfect but because he’s your bully… The first bully is a gang of bullies: the Democratic Party, CNN, the federal government (apart from the military), and the defenders of urban America who rudely dismiss rural America. Together they had walked away with power and pride.”
This might be something that helps you understand, it certainly helped me.
I am outside America I look with amusement at US politics and well as sadness that my own country is probably worse just not the same scale.
The US is way to political for that question to be answered in any reasonable way, only history in about 15 – 20 years will be able to answer it. Also a lot of what he has done will have long term impacts which could go either way.
Though as insanely damaging as the Iran issue may be to the US. If the US manages to move Iran to regime change and stabilize Iran as a democratic country I can forget so much of the insane stuff that Trump does.
I think one big thing that may be important that Trump has done is that he has exposed the US foreign policy, so much of it was under the covers the public was not aware of but Trump does not care, other politican’s cant hide. It has meant the other countries governments have almost been given a mandate not to rely on the US for anything.
Its like the US/Canada bridge, previously that sort of changing the agreement would have been done by stealth or political pressure with room for everybody to save face, but Trump is just shut it down until he gets what he wants.