In defense of the Trump voter

[Darrell KSR]

Excellent article.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/defen...er-ian-bremmer

[dan_bgblue]

Thanks for the link. I enjoyed reading his thoughts

[Diana Welch]

Nice article.

[badrose]

Nice article.

Welcome to KSR, btw! Can you give us an intro?

[Diana Welch]

Welcome to KSR, btw! Can you give us an intro?

By Ian Bremmer

AMERICA TODAY IS ANGRY AND UNHAPPY; much of that anger and unhappiness is being directed at Donald Trump at the moment (and with plenty of reason), but America was spiraling long before the Trumps arrived on the political scene. Trade and technological change have hollowed out the middle class, an opioid epidemic has ravaged communities across the country, and the discarded feel that government has left them behind. Some found Candidate Trump to be crass and over the top. Others saw him as a fighter. But enough voters saw him as something different, something new, a break from the professional politicians, that he surged like a rocket from an historically crowded field of GOP candidates and then took down the ultimate establishment heavyweight.

Many Americans were desperate not for “change,” as the word appears on professionally produced campaign posters. Real change. Actual change. For better and for worse, change is what we’ve gotten. Love him or hate his guts, Donald Trump, the first person elected US president without ever having served in government or the military, represents real change.

But there’s another source of our country’s dysfunction—our hyper-partisan politics. We shout, we mock, and we laugh. No one listens. And those who think Trump is a monstrous buffoon seem to believe that his voters must be fatally angry, crazy, or stupid. That’s wrong. And sad. And dangerous.

***

You don’t have to defend Donald Trump to defend those who chose him. There are many different kinds of people here with many different motives, and it’s hard to imagine what sort of future we have in this country if these tens of millions of people—and their hopes and fears—are so easily dismissed.

You don’t have to defend Donald Trump to defend those who chose him.

[badrose]

By Ian Bremmer

AMERICA TODAY IS ANGRY AND UNHAPPY; much of that anger and unhappiness is being directed at Donald Trump at the moment (and with plenty of reason), but America was spiraling long before the Trumps arrived on the political scene. Trade and technological change have hollowed out the middle class, an opioid epidemic has ravaged communities across the country, and the discarded feel that government has left them behind. Some found Candidate Trump to be crass and over the top. Others saw him as a fighter. But enough voters saw him as something different, something new, a break from the professional politicians, that he surged like a rocket from an historically crowded field of GOP candidates and then took down the ultimate establishment heavyweight.

Many Americans were desperate not for “change,” as the word appears on professionally produced campaign posters. Real change. Actual change. For better and for worse, change is what we’ve gotten. Love him or hate his guts, Donald Trump, the first person elected US president without ever having served in government or the military, represents real change.

But there’s another source of our country’s dysfunction—our hyper-partisan politics. We shout, we mock, and we laugh. No one listens. And those who think Trump is a monstrous buffoon seem to believe that his voters must be fatally angry, crazy, or stupid. That’s wrong. And sad. And dangerous.

***

You don’t have to defend Donald Trump to defend those who chose him. There are many different kinds of people here with many different motives, and it’s hard to imagine what sort of future we have in this country if these tens of millions of people—and their hopes and fears—are so easily dismissed.

You don’t have to defend Donald Trump to defend those who chose him.

No, I mean tell us a little about yourself. Where you're from, how you became a Cats fan, etc.