Sunday, August 28, 2016

"How Donald Trump Took a Narrative of Unfairness and Twisted It to His Advantage"

"But in another stroke, Trump adds a key proviso: restrict government help to real Americans. White men are counted in, but undocumented Mexicans and Muslims and Syrian refugees are out. Thus, Trump offers the blue-collar white men relief from a taker's shame: If you make America great again, how can you not be proud? Trump has put on his blue-collar cap, pumped his fist in the air, and left mainstream Republicans helpless. Not only does he speak to the white working class' grievances; as they see it, he has finally stopped their story from being politically suppressed. We may never know if Trump has done this intentionally or instinctively, but in any case he's created a movement much like the anti-immigrant but pro-welfare-state right-wing populism on the rise in Europe."

The Nation runs an essay adapted from Arlie Russell Hochschild's new book, Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right.

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