The sneering response to Trump’s victory reveals exacytly why he won

Written on November 14th, 2016 in politics Comments Off

Published on The Spectator, Brendan O’Neill, Nov 9, 2016.

If you want to know why Trump won, just look at the response to his winning. The lofty contempt for ‘low information’ Americans. The barely concealed disgust for the rednecks and cretins of ‘flyover’ America who are apparently racist and misogynistic and homophobic. The haughty sneering at the vulgar, moneyed American political system and how it has allowed a wealthy candidate to poison the little people’s mushy, malleable minds. The suggestion that American women, more than 40 per cent of whom are thought to have voted for Trump, suffer from internalised misogyny: that is, they don’t know their own minds, the poor dears. The hysterical, borderline apocalyptic claims that the world is now infernally screwed because ‘our candidate’, the good, pure person, didn’t get in … //

… If this all sounds familiar, that’s because it’s the same kind of pleb-fearing horror that greeted the Brexit result four months ago. ‘Why elections are bad for democracy’, a headline in the Guardian said. The people are deluded and it is the task of those with ‘reason and expertise’ to ‘un-delude’ them, said a writer for Foreign Policy. ‘What if democracy doesn’t work? What if it never has and never will?’, wondered a pained George Monbiot. Boom. That’s it. The secret and not-so-secret cry of the elites and the experts and the observers over both Brexit and Trump is precisely that: ‘What if democracy doesn’t work?’ It’s not so much Trump they fear as the system that allowed him to get to the White House: that pesky, ridiculous system where we must ask ordinary people — shudder — what they think should happen in the nation … //

… This nasty, reactionary turn against democracy by so many of the well-educated both explains the victory of Trump, which neatly doubles up as a slap in the face of the establishment, and confirms why democracy is more important today than it has ever been. Because it really would be folly, madness in fact, to let an elite that so little understands ordinary people, and in fact loathes them, to run society unilaterally. Now that would be dangerous, more dangerous than Trump.

(full text).

Links:

France likely to extend state of emergency to ‘protect democracy’ during elections – PM, on RT, Nov 13, 2016;

The True Sharing Economy, Inaugurating an Age of the Heart, part 2 of 3, on Dissident Voice, by Mohammed Mesbahi, Nov 12, 2016: from the inner to the outer sharing economy – (part one here … Mohammed Mesbahi is the Founder of Share The World’s Resources STWR. Read other articles by Mohammed, or visit Mohammed’s website);

UK: Austerity Is A Political Choice Not An Economic Necessity, on Morning Star.co.uk, by The Tory government is sticking to plans for more austerity, no matter what the economic or human consequences, writes Ken Livingstone, Mov 12, 2016: The Tory government is sticking to plans for more austerity, no matter what the economic or human consequences;

Pope prioritizes need for an economy that includes poor - archbishop says, on Catholic Philly, by Dennis Sadowski, Nov 11, 2016: Pope Francis’ oft-repeated concerns for the world’s poorest people serve as regular reminders that economic practices must not solely focus on profit and efficiency at the expense of human dignity, said a retired Vatican diplomat …;

Canadian oil company to invest $50bn in Russian projects, on RT, Nov 11, 2016;

Nigeria: There is no alternative to clear economic direction, Interview with Mr. Chukwuemeka Eze, on The Guardian, by Chijioke Nelson, Nov 9, 2016;

Caught at a crossroads, it’s time to build an alternative to neoliberalism, on New Statesman, by John McDonnell, Nov 2, 2016: after four decades, the economic consensus is crumbling. What can politicians do next?

Alternative finance, the heart that pumps the lifeblood of the UK economy, on SME, by Jon Hughes, Oct 28, 2016;

Einmal Erde und zurück – Robert Stein, 117.27 min, von Obscuriel am 17. Okt 2016 … mit vielen verschiedenen Themen;

Die (amerikanische)Mafia – Doku 2016, 84.33 min, uploaded by Nina Levine, Sept 20, 2016 … auf TV History;

Appreciating the Alternative Economic Story, on Axiom News, by Michelle Strutzenberger, Nov 10, 2014: Louisville gathering to identify, connect and celebrate relational, community-oriented economy;

Economy of Abundance, the technophilantropists, on Pendulum in Action, by Jamie Moran, June 20, 2013: This is the final post in a series of four based on Peter Diamandis’ New York Times Bestselling book Abundance, The Future Is Better Than You Think;

… and this:

uploaded by Jacob Isenhower:

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