Trump won a simple victory
The analysis of Donald Trump’s victory is pretty straightforward. Despite the Age of Enlightenment and almost universal education, there is a significant proportion of people everywhere who are stupid, racist, sexist and selfish bigots, and if you give them the vote, they will vote for stupid, racist, sexist and selfish bigots.
Second, right-wing think tanks and media have legitimized the widespread use of hate and lies, and no matter how much hate Trump spread or how much he lied, he was still celebrated by all those indoctrinated by the hate and lies endlessly disseminating from these immoral sources. Think Fox News.
Third, the politics of globalization and laissez-faire neoliberal economics have left too many people disenfranchised and angry, and even though Trump represents the tiny minority of hyper-rich people who benefited from these policies, he was able to turn their anger in his favor, partly because too many people are simply too stupid to understand the reasons for their disenfranchisement (see above).
Fourth, too many liberals still do not understand that too much immigration is something that almost nobody wants. Some immigration is okay, but once hundreds of thousands or millions of immigrants arrive in a short period of time, most people feel threatened. Again, Trump tapped into that resentment and fear, while liberals kept defending immigration.
Fifth, the US is basically still a pretty sexist country (see above), and the thought of a woman in the White House is just too much for many US men and even some women to accept.
Finally, people should forget the bogus idea that the US is the greatest nation in the world. It might still be the most powerful nation in the world, but on almost every indicator of happiness, health, social welfare, crime, or environmental sustainability, it is not even in the top 10.
If you want to look for role models, then look, for example, to European nations. Despite all the above problems also becoming endemic in European nations, many European nations score much higher in any of these categories than the US.
Even Canada, despite all its faults, is a better place to live than the US. And I have talked to some Americans who happily live in Taiwan and would, for the reasons above, never want to go back to the US. It is simply a bad nation to be in or to admire.
Flora Faun
Taipei
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