In his book Fantasyland, Kurt Anderson explains Trump this way: "America was created by true believers and passionate dreamers, by hucksters and their suckers-which over the course of four centuries has made us susceptible to fantasy, as epitomized by everything from Salem hunting witches to Joseph Smith creating Mormonism, from P. T. Barnum to Henry David Thoreau to speaking in tongues, from Hollywood to Scientology to conspiracy theories, from Walt Disney to Billy Graham to Ronald Reagan to Oprah Winfrey to Donald Trump. In other words: mix epic individualism with extreme religion; mix show business with everything else; let all that steep and simmer for a few centuries; run it through the anything-goes 1960s and the Internet age; the result is the America we inhabit today, where reality and fantasy are weirdly and dangerously blurred and commingled." As many Americans see themselves as the chosen people they feel they need a leader who embodies their "specialness" - a fearless individualist who will promote the US over every other country. Mix in the ingredients that Anderson describes and you have Trump. It will be interesting to see later this year if the centre holds. We could be in for a wild ride.
Good, well-reasoned piece, although characterizing Hillary Clinton's policy planks in 2016 as simply a slogan ("I'm with her") is perhaps a tad reductive. And even though she lost the election, she won the popular vote, so her campaign (and presumably her policies) actually appealed to more voters than Trump's. But thanks to the strange and antiquated US electoral system, Trump won.
Great article and I particularly like the line/thought “Contempt is the enemy of judgement”. While his supporters have strong rational/economic arguments, do questions of taste and morals play no part for them? (Or maybe I am falling into the contempt trap)
I note that in your list of myths to demolish, "Trump is an authoritarian who neither cares for, nor observes the norms of democracy" doesn't make an appearance...
Yes sort of although I'm not sure how much he wants to be a permanent ruler, so much as he hates losing. One good thing about this time around is that, if he wins, he can't lose again, so it's an easier exit.
Yes, it's not just the permanent ruler bit (although I'd be more concerned about that if he were 47 rather than 77), but also the threats to use the DoJ to carry out vendettas against his political opponents, proclaiming that America's institutions are infested by "the swamp" who will immediately be sacked, etc, etc
“Contempt is the enemy of judgement” - an excellent observation that feels like a quote from a sage of the past (GKC, perhaps) but is, as far as I can see, an original.
As a conservative Substack reader, I enjoy thoughtful commentary that reviews both sides. I’m on the policy side of the argument that Trump gets things done, chaotically and loudly but effectively. I would also laud his Abraham accords as underrated. I think a second term will expand them. As a Middle East-Africa traveler I don’t recall the free movement and trade with Israel that was opening with Muslim states.
Super article. Thank you. Interesting about Democrats going on age; seems very risky. Each of the very short clips they use in their attack ad there could, on their face, just as easily be assumed by viewers to be out of context as in context (i.e. it is an attack ad, after all); while Trump's language is notoriously idiosyncratic and people discount for that. Not so with Biden, whose language is formal and so errors far more striking. Meanwhile, the Democrats have to contend not with Biden's natural decline to date, but the sharp decline which would be normal over the next year then the four years after that until he is 86. My impression is that they might have already accepted that a single major Biden brain incident (like Mitch McConnell's) will scupper them but it is what it is, so they're pressing on regardless and hoping for the best.
In his book Fantasyland, Kurt Anderson explains Trump this way: "America was created by true believers and passionate dreamers, by hucksters and their suckers-which over the course of four centuries has made us susceptible to fantasy, as epitomized by everything from Salem hunting witches to Joseph Smith creating Mormonism, from P. T. Barnum to Henry David Thoreau to speaking in tongues, from Hollywood to Scientology to conspiracy theories, from Walt Disney to Billy Graham to Ronald Reagan to Oprah Winfrey to Donald Trump. In other words: mix epic individualism with extreme religion; mix show business with everything else; let all that steep and simmer for a few centuries; run it through the anything-goes 1960s and the Internet age; the result is the America we inhabit today, where reality and fantasy are weirdly and dangerously blurred and commingled." As many Americans see themselves as the chosen people they feel they need a leader who embodies their "specialness" - a fearless individualist who will promote the US over every other country. Mix in the ingredients that Anderson describes and you have Trump. It will be interesting to see later this year if the centre holds. We could be in for a wild ride.
Good, well-reasoned piece, although characterizing Hillary Clinton's policy planks in 2016 as simply a slogan ("I'm with her") is perhaps a tad reductive. And even though she lost the election, she won the popular vote, so her campaign (and presumably her policies) actually appealed to more voters than Trump's. But thanks to the strange and antiquated US electoral system, Trump won.
Great article and I particularly like the line/thought “Contempt is the enemy of judgement”. While his supporters have strong rational/economic arguments, do questions of taste and morals play no part for them? (Or maybe I am falling into the contempt trap)
I note that in your list of myths to demolish, "Trump is an authoritarian who neither cares for, nor observes the norms of democracy" doesn't make an appearance...
Yes sort of although I'm not sure how much he wants to be a permanent ruler, so much as he hates losing. One good thing about this time around is that, if he wins, he can't lose again, so it's an easier exit.
Yes, it's not just the permanent ruler bit (although I'd be more concerned about that if he were 47 rather than 77), but also the threats to use the DoJ to carry out vendettas against his political opponents, proclaiming that America's institutions are infested by "the swamp" who will immediately be sacked, etc, etc
“Contempt is the enemy of judgement” - an excellent observation that feels like a quote from a sage of the past (GKC, perhaps) but is, as far as I can see, an original.
As a conservative Substack reader, I enjoy thoughtful commentary that reviews both sides. I’m on the policy side of the argument that Trump gets things done, chaotically and loudly but effectively. I would also laud his Abraham accords as underrated. I think a second term will expand them. As a Middle East-Africa traveler I don’t recall the free movement and trade with Israel that was opening with Muslim states.
Yes I meant to mention the Abraham Accords, a genuinely impressive accomplishment.
Super article. Thank you. Interesting about Democrats going on age; seems very risky. Each of the very short clips they use in their attack ad there could, on their face, just as easily be assumed by viewers to be out of context as in context (i.e. it is an attack ad, after all); while Trump's language is notoriously idiosyncratic and people discount for that. Not so with Biden, whose language is formal and so errors far more striking. Meanwhile, the Democrats have to contend not with Biden's natural decline to date, but the sharp decline which would be normal over the next year then the four years after that until he is 86. My impression is that they might have already accepted that a single major Biden brain incident (like Mitch McConnell's) will scupper them but it is what it is, so they're pressing on regardless and hoping for the best.
Yeah I don't think they're happy but there was never any chance they could unseat him if he didn't want to be unseated.