|
I think you are right, but only to a certain extent. Yes, Trump brought out something that was already there, lying dormant. But without Trump, it would mostly have stayed dormant. Trump's primary victory in 2016 was a massive fluke, primarily (from what I saw) enabled by a combination of the horribly fractured GOP field, with the party establishment unable to rally behind a single candidate until it was already too late, a bunch of people who thought it was funny and voted for Trump for the lulz, and a large number of people who were frustrated by the past few years. That latter group I think came in two basic flavors: the ones who were frustrated because we had a black president, and the ones who were frustrated because the GOP Congress was stopping everything he tried to do (but who didn't fully grasp that this was entirely the GOP's fault). I genuinely believe that had the circumstances been just a little bit different in any number of ways, Trump would never even have made it past the first primary. Once he was in the position of being a major party presidential candidate, it amplified his voice and that voice gave permission for all the bigots and fascists in America and abroad to show themselves and join their power together. That said, I think there is a sickness in our culture, and I think its current prominence can largely be traced to Reagan, through several other intermediaries. What we don't cherish, promote, and prioritize is kindness and compassion for our fellow human beings—all of them. |