Previously posted on my Facebook page.
I REMEMBER an 18-year old daughter of a friend in Long Beach CA who went to Haiti for “fun and adventure” to help earthquake victims and came home totally a new human being. Now she questions dishwashers and washer-dryers (“Can we do these with our bare hands?”) cars and SUVs (“Walking is exercise”), cellphones (“There were 5 public phones in an entire village of 1500) video games (“We played soccer in the mud! Awesome!”) and television (“TV was like a moviehouse, scheduled for 35 villagers to watch one movie each week”) etc etcetera.
Come to think of it, that's how I grew up. I may have gone old still a crazy dude, but I am proud to say that all my kids—although they use the internet and got cellphones—are still relatively old-school. Still, there are issues to deal other than a wireless abode, right? I'd rather worry about those...
When a child responds to, “Hey, did you check your Facebook today?” with, “I will for few minutes, I just need to finish this watercolor painting and I need to sleep early today for the volleyball game tomorrow,” then there is hope. No need to hire an “internet safety” tutor. Believe me, they know what “safe” is if their minds are working as natural reflex than brains that is so quick at electronic response. 🗽🏦🗽
IF we dig deeper and try to get off the Hitler horror cloud a bit and figure out how come the dude was able to convince minions to gather on his beck and call, we can see a parallel in current times. People are disgruntled and frustrated mainly by virtue of the One Percent's (eg Corporate World) machinations in complicity with governments. That is the kind of sociopolitical environment that a quintessential demagogue thrives. A demagogue is a political leader who seeks support by appealing to popular desires and prejudices rather than by using rational argument. That is why elections are about winning and the best (or worst?) demagogues win. Many times strategists play around a certain effective rah-rah slogan that goes with charismatic leaders—and that spell victory.
In the US, I believe that the ruckus that ensued between camps of polar extremes (Trump against Sanders mainly) reflect a painful truth. Americans are pissed. As per a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll, voter discontent has reached a fever pitch: 72 percent say their elected officials can’t be trusted, and two-thirds believe the nation’s political system is dysfunctional. Some 21 percent of people want the eventual president-elect to employ drastic makeover of government structures and start over from scratch. Such utter disillusionment mutates into two polar extremes that howl, “We need complete redress of the system!” which makes Republican frontrunner Mr Trump's “Bring back America to Americans!” battlecry and Democrat Bernie Sanders' “Power to the people!” chant seem very alluring and palpable—at least to the heart that bleeds. 🗽🏦🗽
MANY compare Donald Trump with The Fuhrer. True, The Donald's politics could be a bit blurry, uncontrollably assymmetrical mostly. He claims to run on a platform of populism, nativism, protectionism and authoritarianism—with strong opposition to immigration, free trade and military interventionism. Meantime, many detractors find his fiery espousals as white supremacist/racist and misogynistic—sending shivers of a Hitlerian blueprint.
But then, remember, the Adolf fella gained popular support in 1924 by attacking the Treaty of Versailles and promoting Pan-Germanism, anti-Semitism, and anti-communism with charismatic oratory. He denounced international capitalism and communism as being part of a Jewish conspiracy. Hitler aimed to eliminate Jews from Germany and establish a New Order to counter what he saw as the injustice of the post-World War I international order dominated by Britain and France. The kicker was his first six years in power resulted in rapid economic recovery from the Great Depression. Hence, he lured back ethnic Germans to return to nativeland. Germany back to the Germans. And then he got really fucked up. Rest of horrible history.
Trump's glib albeit straight-through rhetoric infers that the ills of current America is ushered by an immigrant community in connivance with giant corporations. And when we talk about the American who lost a factory job to overseas outsourcing and then sees Chinese products flooding retail shelves then comes home to an injured soldier kin languishing in alcohol, what do we see? Then Trump promises, “I will give your life back.”
I refuse to sweepingly judge those who gravitate to Trump as idiots or morons. These are disenfranchised citizenry relegated to the background of a largely elitist, politically-correct and educated social enclave. Their woes and hopes accentuate “popular desires and prejudices rather than rational arguments.” Bottomline, the people want change. And Trump minces no words in saying, yes he can. Do I like him? No. I am just pointing some factors why he seems so popular.
We have to take note as well—elections aren't really about who is the most deserving, or right, or just candidate—it is all about winning, no matter what. It's all about numbers. Hence, the most popular ones, with the most formidable One Percent backer, win. How do the people conter that? Advocate to non-believers instead of pushing them away. 🗽🏦🗽
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