Donald Trump’s popularity is seen by many to be indicative of deep-seated racism and general idiocy amongst Republicans in particular and the American people in general. I feel that instead, Trump’s popularity demonstrates just how much politics in general has failed the population of the country.
Trump absolutely says tons of ridiculous things that are totally indefensible. From his border wall to his opinions on immigration, from his military strategizing to saying he’s going to force Apple to make iPhones in the U.S., Trump seems to be completely off his rocker. Whether or not he’s smart about how to get elected, whether he actually believes what he says is something nobody but him knows.
The one thing that makes Trump radically different from the rest of the field is how incredibly human he appears. He is nothing like any other politician. Regardless if people believe what he’s saying, they see that he is acting the way he wants to act. While most politicians unendingly worry about saying the wrong thing or acting the wrong way, Trump seems to simply not care.
One of my biggest problems with politicians is how inhuman they act all the time. It’s not surprising, when there is a team of people that tell candidates how to act, what to say and what to wear, even how to stand or sit. To act in a carefully orchestrated way is downright creepy. Listen to how politicians answer questions. They are the masters of the non-answer, saying things that sound like answers but in fact say absolutely nothing at all.
When asked a question, Trump never gives non-answers. He confidently says what’s on his mind, seemingly not caring about the consequences. I recall an event several years ago when John Kerry was campaigning in Philadelphia and got a cheesesteak. Sounds normal, but there have been articles claiming that one of Kerry’s decisions was the beginning of the unraveling of his campaign. The problem – Kerry ordered Swiss cheese on his cheesesteak.
That’s right. Kerry’s choice of cheese was a colossal issue. When political campaigning hinges upon ordering the right kind of cheese, the average American has been alienated. Say what you want about Trump, he would not care one single bit about ordering the wrong kind of cheese. This represents how normal people act. The majority of Americans don’t spend hours upon hours daily poring over the minutiae of exactly how to act and what to say and how to say it, we simply live our lives the way we want and act in whatever way we feel to us is right.
I strongly believe that the American public is fed up with their government. How are we to be represented by a bunch of plutocrats, old white guys from rich families who were born into politics? People rail against the 1 percent, but it’s the 1 percent running the country they should be worried about, not successful businesspeople.
Americans cannot be represented by people who do not even act like humans. When “politician” is synonymous with “scum-sucking lying greedy corrupt dirtbag,” something has gone horribly wrong. When the majority of politicians in power have completely lost touch with the public, disruption is a formula for success.
Trump isn’t popular because huge numbers of Americans are latent fascists who hate Muslims and Mexicans and want to wage war across the globe. Trump is popular because he is not a politician yet he is in politics refusing to play along with the rest of the politicians, throwing a wrench into the whole process.
Shaking the foundations of politics and rejecting decades of conventional wisdom on how to get elected is cathartically pleasing to the millions of Americans who feel abandoned by politics. We’re mad and while many are too lazy or hopeless to make any real change, to reject the entire political apparatus, it’s immensely satisfying to see someone stir up trouble and act like a real person for once.
I’m not in favor of a wall, I’m not in favor of rampant economic protectionism and I’m not in favor of war or an America that interferes with the goings on of every sovereign nation on the planet.
I disagree with basically everything that comes out of Trump’s mouth, yet I still root for him because if he can succeed in politics without being a politician, others will learn that it is unnecessary to have these ridiculous over-managed campaigns and hopefully will start a trend of candidates who are just themselves, opening the door for those who are outside of the established political machine.
Trump’s success in politics being a neo-fascist clown should not be taken as a condemnation of the American public, but of the political system that has failed the general public at every turn. If politicians acted human and unafraid to act like the rest of us, to be able to give a straight answer to a question, Trump would have been laughed off stage.
It is the failure of American politics that allows Trump to enjoy such success. For those looking for someone to blame, blame the entrenched leadership, not the public they have abandoned.