Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop
I don't always like Andrew Sullivan, but I think I am 100% with him on this:
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This article, and others like it, overemphasize the importance of the President.
The forces causing the "civil war" are economic. Globalization, automation, wealth inequality... all the usual suspects. Trump isn't driving the country into a ditch (he actually hasn't done much of anything, as his efforts have been largely blocked).
Our cold civil war is a cultural thing, but it's the kind of cultural thing that rears its head pretty predictably during and following economic crises. Groups are scapegoated, demagogues appear -- everybody blames somebody else for their problems.
When people don't have good economic prospects, they lash out. Trump's a symptom. And Sullivan and his sort do a great disservice to the country by arguing that Trump is a unique problem that has plunged us into crisis.
Trump is what happens when a country diverts its gaze from a slow brewing, long term crisis in the making. We know the demographics. We know we can't paper over problems faced by the overwhelming majority of Americans. We've chosen a policy of pretending, avoiding, and outright lying where necessary to perpetuate the myth that everything's great for most people. Well, apparently, Andrew, that's not the case. Because when things are even just okay for most Americans, they do not vote for the likes of Trump.
Trump will be gone someday. The problems which led to his emergence will probably have only worsened in the meantime. And save on the environment, Hillary'd have fared no better in addressing any of them. They are beyond political fixes.
I'm kind of shocked someone as smart as Sullivan would attempt to argue the President's importance. In matters economic, he's simply not that powerful.
