My comments on posts claiming that Trump won due to sexism, racism, misogyny and stupidity
In the context of a Facebook post of a USA based Facebook friend (of Indian origin) that reflected a lot of upset at Mr. Trump winning the USA presidential election and referred to sexism, racism, misogyny and stupidity, I made a few comments which I have shared below (slightly edited).
I think that's (your post content) too harsh a view, --name-snipped--. It seems that the white working classes in the rust-belt states and elsewhere have great anxiety about their livelihoods and believe that Trump can deliver better jobs for them. I think that seems to be the major factor for this huge upset win of Trump where he even won states like Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania (as per projections), which were expected to go to Clinton.
Trump's victory speech has been gracious. I think perhaps it is time to go easy on criticism of somebody who was elected as president in a fair election. Perhaps this video clip of Stephen Colbert may be of some help to come to terms with this shock result (if you have not already viewed it), Stephen Tries To Make Sense Of All This, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9m2valF3s84, 9 min 30 secs, Nov. 9th 2016
...
Ultimately, in a democracy, the majority matters. Whether one likes it or not. Sometimes the will of the majority may not be to the liking of many. But the great thing about democracy is that it allows for a PEACEFUL TRANSITION OF POWER to the standard bearer of the majority. In places where fair elections do not get held, the majority tries to force the change in power through violent and rather terrifying means. That is the reality of power.
Racism, misogyny, bigotry etc. may be part of the reason for the majority vote this time around in the USA. I will not say that that's not there. But one cannot put it down only to that. There is more to it. Economic suffering in the poor and lower middle classes in the USA is horrifying. I know as I have seen videos about it and read up about it, which shocked me to my core, in the past few years (after Mahasamadhi of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba in April 2011).
Michael Moore put it well when he said that many in the rust-belt states (he is from one of them, Michigan) are so mad at the political establishment whom they hold responsible for the factories closing down in thousands leading to joblessness or poor growth, that they wanted to hurl a human Molotov cocktail at the political (and other) establishment. Moore said that they viewed Trump as that human Molotov Cocktail.
It is a very difficult time in the USA now. I think it would be wiser to cool down. USA is a country with hundreds of millions of guns spread among many citizens. The election is over! It is a Trump presidency (along with a Republican controlled House and Senate) for the next 4 years. Now one has to figure out how to live with that rather than rail against the winners. Now that's my view. But I don't live in the USA. You do. And so you may feel differently. I respect your feelings. But do think about whether public expression of such feelings will help or hurt in this sensitive period in the USA.
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The same person shared a Facebook video, https://www.facebook.com/AC360/videos/10157827017620533/ of Anderson Cooper 360, having the quote, "This was a whitelash against a changing country. It was whitelash against a black president in part." I made the following comment on it (slightly edited):
I had seen the video in part earlier (the whitelash part of it). Saw the whole video. Understand the concern. And Trump did speak well in his victory speech trying to address that concern. But ...
I had not wanted to post these links earlier publicly but as you have shared this, let me share some rather serious but scary views about Trump and his movement from US thinkers & academics. Now I am not saying that I agree or disagree with them but here are the links. It is some tough stuff. So read it only if you can handle it.
Ideas that fed the beast of fascism flourish today; The crisis of political institutions provides striking parallels with the 1930s by Mark Mazower (historian with Columbia university), https://www.ft.com/content/599fbbfc-a412-11e6-8898-79a99e2a4de6, Nov. 6th 2016
The Revenge of the Lower Classes and the Rise of American Fascism by Chris Hedges, http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_revenge_of_the_lower_classes_and_the_rise_of_american_fascism_20160302, originally published on March 2nd (2016).
I find Chris Hedges writings to be rather disturbing and tend not to read them. But I wanted to know his view of Trump. While he is very critical of Clinton and Democratic party as well, I think some points of his above article seem noteworthy even if one feels they are extreme.
And here's Paul Krugman, Our Unknown Country, http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/cp/opinion/election-night-2016/the-unknown-country
and
The Economic Fallout, http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/cp/opinion/election-night-2016/paul-krugman-the-economic-fallout
So the Trump victory has raised a lot of fears in the USA itself with many leading thinkers and writers being very upset and yes, scared. However, Trump and his supporters have won (Clinton has not yet formally conceded (as far as I know) but I think the Trump victory is an accepted thing by most people).
Now I think what must be done by those fearing increase in racism, misogyny and bigotry, is to have a collective watch on such incidents and fight and prevent such incidents within the legal and constitutional framework of the USA. One cannot deny the votes as invalid due to possible racism, misogyny or bigotry! Like one cannot deny votes as invalid in India due to casteism. That's simply the reality of life among some sections of people in USA and India respectively.
-----
Please note that I have a PUBLICLY NEUTRAL informal-student-observer role in these posts that I put up about the USA presidential elections. Of course, as I am an Indian citizen living in India, there is no question of me voting in these elections.
I think that's (your post content) too harsh a view, --name-snipped--. It seems that the white working classes in the rust-belt states and elsewhere have great anxiety about their livelihoods and believe that Trump can deliver better jobs for them. I think that seems to be the major factor for this huge upset win of Trump where he even won states like Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania (as per projections), which were expected to go to Clinton.
Trump's victory speech has been gracious. I think perhaps it is time to go easy on criticism of somebody who was elected as president in a fair election. Perhaps this video clip of Stephen Colbert may be of some help to come to terms with this shock result (if you have not already viewed it), Stephen Tries To Make Sense Of All This, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9m2valF3s84, 9 min 30 secs, Nov. 9th 2016
...
Ultimately, in a democracy, the majority matters. Whether one likes it or not. Sometimes the will of the majority may not be to the liking of many. But the great thing about democracy is that it allows for a PEACEFUL TRANSITION OF POWER to the standard bearer of the majority. In places where fair elections do not get held, the majority tries to force the change in power through violent and rather terrifying means. That is the reality of power.
Racism, misogyny, bigotry etc. may be part of the reason for the majority vote this time around in the USA. I will not say that that's not there. But one cannot put it down only to that. There is more to it. Economic suffering in the poor and lower middle classes in the USA is horrifying. I know as I have seen videos about it and read up about it, which shocked me to my core, in the past few years (after Mahasamadhi of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba in April 2011).
Michael Moore put it well when he said that many in the rust-belt states (he is from one of them, Michigan) are so mad at the political establishment whom they hold responsible for the factories closing down in thousands leading to joblessness or poor growth, that they wanted to hurl a human Molotov cocktail at the political (and other) establishment. Moore said that they viewed Trump as that human Molotov Cocktail.
It is a very difficult time in the USA now. I think it would be wiser to cool down. USA is a country with hundreds of millions of guns spread among many citizens. The election is over! It is a Trump presidency (along with a Republican controlled House and Senate) for the next 4 years. Now one has to figure out how to live with that rather than rail against the winners. Now that's my view. But I don't live in the USA. You do. And so you may feel differently. I respect your feelings. But do think about whether public expression of such feelings will help or hurt in this sensitive period in the USA.
--------
The same person shared a Facebook video, https://www.facebook.com/AC360/videos/10157827017620533/ of Anderson Cooper 360, having the quote, "This was a whitelash against a changing country. It was whitelash against a black president in part." I made the following comment on it (slightly edited):
I had seen the video in part earlier (the whitelash part of it). Saw the whole video. Understand the concern. And Trump did speak well in his victory speech trying to address that concern. But ...
I had not wanted to post these links earlier publicly but as you have shared this, let me share some rather serious but scary views about Trump and his movement from US thinkers & academics. Now I am not saying that I agree or disagree with them but here are the links. It is some tough stuff. So read it only if you can handle it.
Ideas that fed the beast of fascism flourish today; The crisis of political institutions provides striking parallels with the 1930s by Mark Mazower (historian with Columbia university), https://www.ft.com/content/599fbbfc-a412-11e6-8898-79a99e2a4de6, Nov. 6th 2016
The Revenge of the Lower Classes and the Rise of American Fascism by Chris Hedges, http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_revenge_of_the_lower_classes_and_the_rise_of_american_fascism_20160302, originally published on March 2nd (2016).
I find Chris Hedges writings to be rather disturbing and tend not to read them. But I wanted to know his view of Trump. While he is very critical of Clinton and Democratic party as well, I think some points of his above article seem noteworthy even if one feels they are extreme.
And here's Paul Krugman, Our Unknown Country, http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/cp/opinion/election-night-2016/the-unknown-country
and
The Economic Fallout, http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/cp/opinion/election-night-2016/paul-krugman-the-economic-fallout
So the Trump victory has raised a lot of fears in the USA itself with many leading thinkers and writers being very upset and yes, scared. However, Trump and his supporters have won (Clinton has not yet formally conceded (as far as I know) but I think the Trump victory is an accepted thing by most people).
Now I think what must be done by those fearing increase in racism, misogyny and bigotry, is to have a collective watch on such incidents and fight and prevent such incidents within the legal and constitutional framework of the USA. One cannot deny the votes as invalid due to possible racism, misogyny or bigotry! Like one cannot deny votes as invalid in India due to casteism. That's simply the reality of life among some sections of people in USA and India respectively.
-----
Please note that I have a PUBLICLY NEUTRAL informal-student-observer role in these posts that I put up about the USA presidential elections. Of course, as I am an Indian citizen living in India, there is no question of me voting in these elections.
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