“Trump: Where do we go from here?”

-- By PeterClaus - 13 Mar 2017

Overture

I think this is an important question for some obvious reasons, and because I don't know the answer to it. Also so much of what is politically important and what we should work towards as society, such as better education, better healthcare, and a more economically just world feel so deeply beyond the pale, in terms of what we can currently achieve.

Overton Window

The political situation of America 2017, is part of why I've felt resistance or annoyance to several of the ideas that we discuss in this and my other classes. The foundations of the commerce clause are interesting and important in their own right, but seem incredibly immaterial if we have a President who may not believe in unfavorable judicial review. Yet we spend so much more time on the former. Likewise, things that we've talked about here, such as “free software, free hardware, etc” seem less important in the era of Trump. In the abstract, I mostly agree with many of the theses put forward. However, we are living in a country where the basic idea that someone can be a Muslim and an American is an issue that there is active disagreement on. This makes some of the issues that we discuss feel like trying to find a better couch while the house is on fire.

Resisting Despair

In terms of my answer to the question, resisting political despair is the first thing to address. An idea that I often hear repeated when discussing Trump, is that “Nothing Matters.” This refers to the fact that nothing Trump did as a candidate was able to dislodge the support that he ultimately had. And also refers to the fact that now, no matter the scandal his core will support him. It also increasingly seems that the Republicans will support him no matter what as well, in order to scavenge for whatever power and political influence they can. This is deeply disheartening both to someone who still wants the political process in America to be an answer to our problems instead of violent revolution, and because if “Nothing Matters” then the situation feels deeply hopeless. Resisting this urge is important, if we go quietly into the night and admit there is nothing we can do, then suicide or leaving the country are really the only options.

Unique Uncertainty

The current day feels uncertain in a way that is new to the time that I have been politically alive. First, this is because of the how completely unprecedented and totally wrong everyone was in predicting Trump's rise and victory. If everyone I view as an “expert” on the subject got it so deeply wrong, what should I look at to figure out how to move forward? How do we figure out how to fight this thing, if what we believe our the fundamental principles of how to interpret the current political world works, are in fact so unreliable. I'm also equally suspicious of anyone who claims to “understand it” now. This is Monday morning quarterbacking at best, and more likely deluded and intellectually self-serving.

Second, the range of possible outcomes from the US government are wider than before. I fully believe that not only could Trump start a war over perceived slight, but that there's really nothing off of the table that he could credibly do. It is equally plausible that I could wake up tomorrow and find that Trump has taken Steve Bannon off the NSC, as it is that he is going to instruct the Attorney General to prosecute President Obama for wire tapping Trump Tower. This wide swing of uncertainty is both terrifying for someone who would like to know what tomorrow is going to bring, but also make analysis of the situation, and planning to move forward a non-starter.

The Future and How Fascism Comes to America

Trump could be how true fascism comes to America. I don't think Trump himself is the ultimate dictator/Hitler/fascist parallel. However, as I've just said I don't know anything with any certainty. I think what is scary here is what Trump may have opened the door to. I believe he won't be our first fascist President is because he doesn't believe in anything but himself. He doesn't have a vision of how the world should be, there are no ideological ends that he wants to meet. Trump's only true allegiance begins and ends when he looks in the mirror. That being said, he certainly has inspired a sizable portion of America to believe in his cult of personality, and the false hope he has promised them. I also don't think that this is some complete political fluke.

Populism has always had a voice in America, and I worry that unless we address the economic concerns of the rust-belt, and the other areas that have turned to Trump they will continue to look for more and more desperate solutions. Further, if the Republicans are able to continue to work against the interests of those who vote for them, while stirring up a xenophobic fever about undesirables, you have a mixture that is perfectly made for a fascist solution. It feels very plausible that someone else could use the same messaging to the same groups, and it seems much easier to do this because so much of the political cannon of acceptability has already been broken. With Trump opening the door, I really could see someone like Alex Jones running for President, with the same paranoid style but an evil iconoclastic ideology to match.

Conclusion

A conclusion for this question is hard, because none of the normal rules seem to apply. Hope, waiting, and trying to learn more about the situation are the only forward steps that I can see at this point.

It's not clear to me what you want this essay to say. At present, it appears to be mostly a testament to disorientation, which is certainly a feeling that you share with many people who have a longer experience with our politics than you. And it is perfectly in tune with the "noises off" in its doubt that whatever we were caring about before is still relevant in the present situation.

But to say this and no more is, for that very reason, to have in hand a sketch, rather than an essay. The question being asked is neither historical (how do we interpret this event in the context of what came before) nor political (what resources have we to struggle for what we wish to direct power to do). Probably, therefore, it's the wrong one.

So let's try a draft without Trash.YouTube illustrations, and without the touristic involvement in our own disorientation. Who this president is now seems clear even to those who haven't watched him for decades. We are going to hold our own against all the various forms of chaos he's going to unleash. Your particular contribution to that process is .... ?