Theories: Pick and Choose
A theory is a reasonable explanation supported by evidence. That is why “conspiracy theories” aren’t really theories.
When it comes to our current crisis, I retain my belief that no single theory explains everything. That said, here are some reasonable explanations of our current crisis.
1.The Orange Menace. If this evil man had not come down the gold escalator, we would not be in this mess. He is: cruel, stupid, (but cunning), vain, vengeful, ......the list goes on. He is a convicted felon. He is an adjudicated sexual offender. He is a racist and a sexist. He willfully disobeys the law and ignores our Constitution. He is a wannabe dictator. He has appointed incompetent clowns to positions of power. I will stop here, but much more could, and will, be said.
2.The Oligarchs Listen to Bernie and AOC(and many others) This is an assault by the billionaire class against the rest of us. Trump is their tool. He has delivered on their agenda: tax cuts that favor the wealthy, deregulation of business, a war on working people, perpetuating an ideology of “dog eat dog” hyper-individualism, letting Musk run amok. Appointing oligarchs and/or their representatives to positions of power, the list goes on. Trump and his enablers are not “populists”. Their policies clearly benefit the super-wealthy at the expense of the rest of us.
By the way way, this pre-dates Trump. There is a clear path from the Powell Memo (a 1971 plan on how business could increase its political power), through Reagan to Project 2025 and Trump.
3.Fascism: American Style. In the words of journalist Katherine Stewart “The big story of our time is the rise of an anti-democratic movement in the United States. It is united in its profound rejection of the Enlightenment ideals upon which the Republic was founded, and it represents the most serious threat to American democracy since the Civil War. It is best described as a new and distinctly American form of fascism.”
This movement is not conservative, it is reactionary. It is authoritarian, yet, like earlier fascist movements it uses populist rhetoric, to garner public support. Fears and anxieties are exploited, mis and dis-information runs rampant
Like other fascisms, this one features elements of anti-intellectualism, imperialism(we want Greenland, Canada is the 51st state), rule by force,
cultish devotion to the “Leader”, and fear, hatred and removal of the “Other”
4.The Masses Are Asses. Nearly 50% of the electorate voted for this guy and now they are getting what they deserve. At least 45% still support him, in spite of his antics. The few that have turned against him didn’t do so until they were directly harmed by his policies.
Lets face it . Nearly half of our fellow Americans are either ignorant, easily misinformed, or downright bigoted and cruel. Don’t let them off the hook. They chose to vote for Trump, they choose to continue supporting him, they choose not to learn, they choose to watch Fox News, they choose to scapegoat immigrants and trans people. As someone once said” No one went broke under estimating the intelligence of the American people.”
5 The Chickens Are Coming Home To Roost. This didn’t start with Trump, or even with Reagan. These problems have their origin in the roots of our society: structural racism, social, economic and political inequality, patriarchy, militarism, homophobia, Christian nationalism, the list goes on. Much of the wealth of this country was by enslaved African-Americans on land stolen from Native Americans. Much of the Southwest was taken from Mexico. Of course, the Spaniards took it from the Indians
We have never been a democracy, at least not in any meaningful sense of the term. We The People have never really governed ourselves, not even indirectly. We have always been ruled by the elites.
In the past, reform came when a combination of socio-economic conditions, and mass protests, compelled the liberal wing of the elite class to recognize that if things didn’t change the system would collapse and they would go down with it. Then the conservative wing of the ruling class would regain power and roll back many, but not all, of the reforms. Now we are being ruled by the most reactionary of the elites. Tragically, they have manipulated half of the disgruntled masses into supporting their agenda.
Things will not get better until we attack these problems at their roots. Fundamental, even revolutionary change-political, economic, social, and cultural is necessary.
Some Other Theories: Brief Thoughts
A Changing Media Landscape That Favors The Right: Fox News, podcasts, much of social media, and the decline of legacy media
Note: There are liberal podcasts, and liberals are active o social media, but the right has been more effective at using these forms of new media.
Christian Nationalism . Most Christians are not Christian Nationalists, nevertheless the threat posed by this movement cannot be overstated
White Nationalism. In the last analysis, it comes down to racism
Technology. More and more the technology itself controls what we see, hear and feel.
Polarization and the Decline of Civil Discourse. We have become the “Divided States” of America. The politics of debate, bargaining and compromise is no more. It has been replaced by the politics of identity, resentment, anger and hate. To be clear, I most of the blame belong to the right. But we on the left are in danger of being sucked into the muck.
While I think that all of these theories have merit, none of them has all of the answers. For me, the first three make the most sense, particularly two and three.
I am curious what others think.
Yeah, yeah, enough about causes, what about solutions? I will have a lot to say on that topic.
Again, I am curious about what others think.