Why Did Trump Win? 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Nilanjana Dasgupta tries offers some thoughts. I don’t know that I agree with everything she says, but I do think her piece is a worth-while read. Keep in mind that she is discussing voters’ perceptions of reality, not reality itself.
Here’s a bit of her piece:
The social class gap in opportunity isn’t recent. It has been widening since neoliberalism became the dominant ideology in the 1980s, shaping political and economic policies. A good society, according to neoliberalism, is one that privatizes public resources and property, privileges free market and trade, reduces government spending on social safety nets, and minimizes regulation of businesses (Harvey, 2005). Decades of neoliberal policies have been associated with yawning inequalities in income, health, and education, crushing middle- and working-class people whose pent-up despair and rage was recognized and used by Trump.
Missing from the analysis and, indeed, from Trump voters’ perspectives, is another crucial fact. Donald Trump’s track record of keeping his wor–oh, never mind.
Aside:
The irony is that the neoliberalism she refers to leans to the right and, indeed, has served as cover for Republicans’ gutting many of the programs instituted by Democrats from FDR to LBJ.
