I am watching the national media trying to explain why Bernie Sanders and AOC are getting traction. Why did this not happen in 2024? Something happened between then and now. Here is my observation:
1) The rise of the billionaires Trump has empowered them to act on his behalf, fitting them into a new classification term for the US, "oligarchs". Their ignorance and understanding of what services the government provided to the non-rich has been jaw-droppingly insensitive, out of touch with how others live, and angering. This will become even more controversial in any upcoming debate over tax cuts to the rich while cutting services and benefits to the lower and middle classes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/chasewithorn/2025/04/01/forbes-39th-annual-worlds-billionaires-list-more-than-3000-worth-16-trillion/
2) An administration that many voted for because Trump promised to make life cheaper for those struggling to cope with daily life they cannot afford. Some Trump voters had hoped for Trump, who claimed to represent them in 2024, but now ignores their priorities as he pursues his other own obsessions. This will become an even hotter issue since voters have not yet felt the full force of economic pain caused by the tariff wars and reduced access to veterans benefits, social security, Medicaid, medicare, school lunches, and consumer protections.
3) Public policies are implemented that most blue or red had not voted for...sabotaging social security, firing veterans and hurting their benefits, and removing help for students with disabilities, increasing costs of living instead of lowering them through nutty tariff wars.
4) Trump embracing a dictator like Putin as he ticks off our best foreign friends and makes us a pariah nation to the rest of the free world we used to lead by example and policies.
5) The upshot of 1-4 is happening in March 2025 . It is economic populism at the core, unlike the 2024 elections, which were dominated by cultural populism on issues of racism. It is also related to immigration, too much/ too little diversity, sexism, abortion, gender and LGBTQ issues, and book banning or not. The villains to blame now are the oligarchs who Trump empowered as personified by chainsaw-wielding Elon Musk instead of the libs or fascists.
No comments:
Post a Comment