Some Thoughts on the Election, Trump, and the Angry White Man

I've had my fair share of political takes on this platform and everywhere else. I like to talk about politics not from the perspective of sport teams playing, a narrowed down view from inside our political establishments, but a holistic view of conditions, tactics behind the cover, and developments outside of the electoral realm.

When I see this election, I don't think of more than half a population voting for Trump. I see the hatred and tactics of the Trump campaign and ideology winning.

The Onion recently made a joke at the end of a video of theirs saying “The Trump campaign is in full on damage control ever since videos leaked of him being quite rude”, the joke being that such a thing would not happen. He stands above the law, above the court of public opinion, above politics overall. He could do whatever, and the difference to him and other right wing lunatics, was that he had the guts, stupidity, or genius to outright say it. Trump is winning because he represents that sentiment. The death of the euphemism. The dogwhistle perfected in the Reagan campaign, now finally unleashing what was always meant to be. The people were teased with fascism when all they heard was immigration, border security, taxation, business, economy, or the gutting of social systems. Now they want to finally hear not a whistle, but a roar of what was promised.

The Republican opposition to Trump used to be the norm. The people we'd nowadays see as synonyms to Trump, from Ben Shapiro to J.D. Vance, were once strongly opposing such a man. They're flags in the wind, and he's a hurricane. The party shaped in his image, MAGA the same as being a conservative.

Republicans have demonized a political group to such an extent, that a majority of people will no longer think of their own interests and wellbeing when voting, but rather how miserable a certain candidate would make others. “Own the libs” and so on. Do they agree with Trump's rhetoric that immigrants have crime in their genes? Do they agree with Trump's statements of wanting to euthanize the disabled? It doesn't matter. They think those policies will aggravate the left. This man is “triggering the wokes”. Rightful anger of the establishment converted into meaningless feud over fabricated moral panics.

To pretend this tactic was invented by Trump would be a lie. How often do people vote for the betterment of the economy instead of their own interests? “The economy” was always a placeholder for “the rich”. The first time people were told to vote against their interests is when our criticism should start, because we can now see where it leads. Vote to madden those we have decided for you not to like!

There's this sub-plot in “The Boys” that drives the point home quite well: a character named Todd has a slight disagreement with the ex-husband of his now wife, which ends up in a fight in which he's the weaker party, both in arguments and strength. Later on he watches a demonizing, and mask-off speech, by the character representing Trump in the show, which mesmerizes him. Instead of reflecting his arguments and worldview over a fight, he's flocking to a person whom he understands will ensure his arguments become heard and right again. When “Trump” wins, he doesn't need to reflect or change, because “Trump” will normalize his opinions once again. “Trump” will ensure a culture and world where he doesn't need to change and his opponent (the ex husband of his wife) will not only be wrong, but maddened and angered. Todd represents the angry white man, who by wanting to stick to his worldview and beliefs by any means necessary, changes a concerning amount and radicalizes himself off the far right deep end. “Trump” can get away with anything and he'd like just that. He'd like to be a man that can do and say such things and expect zero consequence, instead of facing the embarrassment of being wrong once.