Expeditions to Trump Country

[LDAHL]

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/10/on-safari-in-trumps-america/543288/

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/13/donald-trump-president-rust-belt-white-house

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/01/10/journey-through-trump-america/5t4rR5PKa67zwe6g9XYLWN/story.html

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/10/10/in-the-heart-of-trump-country

http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/california-forum/article172928346.html

Since the time of the election, there seems to be a new genre of political journalism built around people leaving the civilized coasts to explore Trumpland, making contact with the various tribes of the interior "to understand". Bold explorers attempt communicating with the natives of that rusty, dusty land to learn the nature of the dark spell that swept through the heart of darkness. Most leave with biases confirmed, but also a trove of stories to tell of fear, misfortune and ignorance.

As I read some of these, I can't help but think they tell us more about the explorer than the explored.

[Yppej]

I'm on the coast but I don't have to go far as my neighbor has a Trump bumper sticker on his truck. He is a very decent man, though I sense from occasional comments at political odds with his environmentalist wife, also very nice.

[frugal-one]

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/10/on-safari-in-trumps-america/543288/

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/13/donald-trump-president-rust-belt-white-house

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/01/10/journey-through-trump-america/5t4rR5PKa67zwe6g9XYLWN/story.html

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/10/10/in-the-heart-of-trump-country

http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/california-forum/article172928346.html

Since the time of the election, there seems to be a new genre of political journalism built around people leaving the civilized coasts to explore Trumpland, making contact with the various tribes of the interior "to understand". Bold explorers attempt communicating with the natives of that rusty, dusty land to learn the nature of the dark spell that swept through the heart of darkness. Most leave with biases confirmed, but also a trove of stories to tell of fear, misfortune and ignorance.

As I read some of these, I can't help but think they tell us more about the explorer than the explored.

Started to read the first article and don't believe WI is Trumpland. I do know many people who voted for Trump though and a few of them regret their decision. There is hope yet.

[Teacher Terry]

I used to live in WI and have many friends/family there and I don't think it is Trump land either. I lived in a rural are when going to grad school too and the people did not seem like the people interviewed. I am guessing Trumpland may be the South.

[Alan]

I used to live in WI and have many friends/family there and I don't think it is Trump land either. He got over half the popular vote in the state, so the math may say otherwise.

Although, I think the premise of the argument is wrong. It's not that parts of America are Trumpland, it's that large parts of America are not Hillaryland or Bernieland. Trump just happened to be the anti-Progressive as well as the anti-Republican establishmentarian, which made him stand out from the crowd.

[LDAHL]

He got over half the popular vote in the state, so the math may say otherwise.

Although, I think the premise of the argument is wrong. It's not that parts of America are Trumpland, it's that large parts of America are not Hillaryland or Bernieland. Trump just happened to be the anti-Progressive as well as the anti-Republican establishmentarian, which made him stand out from the crowd.

I think that's true. In some ways, 2016 was the mother of all protest votes. So many of these people attempting to explain Trump voters in faux-anthropological terms seem blind to the resentment their own attitudes toward those voters creates. They are prisoners of their own mindset. It's easier to believe in large pockets of ignorant racists beyond the pale (probably in the South) than that you're aggressively annoying.

Wisconsin used to be pretty reliable for the Democrats, but over the last generation or so has become more of a swing state. A lot of 2008/2012 Obama voters went with Trump in 2016. A lot of angry Berniecrats stayed home. Mrs. Clinton didn't make much of an effort in Wisconsin, and ultimately paid for it. Just look at the cover of her book. What Happened. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Asked and answered.

[Williamsmith]

Thanks for posting the article links. If you take the time to read them, and actually digest what is being said, you’ll learn a lot. Symbolism.....oh yes. But it’s really a family affair. Where I grew up, my dad told me, (paraphrasing)

”Dont think you aren’t being looked down on....people think you are just the backwash of West Virginia. And you are, but that doesn’t hold you back one bit. In fact, it makes us stronger because we know we’re the underdogs. And no matter what are weaknesses are, we are going to prove people wrong. Well get ahead despite it all. We won’t give up on our brothers.”

Trumpsim is brotherhood. He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother.


https://youtu.be/T_xzD8Pn4nM

[CathyA]

That song used to be so important to me..........back when I had hopes and dreams. It seems so different now.

[catherine]

On Facebook I just read this essay by Charles Eisenstein: The Trap of Righteousness (http://www.filmsforaction.org/articles/the-trap-of-righteousness/?utm_content=buffer8a5e0&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer). As a member of the Northeast privileged elite, I can see a lot of wisdom in his words. Here's an excerpt which relates to the OP.


The activist Susan Livingston wrote me about a proposal she had written for an Occupy group at Caltech opposing its biofuels contract with BP. She said, “It came because I was troubled by the militant attitude of some of the folks at the teach-in. I didn’t see the care I’d like for the community of the conflict—the multitude of low-level bureaucrats, small stockholders, and franchise owners whose livelihoods depend on BP. What are they—collateral damage? And especially after seeing The Drilling Fields about the human and environmental devastation in Nigeria at the hands of Shell, I’m not real fond of singling out BP in response to the resentments of some privileged students who want to have their cake and eat it, too. But we’ve got to start somewhere, and with privilege comes the capacity to mount an effective campaign of resistance.”

In this comment, Susan is drawing a key connection between privilege and militancy. Militancy, the mentality of war, always involves collateral damage. Something must always be sacrificed for the Cause. The sacrifice of others (the “community of the conflict”) is also the defining mentality of elitism: for whatever reason, those others are less important than me, my class, my cause. The privileged are always sacrificing others for their (the others’) own good. If they sometimes sacrifice themselves too, that doesn’t mitigate their elitism.

This is not to say that the oil companies should be allowed to continue what they are doing in order to preserve the livelihoods of filling-station owners. It is just that everyone needs to be seen and considered, not written off.

I think maybe Trumpland was sensing its place as "collateral damage" in a changing world.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Whatever there motives, and at a certain point who gives a flip (it's like those people who keep analyzing whether a politicians heart is in the right place or not when their policies are obviously not - enough already can we just start judging things by actual actions and other objective things rather than unknowable things). Regardless of motive, putting in Trump was pretty disastrous in results. I'm not saying great choices existed at least by the point it was down to Trump and Hillary, and some voters didn't show up to vote out of apathy about the choices, and some who did show up to vote were disenfranchised when they tried to vote (pretty rickety election system we've got) and yes only a few people's votes in a few key states actually matter at the end of the day ... but yea having Trump as a president what a disaster.

[ApatheticNoMore]

So people are supposed to be so lacking in righteousness they take no action at all, for some alleged privilege that they allegedly don't know about (but probably do in reality, come now)

Basically whether or not focusing on BP is the right tactic, people often make considered judgement (as considered as anything Eisenstein has thought) as to whether to engage in activism over a particular issue, and it may often weight pros and cons. But it has cons, yes look activists don't always feel they have the power to singlehandedly create utopia out of whole cloth, and by and large they don't wield much power either, they often have to focus on a particular issue, focus on the divestment of a college is showing how little power is wielded by them anyway. The Caltech stuff was probably actively engaged in by climate scientists scared out of their minds, although then clearly the issue is fossil fuels not just BP itself, but people sometimes focus on a narrow winnable battle ...

[catherine]

So people are supposed to be so lacking in righteousness they take no action at all, for some alleged privilege that they allegedly don't know about (but get real one can be middle class and know it's a relatively privileged position, and if anyone would know that it's activists etc. although really a lot of activists don't have a lot of money either, yes there are a few privileged activists at college, and there are activists who seem to live hand to mouth in poverty basically). Though it's far happier not to know as not knowing is never worrying about losing privileged nor seeing the pain of those without - so it's a happier position but unlikely to be one activists have so much as they average apolitical person.

What I took from the article was not "do nothing." It was about doing something without a glossy veneer of self-soothing righteousness, which tends to create two buckets: "The Righteous" and "The Deplorables."

I am reminded of a quote I saw recently: "The world is changed by your example, not your opinion." Sometimes "militancy" is in order, but it should come after serious attempts to understand the "other" and to simply "be the change."

[ApatheticNoMore]

I think you need to have some conviction to do something and if this comes off as righteousness to somebody oh well (can't be in charge of managing everyone's mood ..).

If someone actually engaged in activism meets such criticism it would be fair to ask whoever is criticizing: what are you doing as far as activism to change things? If they aren't doing any activism themselves they have little basis for criticism and are almost dismiss-able on that basis alone. Since most people aren't, those who are deserve a fair degree of respect rather than judgement. This doesn't mean that every single campaign is an effective one of course, some may not be thought out, I certainly agree that BP isn't the only problem.

[catherine]

I think you need to have some conviction to do something and if this comes off as righteousness to somebody oh well.

If someone actually engaged in activism meets such criticism it would be fair to ask whoever is criticizing: what are you doing as far as activism to change things? If they aren't doing any activism themselves they have little basis for criticism. Since most people aren't, those who are deserve a fair degree of respect rather than judgement above all judgement from back-seat drivers. This doesn't mean that every single campaign is an effective one of course, some may not be thought out, I certainly agree that BP isn't the only problem.

You're right, APN. Far, far better to do something than sit and pass judgment. I think there's a line, though, when frustration with the status quo sabotages the "righteous act." Bitterness can be a big spoiler and counter-productive to "the cause." That's what's so admirable about people like MLK, Gandhi, Mother Teresa. They never seemed to harbor animosity to anyone--even their enemies. I think that's the key point of the article.

[frugal-one]

Trumpsim is brotherhood. He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother.


https://youtu.be/T_xzD8Pn4nM

You must then be a privileged white man.

[Williamsmith]

You must then be a privileged white man.

I don’t feel I have to apologize for my status, my race or my gender. I earned it.

[Yppej]

I don’t feel I have to apologize for my status, my race or my gender. I earned it.

How did you earn your gender? Did you save up for a sex change operation?

How did you earn your race? Did you save up for some transformation like the author of Black Like Me underwent?

[Williamsmith]

How did you earn your gender? Did you save up for a sex change operation?

How did you earn your race? Did you save up for some transformation like the author of Black Like Me underwent?

Perhaps I should have qualified by adding........”it, being my status.” I made a blunder assuming.

I understand that the snarky retort is emotionally induced by the fetid hatred anti Trumpers harbor. People think just because I “explain” the Trump phenomenon....that I am a member of the cult. If you stick to the premise of the OPs remarks, we’ll have a much better discussion.

[iris lilies]

How did you earn your gender? Did you save up for a sex change operation?

How did you earn your race? Did you save up for some transformation like the author of Black Like Me underwent?
Ummm, it was gentle humor. Reminds me of Mark Twain.

[Alan]

Ummm, it was gentle humor. Reminds me of Mark Twain.
Are we still allowed to enjoy his work? I'm not up-to-date.

[Williamsmith]

Ummm, it was gentle humor. Reminds me of Mark Twain.

Oh well, if that’s the case, then I apologize. It’s too bad Samuel Clemens is not around to write about the Orange One. That would have been entertaining.

[Teacher Terry]

That would have been fun to watch.

[iris lilies]

Are we still allowed to enjoy his work? I'm not up-to-date.
You may read the expunged versions but I am not sure about the rest.

:)

[iris lilies]

Oh well, if that’s the case, then I apologize. It’s too bad Samuel Clemens is not around to write about the Orange One. That would have been entertaining.
I DO mean that YOUR statement was gentle humor.

Arrrrguhhh, the internet.:~)

[Williamsmith]

I DO mean that YOUR statement was gentle humor.

Arrrrguhhh, the internet.:~)

Oh well, if that’s the case, then I take that back! Maybe FaceTime would be better.....