Thank you all so far for your engagement with this post. The conversation will continue on both Bluesky and Instagram, so make sure to follow me on there as we delve into how Trump ran on identity politics and why that matters.
Perfect example of trump projection. Doing the thing that you accuse other's of. Tragically, in our current state, where hatred, racism, bigotry and misogyny, are transcendent and christian nationalists are loud and proud, it works.
Our politics are a shit show. They are a reflection of the public. The politicians reinforce the rascim, sexism and utter stupidity. They beat those drums in their sleep if it leads to a win. This isn't new. Nor is it a news flash that America Apartheid exists. The billionaires got Agent Orange elected. As they did the first time by preaching their hate your neighbor campaign.
We have 250 million eligible to vote in this country. Over 100 million chose not to. Why aren't we talking to them? Why do over 40% of the working poor do not vote? Because they feel their votes don't count. Why bother. Rich people win anyway. Since the 1980's they've been kicked like a can down the road.
We know many vote against their own interests. Why? Lack of education of how this game works. And time. They're worried about getting their car fixed, how much is that going to cost and how I'm I getting to work. We need to stop bowing down to big donors and instead go talk to the people in Eastern Kentucky and West Virginia.
"Throughout his campaign, Trump proposed three core sets of policies that are steeped in this form of identity politics: mass deportation, law and order, and policing gender identity."
Trump cares for nothing but getting power. This will help none of us--those who voted for him and those who voted against him.
And his plan to get power lies in keeping his coalition together by pandering to their shared grievances. His power is a function of his base remaining distracted with what doesn't matter.
Dear tecolote42. I agree wholeheartedly with your last sentence and indeed your first one. But in all fairness (even to one who barely deserves fairness) if we eleminated from politics those who 'care for nothing but getting power' I suspect we'd have a very small pool of elected officials with many Democrats amongst the purged. Though on reflection Trump also cares greatly about himself and his exultation!
Excellent essay. Every time someone mentions "woke" politics they should be countered with Trump's use of identity politics. I'd also highly recommend Don Moynihan, Substack, Can We Still Govern? 11-10-24: " Part of the appeal of Trump’s identity politics is the promise of control over others. In the aftermath of Trump’s victory, messaging celebrating the expected control over women exploded on social media. In America, identity politics can only be identity politics if it comes from the left, and if it centers on historically marginalized groups. Right wing politics that emphasize male, Christian and white identity is not defined as identity politics. As the perceived natural order of things, it is seen simply as politics."
This is a very astute analysis and I thank you for it. I’d like to comment briefly on the trans issue. It’s not a simple situation about supporting antidiscrimination legislation. It’s about a much more threatening idea —that gender is not fixed and can be changed at will, even before puberty. There’s an increasing body of research that says that changing gender before puberty is misguided and harmful. I know for sure that too many young women are rejecting the burden of femaleness by deciding that they are boys.I know for sure that young female athletes should not have to compete against male athletes. we need a more gendered analysis of what’s happening on our society. If not for the straight jacket of sex rules, we would have less young people thinking that they are the wrong gender. I think this is a tricky issue and one that the Democratic Party should rethink.
I've been too depressed to follow American politics closely since the election but my impression was that trans-bashing was more directed towards firing up his base than winning swing voters.
That said, I think there is a message for Democrats. The thing about minorities is they ARE minorities and if you are perceived as being very/overly concerned about the them the majority, who decide elections might think that you are not really interested in them.
It gets even more trickier if you can be painted as hostile to the majority which is always a risk if the minority has members who are (understandably) loudly hostile to the majority. Whatever the motivations or good arguments of the anti-racist, anti-hetero-normative etc movements the sad fact is that they represent a handicap to electability and provide an opportunity for conservative to paint us as hostile to the large, politically disengaged majority.
Great, succinct column that spells out perfectly what really happened in the election. I think the disgusting transgender attacks, elevating a non-issue for nearly the entire country into an existential crisis were particularly revolting. Punching down, yet again. I fear that it will lead to a push to end marriage equality as well, they're definitely high on power. Final note - that photo at the top of the story, what an image. Smiling, white woman in a wheelchair in a baseball jersey, as American as apple pie and all that, holding a sign loaded with hate. Trumpism in a nutshell.
Agreed, it IS a great column and that photo certainly captures trumpism. It's deeply concerning that in our elections, we're pretty much attempting to woo a nation of people who are aggressively ignorant, misogynistic and "filled up to here with hate", as the Lou Reed song goes. trump has the deranged, aggrieved and above all, harshly punitive message that these folks want.
Let's not forget that Trump said, at many rallies, that kids go to school as one gender, have a "horrible operation" at school, then return home as a different gender. That anyone heard that and didn't immediately think "this guy is profoundly mentally ill" confounds me.
That was one of the many, many assertions by Trump that made me wonder "who listens to this and says 'that's my guy?'" Such an obvious and idiotic lie. I doubt even one of his supporters believed it was true, as I'm sure they were also well aware that Democrats were not planning to ban cows and windows. In a rational world anyone who made such insane statements should be immediately disqualified for even the lowest political office, but here we are.
THIS. identity politics is only an issue when it centers non-white, non-hetero identities. Dems better figure their stuff out asap and be bold about messaging what matters. The Big Tent has collapsed and the firing squad is a circle as they say.
Okay then, the whining is over, now Trump must do. And he’s proven terrible at it. AND, while the defeat of a woman of color may be satisfying to White America, the aftermath? That’s when this country will really have to get woke—tariffs increase prices; deportation costs jobs and money; racism and misogyny and bigotry will demean us all.
I’m sorry, “too woke” was Harris? What’s the alternative? Comatose? Asleep? Dead? When has this nation ever succeeded as pure white and non-inclusive? In a word, Never.
Hi everyone, Anna here.
Thank you all so far for your engagement with this post. The conversation will continue on both Bluesky and Instagram, so make sure to follow me on there as we delve into how Trump ran on identity politics and why that matters.
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/itsafronomics.bsky.social
Instagram: https://instagram.com/itsafronomics
Perfect example of trump projection. Doing the thing that you accuse other's of. Tragically, in our current state, where hatred, racism, bigotry and misogyny, are transcendent and christian nationalists are loud and proud, it works.
Exactly this! I have noticed that accusations at this point are just admissions!
This has always been Trump’s modus operandi- projection
"at this point"? He has always been a projecter. :(
BINGO.
Our politics are a shit show. They are a reflection of the public. The politicians reinforce the rascim, sexism and utter stupidity. They beat those drums in their sleep if it leads to a win. This isn't new. Nor is it a news flash that America Apartheid exists. The billionaires got Agent Orange elected. As they did the first time by preaching their hate your neighbor campaign.
We have 250 million eligible to vote in this country. Over 100 million chose not to. Why aren't we talking to them? Why do over 40% of the working poor do not vote? Because they feel their votes don't count. Why bother. Rich people win anyway. Since the 1980's they've been kicked like a can down the road.
We know many vote against their own interests. Why? Lack of education of how this game works. And time. They're worried about getting their car fixed, how much is that going to cost and how I'm I getting to work. We need to stop bowing down to big donors and instead go talk to the people in Eastern Kentucky and West Virginia.
"Throughout his campaign, Trump proposed three core sets of policies that are steeped in this form of identity politics: mass deportation, law and order, and policing gender identity."
Trump cares for nothing but getting power. This will help none of us--those who voted for him and those who voted against him.
And his plan to get power lies in keeping his coalition together by pandering to their shared grievances. His power is a function of his base remaining distracted with what doesn't matter.
Dear tecolote42. I agree wholeheartedly with your last sentence and indeed your first one. But in all fairness (even to one who barely deserves fairness) if we eleminated from politics those who 'care for nothing but getting power' I suspect we'd have a very small pool of elected officials with many Democrats amongst the purged. Though on reflection Trump also cares greatly about himself and his exultation!
Excellent essay. Every time someone mentions "woke" politics they should be countered with Trump's use of identity politics. I'd also highly recommend Don Moynihan, Substack, Can We Still Govern? 11-10-24: " Part of the appeal of Trump’s identity politics is the promise of control over others. In the aftermath of Trump’s victory, messaging celebrating the expected control over women exploded on social media. In America, identity politics can only be identity politics if it comes from the left, and if it centers on historically marginalized groups. Right wing politics that emphasize male, Christian and white identity is not defined as identity politics. As the perceived natural order of things, it is seen simply as politics."
This is a very astute analysis and I thank you for it. I’d like to comment briefly on the trans issue. It’s not a simple situation about supporting antidiscrimination legislation. It’s about a much more threatening idea —that gender is not fixed and can be changed at will, even before puberty. There’s an increasing body of research that says that changing gender before puberty is misguided and harmful. I know for sure that too many young women are rejecting the burden of femaleness by deciding that they are boys.I know for sure that young female athletes should not have to compete against male athletes. we need a more gendered analysis of what’s happening on our society. If not for the straight jacket of sex rules, we would have less young people thinking that they are the wrong gender. I think this is a tricky issue and one that the Democratic Party should rethink.
Yup, hence my line about "who is deemed feminine" and who is not.
I've been too depressed to follow American politics closely since the election but my impression was that trans-bashing was more directed towards firing up his base than winning swing voters.
That said, I think there is a message for Democrats. The thing about minorities is they ARE minorities and if you are perceived as being very/overly concerned about the them the majority, who decide elections might think that you are not really interested in them.
It gets even more trickier if you can be painted as hostile to the majority which is always a risk if the minority has members who are (understandably) loudly hostile to the majority. Whatever the motivations or good arguments of the anti-racist, anti-hetero-normative etc movements the sad fact is that they represent a handicap to electability and provide an opportunity for conservative to paint us as hostile to the large, politically disengaged majority.
Great, succinct column that spells out perfectly what really happened in the election. I think the disgusting transgender attacks, elevating a non-issue for nearly the entire country into an existential crisis were particularly revolting. Punching down, yet again. I fear that it will lead to a push to end marriage equality as well, they're definitely high on power. Final note - that photo at the top of the story, what an image. Smiling, white woman in a wheelchair in a baseball jersey, as American as apple pie and all that, holding a sign loaded with hate. Trumpism in a nutshell.
Agreed, it IS a great column and that photo certainly captures trumpism. It's deeply concerning that in our elections, we're pretty much attempting to woo a nation of people who are aggressively ignorant, misogynistic and "filled up to here with hate", as the Lou Reed song goes. trump has the deranged, aggrieved and above all, harshly punitive message that these folks want.
Let's not forget that Trump said, at many rallies, that kids go to school as one gender, have a "horrible operation" at school, then return home as a different gender. That anyone heard that and didn't immediately think "this guy is profoundly mentally ill" confounds me.
That was one of the many, many assertions by Trump that made me wonder "who listens to this and says 'that's my guy?'" Such an obvious and idiotic lie. I doubt even one of his supporters believed it was true, as I'm sure they were also well aware that Democrats were not planning to ban cows and windows. In a rational world anyone who made such insane statements should be immediately disqualified for even the lowest political office, but here we are.
THIS. identity politics is only an issue when it centers non-white, non-hetero identities. Dems better figure their stuff out asap and be bold about messaging what matters. The Big Tent has collapsed and the firing squad is a circle as they say.
Okay then, the whining is over, now Trump must do. And he’s proven terrible at it. AND, while the defeat of a woman of color may be satisfying to White America, the aftermath? That’s when this country will really have to get woke—tariffs increase prices; deportation costs jobs and money; racism and misogyny and bigotry will demean us all.
I’m sorry, “too woke” was Harris? What’s the alternative? Comatose? Asleep? Dead? When has this nation ever succeeded as pure white and non-inclusive? In a word, Never.