Why it happened

Explanations for the Trump catastrophe are sprouting like weeds, all over the internet, in the newspapers I read (Guardian, Times, Washington Post, Hamilton Spectator), on MsNBC, CNN, and random posts on YouTube. I haven’t seen anything convincing. And I think I know why. The real reasons are not speakable among decent liberal people.

Here’s what nobody talks about, that I think happened.

1. LGBTQ+ fear. Schools are talking openly to children about sexual alternatives. I personally think this is a good thing. However, I think we underestimate the reaction against it. Parents are afraid that one day their child will walk in and say “the teacher says I’m a girl/boy.” They’re even more afraid that they won’t be told. Reassurances don’t matter. The fear is visceral. It has led to a widespread increase in home schooling, and in rejection of federal support for education. All this is amplified by the issues of participation in sports, and in who gets to use which washroom.
2. White privilege. The trend lately has been to insist that White people are all guilty, whether they think it or not, of racism, simply by virtue of their “whiteness”. It is a very bad idea to make someone feel guilty, because they will inevitably close up and become hostile. It is a super bad idea to do this to an entire group of people. Especially if they are privileged. Do it at your peril.
3. Save the middle class. This has to be the worst slogan anyone ever invented. Nobody loves the middle class, not even people who are in it. In the USA, to be middle class is to be a failure. Americans are rugged individualists, on their way to spectacular success, or crashing into splendid ruin. If they are struggling, they have to try harder. It’s up to them. Class conciousness belongs to the working class, but that’s a Marxist idea, so no one can mention it (except Bernie Sanders). It used to be a truism that, unless you were a capitalist, if you worked for someone else, you were working class. Now, according to the Democratic Party, everyone is in the middle class, but a middle class that can’t pay the mortgage. How dreary. Trump will make you “Great Again”. Harris will cement you into your dreary middle class life.
4. It’s the economy, Stupid. People don’t understand the economy. When people talk about it, they feel stupid. They don’t get it. (Full disclosure: me too.) When it gets explained, they tune out. They like it simple: “It used to be Great, now it’s Awful, I’ll make it Great again.” Anything more complicated is breath wasted.
5. You can’t say that! They talk about “freedom of speech”, but you can’t say anything these days. There’s all kinds of words you can’t use, ideas you can’t utter. Jokes you can’t make. (Except on social media, of course.) If they catch you, you can lose your job! If you find someone (e.g., a woman) attractive, keep it to yourself! (Especially, keep your hands to yourself, you creep!) And then this guy Trump comes along, and he says anything he wants! He doesn’t care. If it comes into his head, it comes out of his mouth. He lies. He makes stuff up. He’s crude. What a relief!
6. Trump is a really bad guy. He’s allowed to be. He is a Master. Ask Nietzsche. He’s bound by no law, no morality. Americans love their heroes, their Rambos, their Gordon Gekkos. They are expected to transgress. Trump treats women badly? They probably aren’t good women anyhow. Porn stars. Fashion models. Actresses. Does he cheat in business? That’s how you get ahead. Is he a criminal? How fascinating! His bad behaviour has nothing to do with us ordinary men and women. He probably doesn’t notice us. What a guy!
7. Women should control their own body. Obviously. So why did so many women vote for Trump? I’m guessing that it’s because they don’t feel that they do control their own body. They aren’t career women, independent, trying to break a glass ceiling. They are wives and mothers, or aspiring to be so, and their sexual activity and options are within the family, and subject to its values. They think the right to an abortion is not about them (until it is). Denial is a powerful thing. And then, we come back to point 1. Does her daughter have the right to choose?

I suppose there were a lot of people who cared about the economy, child tax credits, expanded health care. These people voted for Kamala. The others didn’t vote against Kamala based on those issues. They voted for a “Great America”, with a Master in charge, and an end to their guilt and fear.