It is a measure of how divided the US has become that rarely in its history has one seen a president being the object of so much adulation among his supporters and of such intense dislike among his opponents.
The divisions were not provoked by Trump; they were already there as were many other problems which he exploited to come to power.
There is far too much focus on Trump’s character and persona. But he is much more than his persona. The reality is Trump is not a single-issue phenomenon. As a phenomenon, he is at the centre of a complex set of issues that have been developing in the US and globally in recent decades.
They include a decline in the quality of democracy in advanced democracies, especially in America, and the excesses of capitalism and globalisation that had led to the rise of a globalist elite who cared more about their own wealth than about economic and social justice, or even about the national interest.
Democracy had come to be dominated by an unholy alliance between globalist-led capitalism, money, partisan media, politics, lobbies and special interests. It is a well-kept secret that other than the AIPAC the most successful lobby in the US Congress is the banking lobby. The magnitude of its impact was reflected in the horrific scale of the 2008 financial crisis.
The crisis was attributed to the banking deregulation passed by the US Congress during the Clinton years that helped bankers make billions at the expense of small homeowners who were given loans they did not qualify for, leading to massive foreclosures.
Democracy had become all about the pursuit of political power. This compromised democracy helped politicians get elected without doing much public service. Instead of listening to people and hearing about their grievances, leadership was busy fighting wars abroad. The wars, incited by electoral politics and the economic and class interests of the elite, and the influence of the military-industrial complex, cost trillions of dollars causing not only huge war casualties but also thousands of disabled war veterans who came to harbour intense revulsion against the elite.
By extension, the anti-elite sentiment eroded trust in the government, institutions and the educated class and its knowledge including that of medical sciences. That partly explained the anti-vaccine movement.
People felt that politicians and politics had failed them, a belief Trump exploited by offering himself as an alternative. It enhanced his image as a non-politician and by extension sunk Hillary’s who was successfully demonised by his supporters as part of the elite-based system.
Trump exploited not only the anti-elite sentiment but also public insecurities, prompted by the threat of terrorism that began with 9/11, as well as globalisation-led social discontent and income inequality affecting the lower classes. Not to mention their fear of potential instability and job losses from the flood of refugees, asylum seekers and illegal immigrants, especially due to the virtually open borders in the south.
