What can truly be done about "Trump supporters"

Great Debates
21

Well, the Trump followers visible on the media (including people who comment on articles) seem barely human. I can’t find any common ground with them. They seem purely destructive with no visible redeeming qualities.

But the people I know personally, who probably are voting for Trump (or perhaps, staying home out of hatred and disgust for both candidates), aren’t like that. They are fairly ordinary people who are culturally if not economically blue collar white. They don’t seem to have much ability to reason politically, but I don’t think I’m talking about them.

So that’s a disconnect for me. The people I was referring to in my OP were really the former group – they seem to be the drivers of these movements. I know they were always around, but how did they get so much power?

And then, the original question, what can a civilized society fairly do with such people?

In some ways, I guess it’s the same question as how does a civilized society deal with addicts, those who won’t work even if given a job, and the other non-contributing adults. These trumppersons really do despise science and education. You can’t fight willful ignorance, can you?

Sorry I’m so vague, and so clearly arrogant and out of touch. But the truth is, as a leftist who grew up and stayed in a milieu of intelligentsia and white collar professionals, I feel at a great loss. I doubt I’m the only one.

It’s ironic perhaps, but when Fischer describes the Borderers’ history in the US, it is one of being shoved bodily into the frontier, and wherever they washed up, they always ended up being the lowest white class. From the minute they arrived, none of the existing cultures could bear them. Even the welcoming and tolerant Quakers couldn’t wait to see the last of them. So no one had an answer then either.

22

That would be Bernie Sanders supporters.

23

Democracy would be so much better if everyone just agreed with me!

Frankly, I find the idea that something must be “done” with Trump supporters to be at least as frightening as Trump himself. Have a little humility and accept that if people don’t agree with your ideas, then maybe there is something wrong with your ideas, or your assumptions about why people should agree with them.

24

I believe the OP made a point of distinguishing the specific type of Trump supporting in question, namely the boorish asshole version. The ones you describe would not fall into that subset, yah?

25

Also, continue to make real progress in those areas they complain most about.

We can improve the economy, reduce the crime rate, reform corruption, give better public services – make the buses run on time – and in all ways make the country a nicer place to live, for everyone.

Trump placed far too much emphasis on the bad economy and high crime rate – which notions aren’t true. The economy is doing pretty well, and crime is way down. This is much of why there are fewer and fewer of these people making these complaints.

26

Really you think so? Seems like there are more and more.

27

This may be too insane of an idea to work but maybe our politicians could stop using them for their own purposes, find out why their so damned mad and then maybe, just maybe, do something about it? It appears that a third of the voting population hates the government so much they would look to The Donald for help. That seems like something our leaders should be curious about beyond the election.

28

Yeah, I tried that. Put a lot of effort into it. Failed. Hence my question.

Seriously, I was not implying euthanasia, I was wondering what would make them satisfied. Something that could realistically occur, that would also be fair to other people. None of their own ideas for happiness seem to qualify.

29

There is this Republican Revolution thingy starting to brew.

30

The armed insurrection thingy? Well, that would certainly eliminate a few of them. Somehow not addressing the original question though. At least I hope not.

31

I think a lot of upper-class liberals are going to learn the hard way that globalization will NOT leave them unharmed.

It’s too easy for some people to snort, “Factory jobs are obsolete. Coal mining is obsolete. The idiots who cling to those kind of jobs DESERVE to get left behind.”

Well, MAYBE so. But a lot of high paying, high tech jobs are just as vulnerable to outsourcing and automation as factory jobs used to be. ALREADY, hospitals are sending x-rays to cheaper doctors in India, China or Israel. ALREADY, insurance companies are finding that it’s cheaper to fly some surgical patients to Chinese or Indian hospitals than to have them treated at American hospitals. ALREADY, there are computers that can figure out SQL on their own without the unnecessary middlemen (programmers).

In a few years, when well-educated white folks with extensive experience in medicine or engineering find themselves unemployable, they will start to howl the way Trump supporters do. And nobody’s going to feel very sorry for them.

32

That was a good article. It also contained this map, which shows whether each county is majority Democrat/Republican rather and the standard state level of precision, or the purple maps that show the mixture: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/2012/countymaprb512.png There is a whole lot of red in between the blue urban areas!

33

You may well be right. That wasn’t me snorting by the way. I for one do not welcome our global overlords.

34

A lot of that red has very low population densities. Geography gives a skewed picture.

35

I think that if politicians mentioned them a lot more, that might actually suffice in and of itself. Just frequently say, “The poor white working class of Appalachia and the Rust Belt have been ignored. The elites ignore them, but I will make their voice heard!” and that will placate much of them.

36

I agree economic hurt is quite likely to come down the pipeline. Except the Trump supporters I see aren’t howling about jobs - they are talking about EVIL and are much more about racism & homophobia & religious discrimination & anti-science than jobs. Some liberals do seem to feel sorry for them that they are losing their well-paying jobs (which frankly, were never thick on the ground here, which may be why I don’t hear about them from Trump supporters). What they don’t feel sorry for and do think needs to be left behind is the bigotry.

37

It does, but you have people living over a large geographic area that see things being run by the small and faraway urban areas, and they get pissed about it.

38

This to me is the most positive solution. HOWEVER, the risk is that the individual screamers will continue to scream. You could give them everything they ask for every time they ask for something and they would still want to “blow it all up”. Because that is really what they want, not the specifics of their complaints.

That is going to take a lot of time to 1. Stop the voices that are constantly promoting the idea that “The government IS THE PROBLEM!” 2. Promote the opposite message. Not going to happen in my lifetime.

39

The Trump vote is a protest vote ordinary people are tired of the way that they are governed and are desperate for change. In the UK the referendum was a message to government that we the ordinary people have had enough and things have got to change

40

Authoritarianism isn’t really a ‘left’ or ‘right’ thing: left wing authoritarianism certainly exists (e.g. communists), though hitherto not really in America.

Also, I don’t think it’s true that “about 15-20% of people” are authoritarian in every country. Eastern European countries are by most estimates much less culturally liberal than Western European ones, so it would be much higher in most of Eastern Europe. And as far as specific positions like “opposition to mass immigration”, this is also much higher in eastern Europe than in western Europe or the United States.