Trump — Y Knot!?

Arlie Russell Hochschild’s excellent book: Strangers in their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right — published in 2016 shared a lot of important truths for today!

( https://www.georgemarx.org/2019/07/arlie-russell-hochschild-anger-and.html )

Hochschild looked both at white people in an area of Louisiana in general and specifically at Tea Party Women — pre-Trump, pre-Covid. An example follows:

In the deep story, as felt by those I profile in this book, the weary worker waiting in line for the American Dream sees the federal government giving special help to people he perceives as line cutters. Some who benefit are citizens (blacks, women, public sector workers), and others are not (immigrants, refugees, recipients of American foreign aid. We can well understand the worn patience of the one waiting in line, because in truth for most middle- and lower income Americans, the line has indeed stalled or moved back. (p.260)

Hochschild dispelled the notion that right-wing people were necessarily “uneducated”. She spoke with women who were successful real estate agents and public school teachers including some quite well off individuals.

Why do we presume that Trump supporters are stupid?

Supporting Trump may seem stupid to some of us! Obviously, we are in a Very, Very Difficult and Dangerous Time Period — where Fascism — and the ending of “democracy” can be a Very Realistic Fear!