HOW TO PREVENT FUTURE TRUMPSWhy did so many working class voters...

HOW TO PREVENT FUTURE TRUMPS

Why did so many working class voters choose a selfish,
thin-skinned, petulant, lying, narcissistic, boastful, megalomaniac for
president? 

It’s important to know, because we need to stop more Trumps in the
future. 

The answer lies in the interplay between deep-seated racism and
stagnant and declining wages. Both must be addressed.

Some white working class men and women were – and still are –
receptive to Trump’s bigotry.  But what made them receptive? Racism and
xenophobia aren’t exactly new to American life. Fears of blacks and immigrants
have been with us since the founding of the Republic.

What changed was the economy. Since the 1980s, the wages and
economic prospects of the typical American worker have stagnated. Nearly 80 percent now live paycheck to paycheck, and those paychecks have grown less secure.

Meanwhile, all the economy’s gains have gone to the richest ten
percent, mostly the top 1 percent. Wealthy individuals and big corporations
have, in turn, invested some of those gains into politics.

As a result, big money now calls the shots in Washington –
getting subsidies, tax breaks, tax loopholes (even Trump promised to close the
“carried interest” loophole yet it remains), and bailouts.

The near meltdown of Wall Street in 2008 caused a recession that
cost millions their jobs, homes, and savings. But the Street got bailed out and
not a single Wall Street executive went to jail.

In the two years leading up to the 2016 election, I revisited
many of the places I had visited when I was labor secretary in the 1990s. 

People told me the system was “rigged” against them. A surprising number said
they planned to vote either for Bernie Sanders or Donald Trump – the two
anti-establishment candidates who promised to “shake up” Washington.

But Trump’s racism and xenophobia focused the cumulative
economic rage on scapegoats that had nothing to do with its causes. It was
hardly the first time in history a demagogue has used this playbook.

If America doesn’t respond to the calamity that’s befallen the
working class, we will have Trumps as far as the eye can see.

A few Democrats are getting the message – pushing ambitious
ideas like government-guaranteed full employment, single-payer health care,
industry-wide collective bargaining, and a universal basic income.

We also need ways to finance these things, such as a carbon tax,
a tax on Wall Street trades, and a progressive tax on wealth.

To accomplish all this we have to get big money out of politics. 

Even if “Citizens United” isn’t overruled, big money’s influence can be limited
with generous public financing of elections, full disclosure of the source of
all campaign contributions, and a clampdown on the revolving door between
business and government.

Trump isn’t the cause of what’s happened to America. He’s the
consequence – the product of years of stagnant wages and big money’s corruption
of our democracy combined with a long legacy of racism and bigotry. 

If we really want to stop Trump and prevent future Trumps, we
will need to address these causes of Trump’s rise.