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neoliberalism
I Never Thought Trump Would Eat My Face
Wait, no. That’s my paraphrased analysis of how Adolph Hitler rose to power. I substituted Trump for Hitler, MAGA for Nazi Party, America for Germany, and woke for communist. I couldn’t resist. My bad. You can find the original source: How Did Adolf Hitler Happen? on the National WWII Museum website.
So how did Trump rise to power? In a November 13, 2024 article entitled What Trump supporters believe and expect, the Pew Research Center reported “[T]he economy was the most important issue for Trump voters this year. In a September survey, 93% said it was very important to their vote. Immigration ranked second, as 82% said it was very important to their vote.”
Many people voted for Trump due to his lies about immigration and the economy. He and his team effectively tricked people into believing that he would effectively address these issues. This, because his supporters see him as a decisive leader who would change America.
According to the same Pew Research article, among Trump voters: “92% believed that biological sex is not mutable. Just 7% said a person can be a man or woman even if that is different from the sex they were assigned at birth. 89% said gun ownership does more to increase than decrease safety. 83% viewed the criminal justice system as not tough enough on criminals. 75% did not think the legacy of slavery affects the position of Black people in American society today much or at all.”
So not all that much different from Hitler’s rise to power. Trump’s voters are already learning to their dismay that Trump’s fascistic attacks on trans people, immigrants, women, and minorities won’t do anything to help anyone.
Trump’s frantic dismantling of government and mass firing of public servants—including veterans—harm these essential government employees immediately. This anarchic frenzy will hurt all of us eventually, including Trump voters. His regressive, reckless policies certainly won’t lower the price of eggs which are far more likely to infect people with food borne diseases now that Trump fired inspectors charged with keeping our food safe.
Any way forward against fascism must repudiate faux populism by championing inclusive economic policies—such as a 21st Century Economic Bill of Rights based on FDR’s Second Bill of Rights.
Many Trump voters already realize that their lives are getting worse, not better, due to Trump’s assaults on education, science, health, and nearly every other essential government service. We may feel compelled to say, “We told you so!” to Trump voters and even to other people who didn’t vote for Kamala Harris. That’s understandable, perhaps unavoidable, but I think it makes more sense to commiserate with them. After all, so many of them already lament Trump’s eating their faces off.
After we commiserate, we could listen to Trump voters and others, learn why they voted the way they did. We could urge them to vote for better candidates to cure the harms their vote caused. If that prospect disgusts you, then we could consider learning from interviews with Trump voters and public opinion polling instead.
We could engage with persuadable Trump voters and persuade them to vote for candidates courageous enough to stand up to oligarchs and corporatists. We could listen to and learn from those who rejected Kamala Harris. Trump voters, Jill Stein voters, and those who stayed home have valid views about the weaknesses of Democratic candidates and policies. After we listen to them, we could ask them to help us make the Democratic Party better.
Alan Minsky explained how and why this makes sense as a viable theory of change in his article, Our 2 Choices: Join the Democratic Party to Transform It, or Acquiesce to Fascism published by Common Dreams last month. Minsky wrote, “Because of the structure of American society and politics, the Democratic Party is the only institution positioned to challenge, defeat, and reverse the Trump administration’s ongoing destruction of our constitutional order.”
Of course this prescription involves a powerful mass movement working inside and outside of the Democratic Party. This, to effectuate an evolution in the Party to reject neoliberal economics in favor of an enlightened economics of inclusion. One that fits neatly beside, rather than works at cross purposes, with the Democratic Party’s commitment to social inclusion. Good economic policy has always been good politics.
Alan Minsky added a post script, “The one thing I think I should have added—and which I will add at the top of my next essay—is that the Democratic Party right now is flat on its back. Now is not the time for progressives to abandon the party.”
Make no mistake, Trump’s economic policies elevate special interests and oligarchs above the needs of every day Americans at least as much as any other neoliberal scams. Also, as mentioned, Trump’s style of identity politics is at least as cynical as any Democrat’s. Much worse, Trump’s demagoguery instigates death threats, stochastic terrorism, and violence. Most notably the January 6th attacks against the U.S. Capitol seeking to halt the peaceful transfer of power after Trump lost the 2020 election.
Yes, they voted for Trump. Yes, Trump is eating their faces. Yes, we may feel an almost irresistible urge to wipe what’s left of their noses in the rotten fruits of their folly. That won’t help beat back Trump’s fascism or help us win elections.
Asad Haider, author of Mistaken Identity: Race and Class in the Age of Trump (Verso 2018), wrote a commentary published in Salon entitled Despite his loss, Bernie Sanders' campaign proved that organizing around class interests works. Haider explained, “First and foremost, liberals are constantly worried about people ‘voting against their interests.’ ... According to a certain liberal common sense, working class voters are continually supporting Republicans, against ‘interests’ which haven't yet been defined.”
I estimate that between a fourth and a third of voters actually believe that scapegoating and harming immigrants, minorities, women, disabled people—aka Trump’s anti-woke, anti-DEI attacks—are in their interests. Of course they’re wrong. Still, it may well be extremely time consuming and difficult to deprogram them and free them from their hatefulness.
That said, reaching out to such people with an economic message might help begin a constructive conversation, or it may not. Calling them “deplorable” etc. gains us little more than a feeling of moral superiority. Cold comfort for people subjected to Trump’s ruthless predation, including almost all of them and us sooner or later.
By my calculus, at least two thirds of voters remain open to listening to a progressive agenda. In fact, they’re eager to support candidates and policies that center the economic needs of the poor, the working class, and the increasingly insecure middle class. This, in a marked repudiation of Carter-Clinton-Obama-Biden neoliberal policies that favor greed and power of the economic elite over the vast majority of Americans.
Bernie Sanders proved outreach based on economic imperatives works. In an article entitled Bernie Sanders influenced US politics more than any other failed presidential candidate in the country's history published in 2020 by Business Insider, John Haltiwanger wrote:
His push for Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, and tuition-free college, among other policies aimed at eradicating inequality, has set the tone for the future of the party. This is evident via young leaders such as Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, who volunteered on Sanders' campaign in 2016 before going on to win a shocking victory in the 2018 midterms.
Haltiwanger added, “Sanders has also set a new standard in the way campaigns raise money, rejecting high-dollar fundraisers while building a massive grassroots movement via small-dollar donations.”
Failing to make a Bernie Sanders-style economic appeal to voters, candidates running as Democrats keep ceding the high ground on economic inclusiveness. Trump took advantage of this failure. Other faux populists will continue doing so as well.
By running on identity rather than kitchen table issues, neoliberal Democrats squander political advantages on economics, the most important issues for many if not most voters. Candidates may shy away from inclusive economics, hoping to secure generous campaign contributions from oligarchs and elites.
In any case, the dismal results of this utterly failed approach speak for themselves. No amount of slick television ads or performative inclusion can overcome the stench of duplicitous neoliberal policies. Voters reject these broken promises. Bad economic policy remains bad politics.
Diversity, inclusion, and equity remain essential. That understood, absent a clear parallel commitment to economic inclusion, candidates relying on to DEI may appear out of touch. Worse, tokenism and other hollowly symbolic identity politics alienates increasingly cynical voters. This, including poor, working class, and middle class voters of all ethnicities, across all demographics.
Decades of bipartisan neoliberal repudiation of New Deal economic policies set the stage for Trump’s faux populism. Generations of Democrats’ failure to offer a competing inclusive economic vision opened the door for Trump’s fascism. This dismal dynamic creates an opportunity for a people-centered policy advocates. As Trump eats their faces, his voters are more likely to support proven effective progressive solutions to our shared challenges.
So-called “centrist” Democrats may try to camouflage their rob from the poor to enrich the rich policies behind a cheap and increasingly cynical strategy focusing on identity politics. That tactic isn’t working. Not as politics, nor as policy.
This approach keeps failing so spectacularly that I find it hard to imagine it’s any kind of accident. I blame million dollar a month consultants whose allegiance lies with billionaire benefactors. Their advice consistently prevents Democratic political victories. They must know this. Their income depends on it.
We can and will continue making social progress, and we must struggle for a more perfect union, no matter the backlash, and no matter how long it takes.
Overpaid pundits would rather lose to fascists like Trump than win by backing progressives like Bernie Sanders, A.O.C., and the rest of The Squad. So should people abandon the Democratic Party? As mentioned, Alan Minsky addressed that dilemma in his Common Dreams article Our 2 Choices: Join the Democratic Party to Transform It, or Acquiesce to Fascism.
Bernie eschewed high priced consultants and relied on small donations. This lets Sanders and other progressive candidates shake off shackles of campaign contributions with strings attached, freeing them to advocate for policies that benefit everyone—not just the wealthiest elite. This is important.
Any way forward against fascism must repudiate faux populism by championing inclusive economic policies—such as a 21st Century Economic Bill of Rights based on FDR’s Second Bill of Rights. Alan Minsky and Professor Harvey J. Kaye wrote about this in their February 2022 Common Dreams article entitled A Call for All Progressive Candidates and Officeholders to Embrace a 21st Century Economic Bill of Rights.
Melding economic and social policies, Minsky and Kaye wrote, “We must guarantee all people residing in the United States the right to the essentials of a good life regardless of their income, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or country of origin.”
It’s true. People of color, immigrants, LGBTQ+ people, disabled people, and other Trump targets disproportionately suffer from neoliberal economic neglect. Promising people equal access to college means nothing when we can’t afford to feed ourselves or our loved ones, heat our homes, or even pay the rent—much less pay for tuition, books, room, and board.
Sadly, trying to impose enlightenment on an unwilling majority usually backfires. Trump’s two electoral victories, along with appallingly sweeping victories by hate-mongers like Ron DeSantis prove these points.
We can and will continue making social progress, and we must struggle for a more perfect union, no matter the backlash, and no matter how long it takes. As Dr. King said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
I hope those of us who warned against Project 2025 and the rest of the Trump wrought wreckage will extend an empathetic hand of welcome to all those who voted for Trump or failed to vote against him.
Progress toward economic and social justice makes winning culture wars more likely. By contrast, failure to address the economic needs of the majority makes social progress impossible. As the decades of New Deal coalition domination of U.S. politics proved, we can win elections and win over swing voters by addressing their economic needs. Bernie Sanders showed that the New Deal resonates as well today as it did from the 1930s all the way into the 1960s.
I hope those of us who warned against Project 2025 and the rest of the Trump wrought wreckage will extend an empathetic hand of welcome to all those who voted for Trump or failed to vote against him. This, in order to reclaim and remake the Democratic Party into a people’s party worth of the name. I hope this happens sooner rather than later.
Yes, they voted for Trump. Yes, Trump is eating their faces. Yes, we may feel an almost irresistible urge to wipe what’s left of their noses in the rotten fruits of their folly. That won’t help beat back Trump’s fascism or help us win elections. We’re better off offering the increasing numbers of repentant Trump voters a sweeping, common sense set of solutions to their economic woes. They’re our woes too.
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