Posted on 02/13/2016 6:06:05 AM PST by Theoria
There's nothing irrational about Donald Trump's appeal to the white working class, writes Charles Murray: they have every reason to be angry
If you are dismayed by Trumpism, don't kid yourself that it will fade away if Donald Trump fails to win the Republican nomination. Trumpism is an expression of the legitimate anger that many Americans feel about the course that the country has taken, and its appearance was predictable. It is the endgame of a process that has been going on for a half-century: America's divestment of its historic national identity.
For the eminent political scientist Samuel Huntington, writing in his last book, "Who Are We?" (2004), two components of that national identity stand out. One is our Anglo-Protestant heritage, which has inevitably faded in an America that is now home to many cultural and religious traditions. The other is the very idea of America, something unique to us. As the historian Richard Hofstadter once said, "It has been our fate as a nation not to have ideologies but to be one."
What does this ideology--Huntington called it the "American creed"--consist of? Its three core values may be summarized as egalitarianism, liberty and individualism. From these flow other familiar aspects of the national creed that observers have long identified: equality before the law, equality of opportunity, freedom of speech and association, self-reliance, limited government, free-market economics, decentralized and devolved political authority.
As recently as 1960, the creed was our national consensus. Running that year for the Democratic nomination, candidates like John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson and Hubert Humphrey genuinely embraced the creed, differing from Republicans only in how its elements should be realized.
Today, the creed has lost its authority and its substance. What happened?
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
What happened
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Ted Kennedy’s 1965 Immigration Act followed by Ted Kennedy’s 1986 amnesty for illegal aliens. Followed by no enforcement.
The federal government, with the cooperation of BOTH parties, have flooded the country with foreigners to dilute the voting power of real Americans.
that is a very good article...charles murray has always been brilliant
Murray’s book, Coming Apart, was very good and could have predicted something like this political rebellion. Phyllis Schlafly may be right in that Trump is our last hope. He may be the one person to bridge socio-economic factions.
I have bounced around between Cruz and Trump and feel now that Trump’s “bull in a China shop†approach is wearing thin. I’m still trying to evaluate the pluses and minuses of both.
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No wobbly knees allowed into the final stretch. About one more month to hang tough and it will all be over.
Ping.
The GOP has/was never concerned with issues dealing with immigration, free trade, globalization, etc.
This article echoes much of what Paul Kegnor posits in his book, “11 Principles of a Reagan Conservative”, which I’ve posted previously:
Here are the eleven Reagan principles.
• Freedom
• Faith
• Family
• Sanctity and Dignity of Human Life
• American Exceptionalism
• The Founders’ Wisdom and Vision
• Lower Taxes
• Limited Government
• Peace Through Strength
• Anti-Communism
• Belief in the Individual
Trump’ Ameerica does not line up against these 11 prinicples like talking points, but the underlying philosophy and principles are the same, and people intuitively know that he “gets it”, he understand what they think is important, explains things like they would, and that his solutions are the ones they support.
The Chamber of Commerce has done America no favors. Fascinating article by Charles Murray today, echoing Peggy Noonan’s piece of yesterday/today. Maybe all history is really just economic history.
I guess we could vote for democrats and their communism, or we could vote for the eGOP and their “Foreigners First!” candidates that want to welcome everyone into the US while sending all our companies overseas.
Yes, I do. And he has been incredibly vague about the details. But your statement, "We Trump supporters feel everyone in OUR country should have affordable healthcare by us and for us...."
Is exactly what I don't believe. So unless you, as a "Trump supporter", don't understand what the guy you support is proposing, we're on opposite sides of that issue.
I think the role of the government should be to set up a legal and regulatory environment that makes health care as affordable as it can reasonably be. I do NOT think it is the role of the government to make sure everyone has it.
Trump has audacity, he doesn’t speak like a politician and in the end words mean things.
You have to win first before you can “further” anything.....You can back a liberal (or a big government TV star) and win and election, but lose in the long run.
you overlook two important changes to the Saudi Arabia of which you have memories
There is a new king and many old men have and died and a younger american educated group of leaders is in place
Bfl
You hit it outta the park, Lady...........
...and inability to comprehend what's actually going on.Says that guy who doesn't recognize a Trump-positive article.
What are you talking about?????????
...but the underlying philosophy and principles are the same...
Which version of Trump are you using for this comparison?
Well, you go ahead and back the “politics as usual” crowd...
I’ ll back who I feel can get America back on the RIGHT track....
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