How much of a surprise was it to find that Donald Trump had been elected president?
To be honest, it was less of a surprise to me this week than I would have thought a couple of weeks ago. Watching from the UK, I could not envisage how or why Trump stood a chance in hell. Arrogance. Bombast. Racism. Foul-mouthed misogynism. Failed business man and tax avoider. Surely no-one in their right mind would vote for this jackass?
But as his polling continued to show him within spitting distance of Clinton, despite all his negatives, it gradually started to dawn on me just how hated was Hillary Clinton. From this distance, it looks like a large section of the US electorate look on Clinton as corrupt. And that corruption is not just that she is in the pockets of the filthy rich, which she undoubtedly is. If that were her main negative, it would be ironic if she were beaten by a man who actually was himself one of the filthy rich.
It seems that many ordinary USA citizens are angry with the existing system. Just like here in the UK, they have been told that the worst of the economic crisis is over. Things are getting better, we hear. Hold on there and just watch everything improve. Wait, and trust us. Some of the pundits have described Trump voters as ‘the left behind’. And that has a ring of truth.
Since World War Two the USA has been run by two parties who differ only in minutiae. We do not trust them. And there is definitely an ‘us’ and ‘them’ mentality. When everyone in the media, all the established politicians, economists, ‘expert’ think tankers and foreign leaders all agree, you begin to think they must be wrong.
This election is not a vindication of Trump. It is a repudiation of everything Hillary Clinton stands for.
And therein lies the positive aspect to the situation. In a country where working people have had to choose between two capitaist parties, there has been no choice. So the people have rejected the existing order. Admittedly, the only channel they were afforded to express that rejection was an insincere narcissist with absolutely nothing in common with the people who used him as a battering ram against the status quo. But that was the only tool they had. And they used it.
For people who want to see the end of capitalism and the beginning of a socialist economy and a socially equitable society, the message is clear. We need leaders who represent what we really want. If that means creating a new Workers’ Party in the USA (and in the UK for that matter) then so be it.
Where are the revolutionary bolsheviks when you need them?