Voting for Donald Trump is the biggest mistake the US could make. Whist it’s a travesty he is now the Republican nominee, it’s also symptomatic of wider problems in the country.
Trump’s racism is something that everybody has noted, with many incident’s taking place over the last few months to illustrate his prejudice views. His racism became alarmingly evident when he said he wouldn’t allow Muslims into the country and when he described Mexicans as rapists. Indeed, it seems that he is trying to create an atmosphere of fear and tension, so that he can then present himself as the country’s rescuer. He uses the method of being the scaremonger in order to get people to vote for him out of fear for their safety.
After facing much criticism he has since tried to tone his racism down. However, recently he posted a picture of himself eating a taco saying “Happy cinco de Mayo. I love Hispanics,” which is clearly a mistake on every level. Firstly, Cinco de Mayo is not Hispanic, it’s a Mexican celebration of the defeat of French forces in the 1862 Battle of Puebla, therefore making this “joke” not only factually inaccurate but also unmistakably racist. Secondly, by calling people “Hispanics,” he makes the assumption that all Latin American’s think and eat the same. The problem with this assumption is that he minimalizes each country’s sense of identity and individuality. And thirdly, the joke in itself is painfully stupid and offensive. It’s obvious he doesn’t “love” Latin Americans because he wants to build a wall to stop them entering the country, so anybody who understands Trump’s political views can see immediately that this is racism wearing the mask of humour.
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The important question is not why he says such ridiculous and offensive things, but why so many people support a man who holds such prejudices.
It’s not surprising that only 19% of Trump voters have college degrees, an indicator that a lot of people who vote for him are people who rely on their practical skills rather than their academic abilities when it comes to jobs. Arguably, his rise is due to the fact that people without professional jobs feel threatened. Indeed, since 2000, manufacturing in the USA has been in sharp decline, which will have had devastating effects on the livelihood of many Americans. Social mobility too has gone down, with Figures in the New York Times reporting that it has dropped by 41% between 1980 and 2000 alone.
Trump accuses foreigners of taking the jobs, and paints immigration as the problem. People believe him as they see their jobs becoming less stable, and are happy to blame foreigners than blame their government – foreigners taking their jobs has a more immediate solution than state stability. However, the issue with this point of view is the sneaky undertone that carries it. Let’s not forget the deregulation of banks that occurred in the US in the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999, a process started in the Reagan administration in 1980. It’s been seen as a way to fuel growth, but not for everyone. Huge corporations can get as many loans as they need, while smaller-scale enterprise suffers. Clearly it is not simply foreigners entering the country looking for work and a new life that is affecting people’s jobs and the country’s social mobility, but Trump won’t be in any rush to admit this.
Bigger businesses will carry out work offshore and employ lower-paid workforce on temporary basis, meaning that the situation for the average person is precarious, while the super-rich are thriving, keeping their money offshore, paying minimal taxes.
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Trump supporters view him like their Saviour; they’ll even fight for him. Recently an artist who painted a naked portrait of Trump was beaten up by one of his supporters as an act of revenge. The person in question has now been arrested, but the act itself indicates the hold Trump has on some people.
Trump claims that “I’ll bring back jobs from Mexico,” which sounds like he’s standing up for the rights of workers but let’s remember that Trump wants to slash corporation tax. It would suit the super-rich to have Trump in power and it also suits the super-rich to have Trump blaming the economic problems on migrants because it keeps the focus off them. Meanwhile, having Trump in power would be the worst thing that could happen to the average person because there would be less public spending and fewer jobs paying a wage that covers the cost of living.
I may sound like a moaning leftie but please- Trump is greedy, he’s a businessman who loves gold. It suits his interests and the interests of big corporations, some of which I’m sure fuel money into the Republican Party, to play their blame-game.