Donald J. Trump is the billionaire elected in no small part by the change in allegiance of the white working class from the Democrats to the Republicans. I discussed some of these cultural and social issues and their incongruities on my first post about Trump’s campaign –early in the primaries. there is a great deal more to say. But somehow I think that those who want to see Trump completely segregated from his fortune, connection and family really do not get it at all. There is a certain sense in which this particular set of voters really wants him as he is and entirely as he is– especially in economic terms. It is not only that they hope he can get them work, although that is the reason. I am going to cite a song made famous in some circles by a Shelton who may not be related to the now famous Blake Shelton. Ricky Van Shelton made this song a hit before Blake was on the scene:
I don’t know why you wanna start with me
I ain’t done nothin’ far as I can see
And I’m worn out from working too hard
Why don’t you give me a breakI know that lately things ain’t been so good
I’ll make it up just like I told you I would
But I’m tired and I wanna sit down
To ease a sore backache.
The American working class of all races is tired, stressed and depressed. They want to give Trump a chance to bring them more decent jobs that support a life they can value — they are willing to let him get rich doing it. They would rather live in a country with strong men of business than a country without visible financial strength. Even those who might prefer another kind of strength want strength and weakening Trump will not be to their liking, all in all. I am writing this post not in the position which one would ideally choose for opining on a new Presidency. There are many ways to live a life and each has its own risks and rewards. I have made fairly varied comments about my own life on this blog here, here and here. In fact most pages and posts on this blog have an element of the personal in them. But Trump is subject to a much greater flurry of attention and a much denser beam of focused attention from cameras and commentators than I have ever been. He is after all the President-Elect of the United States. I am not happy to be so severely under-capitalized for each and every challenge that I meet in life. I am also tired and feel pressed and put upon by life and this society. I also see no real advantage in a fiscally castrated Trump. The song goes on:
You say you’re having trouble figuring me
I don’t believe I’m such a mystery
Baby what you get is what you see
I am a simple man
I wanna a job and a piece of land
Three squares in my frying pan
Don’t seem so hard to me to understand
I am a simple manYou say you got some things to talk about
A lot of problems that we need to work out
But we just end up fighting
Why don’t you give it a rest
I don’t know what else I can say to you
I’m doing everything I know to do
And I can’t give you anything more
When I’m giving my best
The Trump transition draws hard upon it most crucial day, December 19,2016 That would be my 29th wedding anniversary if I were still married to the only woman I ever married. It is the day the Electoral College of the United States of America votes.There is a lot going on in the world of politics and finance that has not occurred in other recent transitions. Not all of the things that are happening are resulting from recent pressures coming from after the election. Trump had already divested himself a great deal in June. In addition besides the Carrier deal and the pressure on the Air Force One contract with Boeing — Trump is involved in other deals. One is the unexpected deal with SoftBank which is determined to invest and employ people in the United States of America. He is not elected because he disrespects women or minorities but in part he is elected because he sees the concern over how he is perceived to relate to women an minorities as outside of his central area of concern.He is going to make some deals, rattle some cages and scare some people and the American working class wants the Trump they voted for to do that. This particular anthem of the working class goes on from here:
You say you’re having trouble figuring me
I don’t believe I’m such a mystery
Baby what you get is what you see
I am a simple man
I wanna place I can lay my head
Soft woman and a warm bed
A little time off before I’m dead
I’m just a simple manYou say you’re having trouble figuring me
I don’t believe I’m such a mystery
Baby what you get is what you see
I am a simple man
The question of how Trump should comport himself is a real and important one. But it is also important to ask how one ought to feel about whether a rich and prominent man can simply be himself and also be president. Trump has been picked as Time‘s Person of the Year and there have been varied comments about the choice but the report by Time is without doubt the most authoritative. Trump is a major figure reshaping our American synthesis. The people want to see him do this as well as he can. They want the billionaire, the complicated businessman that has done what it took. and the kid who went to a military academy.
There are many ways some one like me might read the Trump election. I could see the fact that David Duke was on the ballot for Senate in Louisiana’s open primary and the fact that Steve Bannon is named the chief White House Strategist as signs that there will be more room for people whose view tend to be on the far right and who blog to be part of the political process. But honestly I am simply too deeply pessimistic to take anything with much optimism as regards my political future in the United States — or elsewhere for that matter. In some ways I feel that as the spectrum shifts those of us who have been on the fringe and are not really connected will experience as many new vulnerabilities and risks as any that are removed by the indiscriminate attacks on the far right which have existed over recent past decades. I am no WASP. We shall see how the winds of intolerance which some people see blowing will affect me. But I am accustomed to the weather.
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