Beyond Trump

Some fine day, Trump will be gone. Tragically, the damage his reign has ushered in will remain. Not only has he shattered the web of institutions underlying liberal democracy, he has bared the ugliness of the class divide that haunts America.

It’s easy for Democrats or progressives or anyone for that matter to blame Trump. He’s the most polarizing figure in our history and his actions are universally disruptive as he dismantles the fragile infrastructure of a welfare state, and engages in corruption at a scale never before seen.

He is a monster.

But the monsters in our nightmares serve a purpose if we analyze them closely enough. They can reveal our darker fears.

What are those fears? That everything good we thought we part of in our lifetimes is being erased from history.

Human rights, civil rights, women’s rights, LBGTQ rights, diversity, tolerance, environmental reform, anti-monopoly reforms, humane immigration policies and progressive initiatives of all kinds are going up in smoke right before our eyes.

Trump has been able to do this by exploiting the fears and resentments of that portion of the working class that is the less educated, less urbanized, less sophisticated than the rest of the population.

And there are just enough people like that — plus those who can be manipulated to vote with them — to barely edge out those who are more educated, more urbanized and more likely to appreciate organic food, the arts and immersing themselves in a more diverse society than the one they grew up with.

That is a class divide. And we know what Marx said about class divisions.

It is fashionable to divide liberal-thinking people into moderates and radicals, but they share more in common with each other than they do with working class people, and that is an enduring problem, one that will outlive Trump.

Those who provide the labor for those who enjoy the benefits of that labor have largely backed Trump, but the first joke will be on them, because Trump is a traitor to the working class.

And now, with the coming of AI and humanoid robots, those who provide labor may lose their jobs to machines smarter and more manageable than they are. At least that’s one way it may work out.

But Trump is also a traitor to the educated class by ripping off the liberal cover from its institutions meant to implement gradual change, plus his international adventurism that is reducing U.S. influence, for better or for worse, all over the world. (That requires a separate essay.)

Long after he has faded from the scene in America, this dangerous class divide will remain. And the wealth disparity is rapidly getting worse, resulting in a super-rich uber class of billionaires lording over us all. 

Assuming the Democrats regain a measure of political power, they are likely to squander it by focusing on new investigations into Trump’s corruption while shying away from addressing the underlying class divisions that created the opening for an opportunist like him in the first place.

It is not just votes that have to be won; it’s hearts and minds. And that, my friends, is a far longer, messier prospect than what happens in the next election cycle.

HEADLINES:

• Trump Threatens Even Higher Tariffs on Canadian Exports After Talks Unravel (NYT)

• Canada Sees Long Trade War With US That May Last Beyond Midterms (Bloomberg)

• Canada has one important edge in the North American trade war (Politico)

• ‘Half my business will be gone’ - firms in Canada and US fear trade war (BBC)

• Iran War Updates: U.S. unveils new sanctions after Trump threatened “economic D-Day” (CBS)

• China hits out at ‘illegal’ new US sanctions on Iran and trading partners (BBC)

• The US threatened Iran with what it called “the greatest financial offensive ever marshalled” as it prepared to roll out economic sanctions that target Iran’s trade partners. (Reuters)

• While Ukraine is under fire, corruption and political chaos abound (Economist)

• Elite Ukrainian drone unit brings the war to Moscow’s doorstep (AP)

• Supreme Court Allows Trump Plan to Restrict Mail-In Voting, for Now (NYT)

• Dems turning more GOP Senate strongholds into midterm battlegrounds (Axios)

• South Carolina Senate race between Darline Graham and Ralph Norman heads to runoff today (CBS)

• Why some Texas conservatives are breaking ranks and pledging to vote Democratic (WP)

• House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Jared Kushner reportedly met in private recently to discuss areas of common ground as the midterm elections approach. [HuffPost]

• Reality TV Cabinet Secretary Has No Grasp of Reality (Bulwark)

• Washington Post ordered to reinstate opinion writer fired over Charlie Kirk posts (Guardian)

• Legal scholar on SCOTUS decision to allow ballroom project to continue for now (NPR)

• The Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger Is Existential for Writers (Hollywood Reporter)

• California Expected to Seek TV Channel Sales From Paramount-Warner (WSJ)

• Top US firms that backed Voting Rights Act donate to groups working to undermine it (Guardian)

• Trump’s Corruption is Much Worse than the $40 Trillion Federal Debt (Money Trail)

• Firefighters Grapple With Nevada Blaze That Drove Thousands From Homes (NYT)

• Earth is simmering in its hottest water temps on record, and that's bad for fish and us (AP)

• MAGA Flips Out Over Kacey Musgraves’ Birthday Wish (HuffPost)

• 25 years after 9/11, Bin Laden has achieved one of his major goals (The Hill)

• Singapore offers parents $55,000 in effort to boost birth rates (FT)

• The Enormous Stakes of the Federal Case Against Meta (New York)

• The Data Center Backlash Bursts Into the Midterms (NYT)

• ‘Don’t ask me to print your ChatGPT birthday card’: Hitting back at AI ‘slop’ (BBC)

• Humanoid robot soldiers likely only 5-10 years away, one developer behind China’s robotics boom says (CBS)

• AI is coming for your glasses (FT)

• Calif. colleges bought everyone ChatGPT. No one knows what to do with it. (SFGate)

• Biology Teacher Disappointed Nobody Did Assigned Summer Dissecting (Onion)