A version of this article appeared in LSE’s student newspaper The Beaver.
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I think everyone is missing the point.
We’re all shocked and we’re all horrified. We can’t believe that someone so under-qualified and so outwardly racist and misogynistic is now in charge of the most powerful country in the world. We can’t believe that the American public could democratically elect someone like this; they must all be racists and misogynists themselves. We’re all terrified of what’s to come – will Trump build his wall? ban the Muslims? instigate nuclear war?
These are indeed all valid reactions, but there are deeper questions, of crucial importance to us, that are being widely ignored.
Firstly, it’s important to address the statistics. The argument that all of Trump’s voters are sexists and racists is simply wrong. It is true that a lot of his support came from predominantly white areas, and that more men voted for Trump than Clinton, but there is more to it than that. 42% of women voted for Trump – these people are not misogynists (even if they do have some level of internalised sexism built up inside them). 29% of Hispanics voted for Trump – these people are not racists. The reasons for Trump’s election are not as black and white as many are suggesting.
What we’re seeing with Trump is an exact re-creation of what we saw with Brexit. Both have been explained in terms of a wave of nationalist populism and the politics of revolt, i.e. people aren’t happy with their current socioeconomic environment; people vote for change and those proclaiming revolution (perhaps out of desperation, perhaps in rebellion). Undoubtedly there is some sense in this, and it goes some way to explaining why these things came to happen.
But still, can we really just accept that a majority (albeit not really a majority) wanted revolution rather than politics?
We need to analyse this: Trump won an electoral campaign without talking about politics. While Hilary campaigned conventionally, announcing plans for policies she would enact should she become president, Trump campaigned through intangible symbolism and hypotheticals. We’ll build a wall. We’ll defeat ISIS. And we’ll definitely make America great again.
The Leave campaign achieved Brexit in remarkably similar fashion. While Remain was offering facts and evidence of the dangers Brexit would bring along with the benefits of remaining in the EU, Leave was, like Trump, offering us symbols and hypotheticals. We’re going to take back control. We’re going to keep Britain British. No facts, no evidence, just baseless, intangible claims. (And some lies for good measure.)
Both Trump and Leave were attacked by an overwhelming majority of experts during their respective campaigns, warning us that there was no substance to their claims. Why didn’t people care? Because they were blinded by the revolution. Sold by the symbols. Clinging to a nonsensical reality from which nothing, least of all common sense, could bring them back. UKIP and Leave financer Arron Banks said after the referendum that ‘the Remain campaign featured fact, fact, fact, fact, fact. It just doesn’t work. You have got to connect with people emotionally. It’s the Trump success.’
So what does this mean going forward? An article in the Guardian this week, written by an academic at Exeter University, asked whether we should scrap the way students are taught to express information in favour of a Trump-Brexit campaign-style education. After all, on the evidence of this year, logic, reason and common-sense are all dead while emotionally-manipulative rhetoric is very much alive. But scrapping everything we previously held to be true is not the answer. Instead, we (be it the Left, or simply those who value honesty and empiricism over symbolism and emotional manipulation) must see how we can incorporate what we’ve learnt this year from Trump and Brexit into our own methods.
We can no longer expect elections to be won by out-politicsing the competition. Facts and evidence are not important anymore. Politics has adapted, and those who don’t adapt with it will be left behind.
Musings 