Many of my recent blog posts have focused on the likely post November foreign policy positions of the respective candidates but in view of the polarised electorate, especially on the Right and the likelihood of a Clinton win it is time to consider the reaction of highly charged angry Trump supporters should he lose, something that now seems probable.
Scenarios abound and none of them are good. Several articles are already on the Internet giving voice to the anger.
A Trump loss could stoke that anger and belief in conspiracy, a “them against us” divide, believing the entire system is rigged against them, be it within the Republican Party or the socio-economic system. They feel disenfranchised from both.
For me it is symptomatic of the weakness and demise of Liberal Democracy.
Yuval Harari, the author of Sapiens and Homo Deus, recently wrote an interesting article about Liberalism, as in Liberal Democracy, from which I quote:
Humans think in stories rather than in facts, numbers, or tables, and the simpler the story, the better. The story that has ruled our world in the past few decades is what we might call the Liberal Story. It was a simple and attractive tale, but it is now collapsing, and so far no new story has emerged to fill the vacuum. ……. The plot line of this story, however, began to lose credibility starting with the 2008 global financial crisis. People who, in the nineteen-nineties and two-thousands, expected that playing by the rules would allow them to rise and flourish suddenly began to fear that they had been duped, and that the system did not work for them.
As a result, people have become disillusioned with “the story”. This, in great part, has led to the anger and alienation so prevalent amongst Trump supporters. They believe the system is “rigged* against them and it doesn’t help to read articles by publications such as The Atlantic looking to possible repercussions of a Trump loss. The magazine wrote:
“If anything, Trumpism has, in part, made the rest of the nation all the more eager to ignore the millions of white voters living on the edges of the economy. Many may now be written off without guilt, because they have shown themselves to be not just unfortunates but undesirables—irredeemable hate-mongers itching to reassert their cultural dominance.”
Not only are they labelled “deplorables” by Clintonites they are now “undesirables”, the unwanted, not deserving attention. This is pretty strong stuff, and very dangerous, sure to inflame passions.
It is this divide and anger that has led me and many others to foresee the possibility of a violent backlash by his supporters to a Trump loss.
Just consider these two very disturbing stories both advocating violence, even assassination of Clinton:
This is very worrying stuff!
Much will depend on how Trump takes the loss. If he is gracious and accepting of defeat, then perhaps the anger can be tamped down. If not and, if he continues to claim conspiracy and rigged elections, that anger could be transformed into serious public disorder.
Finis
Baoluo
Categories:USA
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