The elevation of Donald Trump to the American presidency has spelt a dismal descent in political leadership, and more than suggests a systemic decay in the American way of life. Selfsame corruption haunts other societies. But Trump’s ascendency cast a stark spotlight on the nation that was the erstwhile leader of the free world.
The term free world is a ridiculous one. Capitalism ensures that only the financially independent are “free” to any appreciable degree. The vast majority of the population are yoked to a hardscrabble existence. Being middle class means being a wage slave. The future no longer shines brightly on the American dream. Nor has it done so for a half-century. Occasional glimmers of sunshine were of unwarranted optimism that the system was humming along nicely.
It is by this fact that Trump gained power. A crude con artist, Donald Trump represented, to those who voted for him, a desperate chance to disrupt the system which has made them feel disadvantaged. They hoped Trump might somehow relieve their status anxiety, if nothing else.
Trump’s promise to “drain the swamp” that succors American political institutions was ludicrous. But his supporters believed it possible. Therein lay the problem.
Democracy is founded upon the principle that adults, regardless of knowledge, or lack thereof, should have a say in civic affairs. Donald Trump is a natural outcome of an electorally-franchised ignorant people who live in a corrupt society steeped in inequity. From a historical perspective, Donald Trump is a culmination of modern capitalist civilization. The sound you hear, tweet by tweet, is of that civilization crumbling.