Are Trumpists simply the people who are getting screwed by the Information Age?
I suspect so.
I suspect so.
I suspect so.
Lemme splain. Reading a lot recently about Britain’s transition to the Industrial Age, I was struck at how many yeoman and craftsman types found themselves losing their stable, honored places in society. I wonder if the people we see supporting Trump nowadays find themselves in a similar position, simply not seeing a place for themselves in the Information Age America they sense emerging.
Will Trump do anything to help them? No. He can’t. The best thing to help those left behind by the Information Age would be a huge education program. But that’s a multi-generational effort that is hard and difficult. Instead, he offers a short-term venting of anger that feels good. And Americans like to feel good (that’s not a criticism in and of itself).
All this makes me wonder how much the tectonic shifts of the Industrial Revolution helped create the atmosphere that led Americans to believe in 1861 they could only settle their differences with bloodshed. Is another civil war possible?
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
More from Foreign Policy

A New Multilateralism
How the United States can rejuvenate the global institutions it created.

America Prepares for a Pacific War With China It Doesn’t Want
Embedded with U.S. forces in the Pacific, I saw the dilemmas of deterrence firsthand.

The Endless Frustration of Chinese Diplomacy
Beijing’s representatives are always scared they could be the next to vanish.

The End of America’s Middle East
The region’s four major countries have all forfeited Washington’s trust.