By Nilgiri Pearson
I do not like Donald Trump. I abhor him. Yes, him, the man, and not merely his policies, because it is morally indefensible to dignify his call to build a wall, ban all Muslim immigration and so on, by so describing them, then saying I disagree with those.
These are not policies; they are expressions of racism and xenophobia just like “grab her by the pussy” isn’t just locker-room talk. It is pure misogyny (and I use that word to emphasize this point). That is why I do not like the man himself: He is a racist, a xenophobe, a misogynist – and more besides.
Nonetheless, what seems like the final, terminal exposure of Trump the man is at best the bitterest of bittersweet pills. Ultimately I am happy he will never see the White House, but this satisfaction barely registers because I have an equally strong and disconcerting feeling that the bathtub is being thrown out with the baby.
Mexicans – Latinos, really – fleeing to the US looking for a better life are “bringing drugs … bringing crime … they’re rapists.” If this historic “election” began when Trump announced his candidacy, then its catalyst was an act of – dare I say it – “Trumpian” sensationalism, a spectacle.
Spectacle has usurped this election. It arose on the back of sensationalism and will fall – collapse, really – under the weight of crude tabloid scandals.
Those who minimize the seriousness of this shift because we have avoided the very real and substantial risks entailed by a President Trump should think again.
Those, like me, who can’t help but revel at the sight of this immoral man being pilloried should temper their smugness. In the greater scheme of things, we may yet be hoisted on our own petards.
It isn’t that character doesn’t matter. Donald Trump will rightfully lose this election because his character embodies the culture of disrespect he would nurture in office, but in the final calculus, it only matters as much as it does because he had no policy proposals or vision to begin with.
An election is supposed to be a process allowing citizens to help chart the future course of their country. This should be achieved through voters’ careful consideration of the competing candidates’ policies, vision, and yes, character, and expressed at the ballot box.
It is naïve to think this system is perfect, but likewise true that idealism and aspiration justify themselves each time we hit a “seven” after aiming for the perfect “10.”
Neither is voting a superfluous exercise. Even at the best of times, it is an important opportunity for communal self-reflection. In darker, more divisive historical moments (like the present), it can be cathartic and rejuvenating.
But the Trump phenomenon itself suggests the United States has problems meriting a serious national conversation.
Elections are thus a dialogue between citizens and politicians. Both have a role in directing this conversation and turning its conclusions into appropriate solutions: Cut social services or incur debt? Ignore climate change or tax carbon? Have an open or a surveilled society? Temperament, national and personal, also matters: Do we respond to a terrorist attack with violence, or …?
This is why I am so concerned. Democracy does not begin and end with Donald Trump. He is the symptom, in other words, not the disease.
If vision and policy matter and Donald Trump has neither, then really the last meaningful exercise of democracy was the race between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders for the Democratic nomination.
Think about that: The primaries were driven by pro-Clinton SuperPAC-laundered, big-donor money. Leaked emails show the DNC actively conspired against Sanders. Last but certainly not least, if Clinton cake-walks into the White House on the back of sleazy Donald Trump’s remarks about women, she will have effectively been elected by five to seven per cent of eligible voters without any substantive debate on policy in front of the other 97 per cent during the last five months of the election.
I don’t fault Clinton for this. It’s not her fault. But even if she wins, in the bigger picture, the authority of the office of the United States president is then legitimated by a process that has been delegitimised by the sheer, bedazzling spectacle of an election that represents a mere illusion of democracy. Consequently, hers may be a crippled presidency.
Democracy isn’t just a way for narcissists to aggrandize themselves. It is a hefty, hard-won responsibility demanding maturity from politicians and voters alike. I wonder whether Trump’s supporters haven’t made the mistake of thinking that democracy is merely a perk of living in America. The thing about that though: The reverse is true. “America” itself – the character, the vision, the policy, and yes, even the dream — that is perk of democracy.
A rotating stable of community members share their thoughts on anything and everything, the only criteria being that it be thought-provoking. Got something on your mind to share with readers in Greater Sudbury? Climb aboard our Soapbox and have your say. Send material or pitches to [email protected].
