I assume that a vast number of Americans are unconcerned about the results of the election. In fact, many people seem to assume that all the blustering and overt racism and sexism... all the vulgarity and obvious greed that the winner exhibited for months and months... was just an act.
Maybe it was. More likely is that the most egregious plans he put forth just won't fly in a nation that has moved from racial splits and gender splits to reveal what it really has been for its entire history: a nation dominated by the wealthy. It's not that money can simply buy elections -- after all, the Democrats raised and spent far more than the Republicans -- but the wealthy will always come out fine.
The puzzle for me has always been that the wealthy continue to find ways to get the poor, the struggling, and the frustrated to vote for them. Most of America is like Charlie Brown, always hoping that the football will not be yanked back at the last second by Lucy, sending us crashing to the ground, defeated.
I'm not sure what to make of people who choose to pay exorbitant prices for bacon or eggs or whatever foods they just can't live without. Another choice would be to simply NOT purchase the items with inflated prices, or buy less. At some point, change happens. It's the essence of capitalism.
Financially distressed people could forego that trip to Disney or whatever splurge their credit limit can handle. I hate to be that guy, but when I was young and had little money (but enough to cover housing and food), it never occurred to us that our happiness might be raised by spending beyond our means. In fact, we never really felt frightening financial pressure. We just kept working.
I read the other day that the average income in Mississippi was more than the average income in Germany and England. Imagine that! I know averages can be deceiving, since they mask the extremes, but at least one reading of that fact is that Americans are doing quite well. Most of the world certainly thinks so.
Americans don't.
My immediate take on the results of the election is that the country had a little fit... people decided that this was a chance to express their anger and frustration with the way the world has treated them. So, we threw the bastards out. We will throw out the new bastards quite soon, of course... maybe in two years or four, but they are going.
Every pundit can suddenly see that Democrats made x mistakes... and everything is so clear in hindsight. The pollsters will create some elaborate rationalizations for their latest inaccurate predictions (I know, they will say they don't predict... but come on). The devout will rationalize their abandonment of ethics and morality as important in our leaders (though they will also see their churches grow emptier as even most ignorant can only take so much hypocrisy).
I am glad to see the curtain pulled back, so to speak, so we can all see that it was class all along. All the leaders of Trump's cult have advanced degrees and obscene amounts of money. All the leaders of the Democratic Party enjoy the same.
I teach college classes as a sort of retirement hobby and one thing I can say for sure: getting a college degree is not beyond most people, if they want it. Many do not, but they still lust for the money and power a degree usually brings. We hate to be talked down to. We all want to be the ones doing the "talking down."
One thing is certain: our economy depends upon a large percentage of the population working semi-crappy jobs, focused mostly on how to pay their next bill. No time to analyze, well, anything.
It's understandable that every few years those people throw a fit using one of the few bits of power they possess: their vote.
Then they can go back to being manipulated by the rich and educated.
End of bitter rant.
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