On Super Tuesday today in the US, I can't help but watch what's happening across the pond as if I'm witnessing a car crash and can't take my eyes off it in disbelief! I was amongst the many from across the world who laughed at Donald J Trump as a buffoon when he continuously came out with all the horseshit about building walls and banning Muslims, but now, like many others, I’m amazed at his popularity (amongst the Republicans anyway). Digging slightly deeper into the American psyche, it’s not difficult to see why the Donald is so popular. All across the world, as in America, the nature of politics is changing in front of our eyes, and liberal ideals haven't worked, and global economic woes have created the need for scapegoats. Politicians of all colours have not provided solutions to real societal problems, whether that be migrants fleeing from war torn countries and abject poverty, to a decline in real wages and employment at home.
What Trump has done so effectively is to tap into the two dominant emotions human beings feel: fear and greed. I saw Trump being compared to Hitler in some circles, and you don’t have to be an historian to know that it is these two emotions that Hitler used to gain power, so that comparison is not necessarily that far from the truth. And in times of uncertainty, dominant emotions come out to play.
In attempting to look at the situation with some rationality and logic, I look at the numbers behind the Donald’s run for the presidency. His nomination as the Republican candidate looks very probable, if not for any other reason then the Republicans don’t have anyone else who can challenge him at this stage (Trump has around 49% of the votes, which is more than all the other Republican candidates combined). But 49% of the Republican base isn’t a majority in a General. If Trump wins the nomination, and goes on to challenge, say, Clinton for the presidency, I reckon Clinton will win by a massive landslide or Trump might win narrowly! (It, of course, will depend on how the numbers play out). There it is folks, the US’s modern-day Hitler at the helm with one hand closer to the nuclear button!
As an economist, I used to be of the Friedman school of thought, possibly because I was young and naive and believed markets were best placed to correct anomalies. That assumes a sense of rationality amongst decision-makers (whether individuals or organisations). But I think that’s a narrow point of view, to be honest (sorry Milton!) Translate that notion to politics, and we all have a role to play in society, including governments, and because of fear and greed we need effective oversight and effective regulation, to ensure society is protected from….well, everything and everyone. Rationality goes out of the window when our individual fears are stoked, and in times of existential crises, rational thought is a naive expectation.
Whatever happens in the US today, we are going to witness massive negative campaigning in the coming months, tapping into the fears of individuals, and ultimately democracy will be the worse for it. In these times of uncertainty, I can’t help but think we always get the leaders we deserve.
We are failing as a human race. We need morality at the front and centre of our politics, driven not by fear and greed but by the notion that we all occupy the one space on this planet Earth, and if we do that, I believe we will get the leaders we need, and not just the ones we deserve.