Understand the roots of Trumpism and you’ll understand both where it comes from and why this fascistic tendency exists in all societies and in every nation. And, like a popular horror film monster, why it keeps coming back no matter how many times it's been killed off.
It stems from the authoritarian tendencies prevalent in most cultures dating back to the early formation of class societies. Strong, wealthy and brutal male leaders, always subject to challenge, rose to control early society. They were alpha males. They made the rules, and everyone followed them under pain of death or prison. Democracy did not exist and could not be allowed to exist or even imagined.
Wealthy alpha males still rise to the top today to dominate societies, even in our own democratic republic. Not always, but in an advanced capitalist society, wealth and class tend to control government, preferably hidden behind the scenes, and compromises and sharply limits democracy in practical terms. Especially in class terms. It’s why huge differences in the control of wealth persist. And why socialist tendencies rarely come to the surface politically. And capitalist values and culture manage to infect large swaths of the less privileged and corrupt other vital and respected institutions. And why socialist values/desires are so often ridiculed, discouraged and repressed.
The Class Nature of Democracy
Even avowed democratic societies and nations limit democrat rule mostly to the interests of the privileged sectors and develop policies and practices which keep them in charge. While the less privileged may be allowed to vote, they do not get to vote very often in regard to fundamental class and economic issues. In you examine the right to vote’s history in America, it often took bloody struggle over extended periods of time, to expand the list of those who could vote. Free labor in the form of unions were fought and blocked for many years. Entire classes and types of Americans were denied voting rights and opportunity. To this day, struggles over expanding voter rights persist and remain in jeopardy as to those votes being meaningful in our stratified class society.
So it’s hardly surprising that authoritarianism winds up embedded in political culture, religion, business, economic practices etc. To the point where it is not even recognized as such. Just accepted and lived with. Trumpism is really another way of identifying our nation’s own fascistic tendencies, which are surfacing due to the increased hold the capitalistic concentration of wealth has over government. These trends represent the desire to further limit or destroy our democratic and socially responsible tendencies, and towards this goal they will recruit those less privileged but willing to submit to their authority in the form of an alpha male leader, an easily controlled political grifter known as Donald Trump.
What Trumpers have in common with Trump
Trump supporters share with him an infatuation with authoritarianism and a complete rejection of democracy, albeit for differing reasons. Trump embraces authoritarianism as a leader, his followers as those willing to submit to his authority. This is where it’s important to understand why Trumpers reject democracy. The reason is fundamentally different than Trump’s, and their reasons may surprise you. They instinctively and by experience know that democracy often serves as a facade for the wealthy and privileged to rule, and that many things do not change regardless of which party wins. So, they mistakenly believe that a strong alpha male leader can solve their problems. And reject ways that actually could expand the functionality of democracy to better serve their own interests.
However, Trumpers in America do not become Trumpers only due to their authoritarian tendencies, but because they also believe that it’s in their class interests to repress democracy because it would empower African Americans and somehow lessen their white skin privileges. They may not articulate that this type of racial thinking is the reason they support Trump. But I strongly suspect that it’s the glue that binds them to him.
Defeating Trumpism in America
Trumpers believe, however falsely and naively, that he will protect their white skinned privileges and their economic well-being. Truth be told, he will have a major impact negatively on both blacks and whites and their economic security and well-being. Which is why the Democratic Party leadership needs to expand their politics and policies to prioritize an expansion of not just voting rights, but to major class friendly reforms and break from their corporate friendly ways.
While racism initially had much to do with many whites leaving the party, that exit began in the 1960s. I cannot accept that in all this time, so little has been accomplished to change those views. Democracy, if it is to be saved, needs to be expanded so that all Americans have a voice in government. That is not the case today, and that has been true for many years and not just since the arrival of the Trumpers. Voting rights are again under attack again both legislatively and even by the highest court in the land as we see with the reversal of Roe v. Wade and the previous weakening of the voter rights act. The failure to further democratize democracies have left them yet again vulnerable to authoritarianism and fascism.
Mass struggle and pressure as much as by legislation, are necessary to defeat the fascists. Both are essential. It must also be taken to the streets. Not like the misled mobs that besieged our capital on January 6th at Trump’s traitorous direction. But by the millions of blacks and whites that took to the streets in 2020 despite a pandemic. Focused on saving a Democracy that will in turn open up itself to better represent them.