There is this right-wing nationalist-populist current in American politics. It manifested in the 1990s with Ross Perot and the Reform Party. (Arguably earlier, in the 1960s, with George Wallace and the American Independent Party.) In the Obama years it re-emerged as the Tea Party. And then Trump placed himself at its head. That’s why you don’t hear anything about the Tea Party any more – it IS the Trump movement.
This current differs from mainstream pro-corporate Republican politics in its economic nationalism and protectionism. It is the kind of thinking that sees the “productive” classes in society, the middle class and the working class (the two classes are not distinguished in this kind of thinking) as being under threat both from the poor/nonwhite below and from the rich/corporations above – see producerism. See also paleoconservatism.
N.B: These are paleocons, not neocons – that is, not foreign-policy warhawks. After all, the military-industrial complex is biggummint, federal and expensive. They generally opposed the Iraq War. Pat Buchanan is a typical specimen of this kind – he wrote a book defending the American isolationist position in WWII. One thing Trump has always told the truth about is his lack of interest in foreign military adventures. So he fits in well here.
Trump is 78 years old. No matter how this election goes, he can’t last much longer. And when he goes, the MOVEMENT will still be there – waiting for somebody else to lead it.
What happens then?
This current differs from mainstream pro-corporate Republican politics in its economic nationalism and protectionism. It is the kind of thinking that sees the “productive” classes in society, the middle class and the working class (the two classes are not distinguished in this kind of thinking) as being under threat both from the poor/nonwhite below and from the rich/corporations above – see producerism. See also paleoconservatism.
N.B: These are paleocons, not neocons – that is, not foreign-policy warhawks. After all, the military-industrial complex is biggummint, federal and expensive. They generally opposed the Iraq War. Pat Buchanan is a typical specimen of this kind – he wrote a book defending the American isolationist position in WWII. One thing Trump has always told the truth about is his lack of interest in foreign military adventures. So he fits in well here.
Trump is 78 years old. No matter how this election goes, he can’t last much longer. And when he goes, the MOVEMENT will still be there – waiting for somebody else to lead it.
What happens then?
