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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think the reality is that we are in a huge period of social change on par with the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's, only this time it is on a global scale.  Demographics and social mores are changing at an extremely rapid pace.  Global trade and communication are changing our economies and our relationship to the entire human race at an extremely rapid pace.  The internet had rendered truth relative.  There is way too much information available and too little ability to make sense of it.  From a psychological perspective all of this change is challenging, and many people all over the world are proving incapable of handling it.  It is much easier to keep the other out, to maintain the long-held status quo, so the world is simpler and easier to understand.  Look at Brexit.  Look at the rise of far-right movements in France, Germany, Poland, Hungary.  They are all based on nationalism and keeping out the "other."  Trump has an instinct for all of this and has tapped into people here who are feeling the same thing.  They want a strongman.  They want someone to tell them it is all going to be okay.  That's what he's doing.  It doesn't matter if the result is that the people being "otherized" are motivated to retaliate.

This entire dynamic is terrifying and I don't see an end in sight.  With each passing day I am trying to wrap my head around the reality of Trump as President, because I honestly do think we are repeating the cycle of the early 20th century all over again.[/quote]

I agree with your reading of the larger dynamics in play. What gives me hope, though, is that America is not Europe. Europe has constantly struggled with xenophobia and nationalism. The only thing that stabilized it was several huge wars and rounds of ethnic cleansing. It is intensely tribal and regional at heart. Thus the tension with the EU.

America has many of the same issues and several others besides, but we are a nation of immigrants and incorrigible optimists. In the end, this election will be a struggle but there are still many people who believe in the possibility of living with diversity. There are still many people who believe in the possibility of the future and in our innovation, our education system, our superior human capital. The narrative of American exceptionalism is no doubt problematic but as you saw at the DNC last week it remains powerful and moving. I think we will see the ship in safely... Don't give up yet![/quote]

Also the economy here, though not great, has been much better than Europe.[/quote]

Exactly. Gas is $1.95 a gallon at my local gas station today. We're far from a revolution, on the contrary we have much to lose.[/quote]

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