We have seen the outcome of elections in the UK, Brazil and the 2016 shocker in the US. But for some dumb reason, progressives and free-thinkers like myself still sometimes believe these are irregular occurrences and there will soon be a return of civility. Well, wake up folks!
It wasn’t some fringe minority or a handful of people who voted Trump into office. It was the complacency and dismissive attitude of those who think they are prim & proper, while achieving very little and making very little progress that riled a good chunk of the American population who had had enough of “being presidential” and the prim & proper semi-elitist behaviours of the same people they voted into public office. Ironically, they turned to someone who has had the same privileges as the elites they say they want to rebel against, but in him, they saw a means of rebelling and for that, they were (and still are) prepared to condone the rest. If Joe Binen was to come out today (11 Oct, 2020) or in the coming couple of weeks prior to November 3, to firmly state that he does not believe Trump supporters are stupid and that he can see what has riled them over the past 20 years of “prim & proper” politics that ignored (instead of seek to understand or at least listen) a chunk of the country (and they don’t have to be correct: demanding a control of immigration etc.) – if he could come out to acknowledge those mistakes and seek to engage, he will win this election by a massive margin
As we saw with Boris Johnson v Jeremy Corbin in the UK. The hypocrisy in assuming anyone who associates with conservatism or a demand for a change of policy relating to immigration, the EU and other such matters, is a right-wing fanatic or a racist and just dismissing their complaints simply galvanises those people and what you end up with, is what we now face in the UK with Brexit. Over the years, if politicians had made an attempt to listen to those complaining about those issues and even if those complaints are just an unfortunate perception as they largely are, discussing and engaging with them would have avoided exiting the EU and some improvements could have been made all round.
I am a firm believer in the fact that none of us own the earth we live in, and the coincidence of some of us being lucky to have been born in developed countries should not mean we lockdown our borders BUT, if some parts of the population claim they are unhappy, the correct thing to do is engage with them and explain the details to them. For example, there are millions of Brits living and working abroad and they are not all educated or highly skilled, but those countries welcome them. We can not return to a Britain of the 1940s or 50s that many seem to want. To begin with, we no longer have all the unchallenged wealth from the commonwealth coming in. We are part of a global economy. But, we could have initiated a points system or a similar assessment that Canada or Australia use, to reassure those who complain about immigration that at any point in time, the government is in control and we will only bring in those that will fit in with our society and improve it as well as providing solace to those fleeing persecution and helping to integrate into our society. Anything to demonstrate our leaders listen. Instead, for decades, politicians dodged the question and the folks who live in communities where immigrants are dumped (and dumped is the correct word as efforts to help immigrants integrate are simply not well coordinated) get that shock and clash of culture, with hatred and intolerance being the end-product. As such, it is not that difficult for some to exploit this lethal cocktail by whipping these unhappy folks into a frenzy. While those that know better, refuse to explain the challenges to them. Instead, we label them as uneducated and intolerant and we dismiss their views. YES, it is sometimes difficult to listen to or engage with people who use racial slurs and push ridiculous conspiracy theories, but decades of failing to engage with them and to explain the dynamics of today’s world, where our food, energy etc. come from and why Britain can no longer be an isolated entity (and why it doesn’t matter if London is 20, 30, 40 or whatever percentage non-white: provided everyone integrates, keep our values, avoid crime, improve the country and all contribute) has led to the current situation and the aftermath of exiting the EU will impact the same people who voted for it, than the elite who will always be ok
It is the same everywhere you look. We make the same mistake in dismissing an initially small cluster of the population who believe immigrants are the only thing wrong in life and that they are poor thanks to immigration. The more we ignore them, the higher their numbers grow. Those who should have explained the real reason they are poor or struggling to them (demonstrating to them that it has nothing to do with foreigners and that the government will get a grip either way and integrate newcomers, improve the lot of communities that are chosen to accommodate newcomers etc) have for decades opted to ignore them and dismiss their concerns and what you end up with, is a galvanised rebellion that falls into the hands of those who then exploit it to their own advantage, while failing to make any tangible improvement, which is down to the fact that they largely do not know what or how to improve the situation
Other than a few TV moments (showing children in cages, separated from their parents) has the Trump administration over the last 4 years improved integration of immigrants or helped the impacted communities that have to live side by side with those new immigrants? Is America better off now in terms of cohesion? These are the real issues that governments should spend energy and money on. I doubt even the numbers have shown any improvement over these past 4 years. Society have given io to despair. Intolerance has risen to an all-time high! Government is no longer there to represent and work for the people. The very cornerstone of our democracy has been ripped apart!
There will be no end to the misery until we start listening to each other, regardless of who is right or wrong.
Knowledge can improve the world we live in 