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Für November und Wolfgang!

Donald Trump wins, why?

After the sucess of UKIP and Brexit in the United Kingdom, the success of Donald Trump was surely no surprise?

Millions of American blue collar workers yesterday voted against an establishment that is simply oblivious to working class people. There have been decades of industrial decline, the export of jobs, the destruction of any hope that blue collar people might still aspire to the American dream. The gap between the richest and the poorest has grown wider and wider, corporate America has acquired previously unimaginable wealth while working people have worked longer and longer hours for low wages. The financial crisis forced the country to struggle with debts caused by rich bankers. Hillary Clinton, being part of the establishment, offered no radical analysis of the economy Is it any surprise that Donald Trump was able to win the support of all those angry people?

As the UKIP voters were derided, as the Brexit voters were derided, so the Trump voters have met a similar wave of abuse, “Dumb” and “stupid” being the most frequent terms. Perhaps those who are dumb and stupid are those who for more than a decade have ignored the growing sense of alienation, those who preferred to think that the anger would simply fade away. If liberal values are to be preserved, then it will need a reformed persuasive political analysis that re-connects with lost communities.