Trumpism will endure as long as the old liberal left will continue to refuse to present a genuine political alternative.
By DAVID MERHAVUpdated: OCTOBER 25, 2018 09:16US President Donald Trump speaks during a bilateral meeting with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, September 26, 2018(photo credit: CARLOS BARRIA / REUTERS)The coming elections in the United States mark the deep divide prevailing within American society. While there are many liberals who hope to see the conservatives defeated, it seems that the voters won’t deliver a blow to President Trump whose policies did not yield the horror scenario foreseen by the leftist milieu around The New York Times. While Trump is a controversial politician who creates hot scandals on a daily basis, his politics have not brought the US to chaos; moreover, the American economy is flourishing, and jobs are being added at a serious pace, in addition to a historic rate of employment. Trump is probably a scandalous person with no intention of unifying Americans around inclusive politics, but his deeds make the average American believe that the country is safer, stronger and economically better under his leadership. It is evident that the leftist predictions that claimed the President would create economic and social turmoil because of his beliefs have been refuted. The Trumpist movement, considered by many to be an expression of the liberals’ temporary decay, is here to stay.Trumpism is alive and well not just because of its success in keeping America ahead in economic terms, and certainly not just because the President’s policies have returned the US to its role as the key international actor, which cannot be ignored. In fact, the isolationist policies adopted by Trump revealed the fact that the US is far less influential than it was before. However, the success of Trumpism lies in its nationalist essence in an era where nationalism is raising its head following the failure of liberals to secure the interests of their peoples. The nationalist agenda is prospering not only in the US but also in Europe and other countries, among them Israel. In Germany, Britain, Hungary, France and other European countries, nationalism and separatism occupy the hearts and minds of those people, who feel a serious need to renounce the liberal dream of no borders, tolerance of Islamic terrorism, an approach of appeasement to the harsh consequences of mass immigration and political community, where past identities are being given up in favor of a new, all-inclusive identity. These nationalistic and separatist trends are so heavily rooted in Europe that even UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn refuses to submit to pressures from the left and renounce Brexit politics.Trump brought his popular movement to America in an era where people wish to find security, comfort and stability. They do not want to accept immigrants into their towns and cities, they want to work and get solid jobs with fair salaries, they want to protect themselves from a time in which workers become redundant following the likelihood of climate change, the robotization of work and the availability of cheap labor. In contrast to the prospect that human labor will become superfluous because of huge technological developments, Trump promises them life in a world they already know and love, which they need not fear. Furthermore, he creates deep anguish in the hearts and minds of people who fear that the humanist liberal project may leave them behind.The Trumpist movement resembles other tendencies across the globe where people are terrorized by the prospect of having to live in a world they are not ready to dwell in. Israel is a good example of a situation where people continue to vote for the ruling nationalist Likud party led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as they enjoy a prosperous economy, security and social stability. Israelis remember other days of buses exploding in their cities; they can easily recall the illnesses of the socialist economy Netanyahu inherited as Minister of Finance during the early 2000s; and they fear the idea that Israel will be flooded by refugees and asylum seekers. They do not heed the warnings from the left regarding the possibility of Israel’s becoming a binational or apartheid state, and enjoy the success of policies undertaken by Netanyahu. Netanyahu is expected to be reelected and those who doubt the idea that Trump will be elected to a second term are probably not familiar with the situation in Israel, where nationalism and isolationist separatism have managed to beat the left for the last 10 years.The assessment that Trumpism will not go away so easily requires liberal circles to rethink their politics as neither in the US nor in other countries is the average man ready to support the left again. With no serious consideration of questions like national security, immigration, economic and social stability and the future of the men and women living outside New York, London or Tel Aviv, the left will not be able to make its politics of hope, inclusiveness and less social dissent materialize. The question is not who can beat Trump in the 2020 elections, but rather how to forge policies that will enable the liberal left to make millions of Americans adhere to politics suggested by those who know how bad it is to live in a society torn by nationalism, bigotry and chauvinism. There are thinkers who try to propose ways out of Trumpist politics, but their voices remain marginal. The veteran liberal establishment wishes to fight the new revolutionary ideas suggested by Trump with old politics where, for instance, the inquiry into the Russian involvement in the 2016 US elections will lead to Trump’s impeachment and Trumpism will be put to death. They pay zero attention to the need to think of post-capitalist ideas where, for example, some universal basic income is guaranteed. Trumpism will endure as long as the old liberal left will continue to refuse to present a genuine political alternative. It is an old truth that history suffers no vacuum; the vacuum filled by the Trumpist movement will not be regained by social and political forces living in the past.The author is a prospective PhD student of Ancient Near East at Bar-Ilan University
