It's amazing but true. Donald Trump is running in a democratic system but he is not a democratic politician.
He is running as the truly illiberal candidate. Can liberal democracy yield an illiberal result?
It's for this reason why the media doesn't know how to cover him. He doesn't play by the normal rules of democratic discourse.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2016/05/12/trump-is-waging-an-assault-on-the-entire-structure-of-our-democracy-now-what/
Scott Sumner has it right:
"Thiago, You said:
“All politicians do that.”
"Nope, Trump’s the only one who held all three positions on the minimum wage, in a single campaign. If all politicians did that we’d never know what any of them believed on any issue—no point in even having elections."
"I do love the way Trumpistas insisted that Trump was not an ordinary politician, rather he was a man of convictions, who could stop the wave of immigration. And now they defend him as being an ordinary politician who can’t be trusted on anything. Actually ordinary politicians can be trusted on some things. Hillary really will try to raise the minimum wage, you can count on it. It’s Trump who cannot be trusted on anything. The disgruntled voters who never vote because you can’t trust politicians, ended up supporting the one guy who’s even less trustworthy than real politicians. The guy who’s more like a caricature of politicians."
http://www.themoneyillusion.com/?p=31684
Exactly. With Trump there's no reason even to have an election. Trump is not running to be elected but crowned. He doesn't care about the idea that we are a nation of laws. He considers himself so rich and privileged that he's above such laws.
It's no wonder that Trump has this mutual admiration society going on with Putin: no doubt, he aspires to be the American version of Putin.
In Trump's arrogant refusal to release his tax returns we see the same anti democratic, illiberal tendency at work.
He is running as the truly illiberal candidate. Can liberal democracy yield an illiberal result?
It's for this reason why the media doesn't know how to cover him. He doesn't play by the normal rules of democratic discourse.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2016/05/12/trump-is-waging-an-assault-on-the-entire-structure-of-our-democracy-now-what/
Scott Sumner has it right:
"Thiago, You said:
“All politicians do that.”
"Nope, Trump’s the only one who held all three positions on the minimum wage, in a single campaign. If all politicians did that we’d never know what any of them believed on any issue—no point in even having elections."
"I do love the way Trumpistas insisted that Trump was not an ordinary politician, rather he was a man of convictions, who could stop the wave of immigration. And now they defend him as being an ordinary politician who can’t be trusted on anything. Actually ordinary politicians can be trusted on some things. Hillary really will try to raise the minimum wage, you can count on it. It’s Trump who cannot be trusted on anything. The disgruntled voters who never vote because you can’t trust politicians, ended up supporting the one guy who’s even less trustworthy than real politicians. The guy who’s more like a caricature of politicians."
http://www.themoneyillusion.com/?p=31684
Exactly. With Trump there's no reason even to have an election. Trump is not running to be elected but crowned. He doesn't care about the idea that we are a nation of laws. He considers himself so rich and privileged that he's above such laws.
It's no wonder that Trump has this mutual admiration society going on with Putin: no doubt, he aspires to be the American version of Putin.
In Trump's arrogant refusal to release his tax returns we see the same anti democratic, illiberal tendency at work.
http://lastmenandovermen.blogspot.com/2016/05/what-is-donald-trumps-tax-rate.html
Shadi Hamid, as a Middle Eastern man who has moved to the West-and has gone on to do quite well, thank you-compares the rise of Trump the the Middle Eastern experience with dictators, etc.
"When I was living in the Middle East, politics always felt existential, in a way that I suppose I could never fully understand. After all, I could always leave (as my relatives in Egypt were fond of reminding me). But it was easy enough to sense it. Here, in the era of Arab revolt, elections really had consequences. Politics wasn’t about policy; it was about a battle over the very meaning and purpose of the nation-state. These were the things that mattered more than anything else, in part because they were impossible to measure or quantify."
"The primary divide in most Arab countries was between Islamists and non-Islamists. The latter, especially those of a more secular bent, feared that Islamist rule, however “democratic” it might be, would alter the nature of their countries beyond recognition. It wouldn’t just affect their governments or their laws, but how they lived, what they wore, and how they raised their sons and daughters."
"Perhaps more than at any other time, millions of Americans are getting a sense, however mild in comparison, of what it might feel like to lose your country—or at least think about losing your country—because of what people decide to do in the privacy of the voting booth. It still remains (somewhat) unlikely that Donald Trump, the now presumptive Republican nominee, can win a general election. Regardless of the final outcome, however, the billionaire’s rise offers up a powerful—and frightening—reminder that liberal democracy, even where it’s most entrenched, is a fragile thing."
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/05/trump-president-illiberal-democracy/481494/
Sumner recently stated that even if Trump supported NGDP targeting, he would not support him. The problem with Trump is not just this or that position-though most of his actual positions are horrible.
Shadi Hamid, as a Middle Eastern man who has moved to the West-and has gone on to do quite well, thank you-compares the rise of Trump the the Middle Eastern experience with dictators, etc.
"When I was living in the Middle East, politics always felt existential, in a way that I suppose I could never fully understand. After all, I could always leave (as my relatives in Egypt were fond of reminding me). But it was easy enough to sense it. Here, in the era of Arab revolt, elections really had consequences. Politics wasn’t about policy; it was about a battle over the very meaning and purpose of the nation-state. These were the things that mattered more than anything else, in part because they were impossible to measure or quantify."
"The primary divide in most Arab countries was between Islamists and non-Islamists. The latter, especially those of a more secular bent, feared that Islamist rule, however “democratic” it might be, would alter the nature of their countries beyond recognition. It wouldn’t just affect their governments or their laws, but how they lived, what they wore, and how they raised their sons and daughters."
"Perhaps more than at any other time, millions of Americans are getting a sense, however mild in comparison, of what it might feel like to lose your country—or at least think about losing your country—because of what people decide to do in the privacy of the voting booth. It still remains (somewhat) unlikely that Donald Trump, the now presumptive Republican nominee, can win a general election. Regardless of the final outcome, however, the billionaire’s rise offers up a powerful—and frightening—reminder that liberal democracy, even where it’s most entrenched, is a fragile thing."
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/05/trump-president-illiberal-democracy/481494/
Sumner recently stated that even if Trump supported NGDP targeting, he would not support him. The problem with Trump is not just this or that position-though most of his actual positions are horrible.
It's what he is. He is an aspiring Putin. He even plans strengthen libel laws against media that criticizes him and he talks about going after Amazon's Jeff Bezos.
So as Hamid says, this election is about more than what our policies will be; it's also whether or not we remain a liberal democratic nation. Trump is perhaps the greatest threat we've ever seen in our history.
So as Hamid says, this election is about more than what our policies will be; it's also whether or not we remain a liberal democratic nation. Trump is perhaps the greatest threat we've ever seen in our history.
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