The ignorant and low-information voter is the biggest threat to democracy. Unfortunately, our newly discovered WHITE working class voters in the fly-over states who vote for Republican governors and Republican state houses are mad at the Washington Elite but never understand the connection between their state governments and their economic situation. Additionally, they send their States' Representatives back to Washington who had blocked anything and everything Obama proposed to improve their lives. And now they put their trust in a know-nothing, authoritarian, insecure, revengeful " Great Leader" who can fix everything by himself - what could possibly go wrong?
The Republican state houses have been overly ambitious to take away worker protection and benefits. And if the poor white working class bothers to vote, they usually cast a vote that is not in their own best interest. There is nothing more dangerous to democracy than an uniformed angry voter. The technological revolution has created winners and losers. Climate change, globalization, trade agreements, the corrosive influence of money in politics are incredibly complicated issues that will not be solved by simple solutions. Bernie Sanders did nobody a favor when he blamed everything on Wall Street and and promised to turn America into single payer, tuition free, $15/hr minimum wage, generous family policies little paradise. Taxes in a European style welfare system are high for everyone because there aren't enough rich people to pay for everything. However, Europeans are more than willing to make this trade-off because they understand the benefits. Compared to other western democracies, Americans pay much lower taxes and, therefore, have a much more fractured welfare state.
So many Trump voters talked about blowing up a rigged system run by elites. Now we have a strong man with little hands who promised to make America great again by deporting 11 million undocumented workers, keeping Muslims out of the country, putting his opponent(s) in prison, dismantling institutions, the list is long and ugly.
Mussolini supposedly made the train run time; Italians just ended up having to pay a high price for this convenience.
The ignorant and low-information voter is the biggest threat to democracy. Unfortunately, our newly discovered WHITE working class voters in the fly-over states who vote for Republican governors and Republican state houses are mad at the Washington Elite but never understand the connection between their state governments and their economic situation. Additionally, they send their States' Representatives back to Washington who had blocked anything and everything Obama proposed to improve their lives. And now they put their trust in a know-nothing, authoritarian, insecure, revengeful " Great Leader" who can fix everything by himself - what could possibly go wrong?
The Republican state houses have been overly ambitious to take away worker protection and benefits. And if the poor white working class bothers to vote, they usually cast a vote that is not in their own best interest. There is nothing more dangerous to democracy than an uniformed angry voter. The technological revolution has created winners and losers. Climate change, globalization, trade agreements, the corrosive influence of money in politics are incredibly complicated issues that will not be solved by simple solutions. Bernie Sanders did nobody a favor when he blamed everything on Wall Street and and promised to turn America into single payer, tuition free, $15/hr minimum wage, generous family policies little paradise. Taxes in a European style welfare system are high for everyone because there aren't enough rich people to pay for everything. However, Europeans are more than willing to make this trade-off because they understand the benefits. Compared to other western democracies, Americans pay much lower taxes and, therefore, have a much more fractured welfare state.
So many Trump voters talked about blowing up a rigged system run by elites. Now we have a strong man with little hands who promised to make America great again by deporting 11 million undocumented workers, keeping Muslims out of the country, putting his opponent(s) in prison, dismantling institutions, the list is long and ugly.
Mussolini supposedly made the train run time; Italians just ended up having to pay a high price for this convenience.