Peter Thiel: What Trump Represents Isn't Crazy and Isn't Going Away

[BaggerofTea]

He isn't wrong

 

[Robbie3000]

He also is doing what all the more sophisticated Trump supporters do: make arguments that are compelling but not the main reason why most Trump voters support him. Most Trump voters are mainly motivated by the immigration issue, racism, nationalism, and his personality, not trade agreements and foreign policy.

Bingo. The same deplorables who have been voting for neo-liberal policies and trickle down economics now want us to believe they have seen the light and are now populists. They will be back voting for rank and file Republicans who push TPP and other trade arguments soon enough.

These deplorable b*stards would vote for a socialist if he was religious, xenophobic, nationalistic and racist enough for their taste. A National Socialist American Workers Party perhaps.

 

[ill]

It’s not a lack of judgement that leads Americans to vote for Trump. We’re voting for Trump because we judge the leadership of our country to have failed.

This.

Great article from Thiel tbh. The media has made you all think every (or even the majority) of Trump supporters are dumb, racist rednecks. Thats not the case. Sure, that demographic is voting for Trump but they don't make up his entire voting bloc. Most of my thoughts on this election are pretty well represented in Thiel's letter. The current "establishment" government hasn't worked well for me or those around me for a long time. IMO, The main driver of our current financial/employment problems are free trade deals that rip apart our middle class. We can't keep shipping all of our jobs overseas so we can get a $2 product instead of one that costs $3.50. We need to build our middle class back up. It represents 45% of all people in this country and if you add in the Working Class, that number bumps to 75% of the public. We need to stop focusing on the elites and focus on bringing more funds into the middle class. I truly believe Donald would do a far better job at this than Hillary. You don't have to look any further than the current Democratic administration. Obama has hurt the middle class through the ACA. Peoples HC costs have skyrocketed and the ones that are affected most are the middle class who are now using their medical dollars to not only support themselves, but also the poorer classes that were previously uninsured. Yeah, its a great sentiment to insure those that cannot afford it, but why do it at the expense of the middle class, who is also struggling. Its shyt like this that creates an anti-establishment mentality and gives sociopaths like Trump a way into the building.

 

[ill]

Bingo. The same deplorables who have been voting for neo-liberal policies and trickle down economics now want us to believe they have seen the light and are now populists. They will be back voting for rank and file Republicans who push TPP and other trade arguments soon enough.

I disagree. I think the information age has allowed us all to see the true costs of these trade deals. I think there is worldwide sentiment that globalization and free trade need to take a pause and be re-evaluated. Brexit along with all the other possibly "exits" in Europe point to the public finally realizing what these trade deals really do to their countries. I think we will see a big shift in this next decade where both sides of the aisle reject corporate trade deals that steal from our middle class.

 

[Robbie3000]

It’s not a lack of judgement that leads Americans to vote for Trump. We’re voting for Trump because we judge the leadership of our country to have failed.

This.

Great article from Thiel tbh. The media has made you all think every (or even the majority) of Trump supporters are dumb, racist rednecks. Thats not the case. Sure, that demographic is voting for Trump but they don't make up his entire voting bloc. Most of my thoughts on this election are pretty well represented in Thiel's letter. The current "establishment" government hasn't worked well for me or those around me for a long time. IMO, The main driver of our current financial/employment problems are free trade deals that rip apart our middle class. We can't keep shipping all of our jobs overseas so we can get a $2 product instead of one that costs $3.50. We need to build our middle class back up. It represents 45% of all people in this country and if you add in the Working Class, that number bumps to 75% of the public. We need to stop focusing on the elites and focus on bringing more funds into the middle class. I truly believe Donald would do a far better job at this than Hillary. You don't have to look any further than the current Democratic administration. Obama has hurt the middle class through the ACA. Peoples HC costs have skyrocketed and the ones that are affected most are the middle class who are now using their medical dollars to not only support themselves, but also the poorer classes that were previously uninsured. Yeah, its a great sentiment to insure those that cannot afford it, but why do it at the expense of the middle class, who is also struggling. Its shyt like this that creates an anti-establishment mentality and gives sociopaths like Trump a way into the building.

Please, the deplorables will vote for a rank and file Republican in 2018 let alone 2020. They will vote in mass numbers for candidates who support free trade and hawkish foreign policies as long as that politician takes a tough stance on immigration and "national security".

 

[ill]

Please, the deplorables will vote for a rank and file Republican in 2018 let alone 2020. They will vote in mass numbers for candidates who support free trade and hawkish foreign policies as long as that politician takes a tough stance on immigration and "national security".

"Deplorables" only make up a small amount of his base. Stop letting the media fool you into thinking every Trump guy is a racist redneck. Dumb people on both sides of the aisle will vote for dumb laws because they blindly support their party/candidate. Again, I think people are starting to open their eyes to how horrendous these trade deals really are and I think we will see a shift against globalization over the next decade.

 

[hashmander]

they represent at least half of his base and i'm being generous.

 

[Robbie3000]

"Deplorables" only make up a small amount of his base. Stop letting the media fool you into thinking every Trump guy is a racist redneck. Dumb people on both sides of the aisle will vote for dumb laws because they blindly support their party/candidate. Again, I think people are starting to open their eyes to how horrendous these trade deals really are and I think we will see a shift against globalization over the next decade.

I'm basing my opinion on the political history of the Republican Party post Civil Rights era.

 

[TLR Is Mental Poison]

I truly believe Donald would do a far better job at this than Hillary.

:whoatrice:

Trump is not going to do a god damn thing for the middle class except deepen rifts and validate white supremacy.

I agree 110% that the establishment has failed 90% of the American public. But aint no way on Google Earfh are you going to convince me that Trump is any better.

Bernie was 100% the guy.

And you can miss me with the anti globalism stuff too. America would be nowhere without immigrants and trade. Just because the powers that be have skewed the spoils of globalism to benefit some at the expense of others doesn't mean it hasn't been or can't be a net plus for everybody. The biggest hole in this plot is that economic strength can only come from an economy built around making stuff. For fukks sake China is trying to transition to a service economy. In this time of increasing automation you would have to be an idiot to think you could anchor a fully developed economy around manufacturing.

I mean for fukks sake manufacturing output has been climbing in the US. The problem isn't outsourcing, it's automation. Americans need to wake the fukk up and Find Other Things To Do™.

 

[levitate]

OK, great. So Theil (and other Trump supporters) don't like the establishment. That's awesome, bro.

But you guys couldn't put forth a non-establishment candidate who doesn't grab women by their pussies, stoke racial tension, makes fun of disabled persons, call for the deaths of innocent black/brown men, engage in housing discrimination, etc?

Just to hell with his flaws as outlined above and support him primarily because he's an outsider?

The spectrum in which his logic for his decision to support Trump lies between disingenuous and idiotic. Theil is clearly toward the disingenuous side: just say that you like the undertones of his racial propaganda and be done with it. FOH.

 

[ill]

:whoatrice:

Trump is not going to do a god damn thing for the middle class except deepen rifts and validate white supremacy.

I agree 110% that the establishment has failed 90% of the American public. But aint no way on Google Earfh are you going to convince me that Trump is any better.

Bernie was 100% the guy.

I agree Bernie was that guy. Out of the two remaining main candidates, my opinion is Trump will do more for the middle class than Hillary.

 

[Dusty Bake Activate]

I think it's more complicated than that. Again Trump is not the guy. But if you don't see how free trade has benefitted some at the expense of others in the US, or how abysmal our foreign policy is, or how criminal the student loan system is, you have your head in the sand. And militant hyper-PCism is threatening to undermine the legitimate issues that made it a thing. To a LARGE degree #Establishmentset is just as clueless and militant as Trump's supporters. Anyone who believes 100% in any politician or ideology without any criticism has to be kind of an idiot

Most people, even people voting for Hillary, see that what we've been doing isn't working for most of America (or the world for that matter); the issue is that we have no other choice, be it in the "Democratic primaries" or this election with Donald "Lets wait till he gets the nomination to drop all this info" Trump. In 2020 I really think people are going to revolt on both sides of the aisle.

The point is the title of the article and the basic premise of it is erroneous.

Trumpism, or what Trump represents is indeed crazy and deplorable. People like Thiel (and a couple of posters here) like to take their pet grievances like foreign policy and trade agreements, which are legit, and try and make it the centerpiece of Trump's message and what resonates with his voters. It's not.

Trump's support is overwhelmingly due to immigration, racial resentment and his outsider image.

This notion that the average Trump voter is some downtrodden former rust belt worker who lost his job when the factory moved to China is a myth. The average Trump voter is a middle class white male who is generally well-off financially and is just scared of black people, Muslims, and Mexicans taking over.

The average Trump voter doesn't know what TPP is and couldn't spot Syria on a map.

Read this.

https://www.google.com/amp/www.vox....mp-voters-race-economic-anxiety?client=safari

 

[TLR Is Mental Poison]

I agree Bernie was that guy. Out of the two remaining main candidates, my opinion is Trump will do more for the middle class than Hillary.

Peep the edit.

And all Trump will do is continue to capitalize on American anger to acquire $$$ and consolidate power. He has called out a lot of problems but has not put forth even 1 half realistic proposal on how to solve any of them.

At the end of the day it comes down to who is going to make the country less angry, since it's abundantly clear neither candidate has either the desire or capacity to effect change for the middle class. Being that Trump's campaign has run on nothing but the fumes of lower and middle class anger I think the choice is obvious.

 

[Dusty Bake Activate]

I disagree. I think the information age has allowed us all to see the true costs of these trade deals. I think there is worldwide sentiment that globalization and free trade need to take a pause and be re-evaluated. Brexit along with all the other possibly "exits" in Europe point to the public finally realizing what these trade deals really do to their countries. I think we will see a big shift in this next decade where both sides of the aisle reject corporate trade deals that steal from our middle class.

Bruh you think the average Republican voter is astute on trade policy? Walk down the street of anywhere USA and ask average people what TPP is and they'll probably tell you it's a software program or a 90's R&B group. NAFTA too. People don't know what brexit is either.

People like Peter Thiel and @King Kreole try to project their own ideologies on the deplorables and pretend they're learned policy-watchers instead of the same racists who have voted Republican for the past 50 years.

 

[Tate]

The issue with thinking trump would oppose trade, war, etc is that trump is totally uninterested in governing should he win. Remember, this is the guy who offered to let John Kasich run his foreign and domestic policy should he ticket up. Trumps policies have grown more and more in-line with GOP orthodoxy as his candidacy has become more intertwined with the GOP itself. There is no reason to think that a trump administration wouldn't approve almost all boilerplate GOP initiatives. Trump's executive deep state won't be filled with Ron Paul esque pale icons and the staff of the American conservative, it'll be staffed by GOP lifers.

Trump has shown over his life that his politics are extremely malleable. Why this would change now is perplexing to me