The Coalition of the Avaricious, the Intolerant, and the Crazy

There is a parable about a poisonous snake that is trapped on a log in the middle of a flooded raging river when a beaver comes along easily navigating the turbulent waters. The snake, in the desperate fear of drowning, asks the beaver if he would ferry him to the safety of the banks. The beaver asks the snake:? “Why should I trust you?” The snake promises the beaver he will not bite him. The beaver, with some hesitation, agrees to take the snake to safety. When the snake and beaver reach the river's edge, the snake bites the beaver. The beaver’s last words before dying were:? “Why would you bite me after I saved your life?” The snake’s response was:? “Because I am a snake; it is my nature.”

When looking at the state of politics, this parable comes to mind as I try to understand the strange coalition of Donald Trump, the billionaires who financially support him, and the masses of disenchanted white American working-class citizens whose support make it possible for Trump to become the next president of the United States. In 2016 and 2020 Donald Trump asked the American people to elect him to the highest office in the world.? Now, in 2024, he asks again, even though he has shown us his true nature over this nine-year period. What makes anyone think he will not bite America again in 2024?

Apparently, the billionaires supporting Trump are doing so because they believe that their wealth – and the wealth of their families for generations to come – is safer in the hands of a Trump presidency than in a Biden presidency, regardless of the impact of his policies on most Americans. They are happy to fund his super political action committees. To write a $1 million check for a billionaire is identical to a worker with $80,000 in annual income writing a check for $80.? The billionaires’ million dollars buys significantly more influence than $80 will ever buy for the Trump supporters who attend his rallies. The billionaires will get ambassadorships for their friends and family members, secretary and assistant secretary positions in government, and regulations that will make them even more money.? Admittedly, if I could get those things for $80, I might sign up too. The avaricious have practical, albeit shortsighted, reasons for supporting Trump.

It has become a staple for leftists to say that White working-class Americans who align themselves with the affluent, business-friendly Republican party are acting against their working-class interests. The counter argument to this thesis is that Trump supporters, like Nixon supporters before, see the liberal Ivy League elites as too far culturally removed from their day-to-day lives to work in their interests. But a deeper dive into this cultural argument reveals the underlying issue of race. Nixon’s “southern strategy” was to cleave the White working-class from their traditional support for the Democratic Party by appealing to their racial interests. This positioning of the Democratic Party as the party for diversity, equity, and inclusion and against discrimination was craftly rebranded by Republicans. Using tropes like the “Black welfare queen”, despite the fact there are larger numbers of Whites receiving welfare than Blacks, and George H.W. Bush’s portrayal of the threat of Black criminality to the safety of white women in the Willie Horton commercial, exemplify the point. The Republican party spoke to (and fostered) visceral, deep-seated fears of being replaced by criminals, lazy welfare cheats, and affirmative action beneficiaries like Barack Obama – a Democrat.?

The crazy component of the Trump coalition would be the most entertaining if it were not so threatening. Some White working-class Trump supporters cloak their support in the raiment of a perverse form of Christianity. My understanding of this force multiplier is that God choose Trump to deliver America and the world from the evils of diversity, homosexuality, atheism, abortion, women’s rights, and immorality. These “god-fearing” Trump supporters view Democrats as representing everything they are against. The irony, of course, is that their leader’s life is the antithesis of the teachings of Christianity. In the strange logic of these supporters, God works in mysterious ways. It is interesting how forgiving they can be of Trump, when you do not see this level of forgiveness, or even tolerance, for humanity in general. This group of true believers are lost to reason.

Unfortunately, this is a powerful coalition of money and voters who will be with us regardless of who wins the 2024 presidential election. If the results are close, the billionaires, the racists, and the true Trump believers may never accept defeat or more appropriately, accept the will of the majority. This is a scary thought, particularly for racial minorities who, from the beginning of our time in America, had to abide by majority rule. If the Trump coalition cannot accept majority rule as reflected in a free and fair election, that is an indication that their commitment to American democracy is limited by self-interest. They are demonstrating their nature and are willing to fatally bite and kill the American experiment, even if they get their way.? Imagine what happens when and if they don’t.

?

?

?

?