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Kanye West for President!
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grufty jim
grufty jim
1978 posts

Edited Sep 02, 2015, 12:24
Re: Kanye West for President!
Sep 02, 2015, 12:24
I'm well aware of the absurdity of Trump's position. I'm well aware he makes no sense.

That's precisely why I find him interesting as a cultural phenomenon. He is to America what Nigel Farage is to the UK. A lot of countries have someone like them... but America's global cultural dominance means Trump's antics are seen and discussed around the world. Politics is often a stage for fools to spout gibberish. America just has the biggest stage and loudest PA system at this moment in history.

I find Trump fascinating because he increases his lead every time he says something that makes no sense; something absurdly racist, offensive or xenophobic. That's very revealing when it comes to his supporters, and (for me) it says something very interesting about the state of US culture.

Just as UKIP's popularity reveals the xenophobic element of British culture*, so Trump is revealing an element of US culture that we already knew was there (it's there in almost every society) but hasn't really been a major part of mainstream politics for the past few decades.

I think Trump is having a dangerously corrosive effect on US politics right now. And I fear he will leave an ideological scar on the body politic as a whole, even after he eventually bombs out of the race.

And I find that interesting. If you don't that's fine... you don't need to discuss him. I'm not demanding you find him interesting. I'm saying that I do.


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* For those who claim Farage's objection to immigration is based on the economic / infrastructure argument; please tell me why - when asked about Irish immigrants - he insisted they were OK, because they "are our kith and kin". This is a clear admission that his problem lies with the ancestry of certain immigrant groups, and not their economic impact.

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