Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders: How working class is changing USA
- By Heiko Khoo
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E-mail China.org.cn, March 25, 2016
Trump's mad comments about building a wall between Mexico and America, and stopping all Muslims from entering the country, among others, do not appear to hinder his chances of winning the Republican nomination. On the other side, Sanders' ferocious rhetoric against the billionaire class and his call for a political revolution is winning support from a similar socio-economic constituency. This reveals a collapse in popular respect for the authority of the political establishment. Behind this sentiment lay a seismic shift in mass consciousness and the participation of the white working class at the political rallies of both Sanders and Trump demonstrates this.
Trump is almost certain to win the Republican nomination. But why would white workers vote for Trump? After all, he is a billionaire with a dodgy record on labour rights whose inflammatory remarks on race and religion are designed to incite conflict within the working class. His uncouth language, his stupid, off the cuff remarks and his billionaire status combine to evoke an image of an all-American capitalist cowboy who is unashamed of his vulgarity, brashness and ignorance. This, for the simpleton, represents a new kind of politics that appears to put the interests of the white worker first. Trump wrongly blames China for U.S. economic woes -- in order to distract attention away from the failure of corporate America to invest in ways that benefit the majority.
Earlier this month, Trump's Chicago rally was cancelled when protestors, many of whom support Sanders, entered the hall to expose Trump's racist comments, which stir-up dangerous racial and religious tensions. Violent conflicts erupted and Trump blamed Sanders' "communist" supporters. However, almost everyone else blamed Trump's own inflammatory language, and Sanders correctly called Trump a pathological liar.
Oligarchic capitalism is a profoundly anti-democratic system. Fifteen years ago, John McCain, the Republican Senator and presidential nominee in 2008, admitted that the U.S. campaign finance system is "an elaborate influence peddling scheme by which both parties conspire to stay in office by selling the country to the highest bidder." The fight against control of the political process by the billionaire class lies at the centre of the Sanders' campaign. Let us be clear, were corporations and billionaires prohibited from corrupting politics by finance, Sanders would win a crushing victory over Hillary Clinton in the contest for the Democratic Party nomination. Furthermore, polls show he would defeat Trump in the race for the White House by some 18 percent, whereas Clinton is more likely to lose against Trump. However, as things stand, Sanders faces a huge uphill battle to overturn Clinton's lead in the campaign for the Democratic Party nomination. A Sanders' victory is not impossible, but it is now very difficult to secure. If he loses, his focus will have to shift to leading a mass movement of social unrest, much like the one America experienced in the 1960s and early 1970s. We can be sure that the process of the transformation of U.S. politics based on the emergent influence of the working class will continue apace.
Heiko Khoo is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:
http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/heikokhoo.htm
Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
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