The Trump Effect | Is Political correctness to blame?

It has been argued that political correctness has created a culture where people are afraid of expressing their views. This culture has been exacerbated by far left labelling and clamping down on opinions it deems do not fit into the liberal narrative. This apparently has led to the feeling of those who preach this ‘other’ opinion (such as Trump supporters) being delegitimised. Those opinions are an expression of a frustration, and in delegitimising the opinion, the frustration is also not taken seriously. Since the outlet of that frustration is the opinion, and political correctness does not allow the legitimisation of the opinion, political correctness became the target for Trump supporters and a larger motif representing those factors which are keeping these people ‘down’ and causing the frustration in the first place. If Donald Trump was anything he was politically incorrect, and because he was not afraid to speak his mind, he became a symbol of legitimising their frustrations. Repeatedly Trump made the point that the biggest problem he felt America was facing was political correctness, and it seems his message resonated with his supporters.

In a weird way, although the views he was expressing were reprehensible, the views themselves mattered less than the fact that they were a middle finger to the politically correct status quo. Perhaps this explains why some people who maybe didn’t actually support Trumps’ views backed him.

What about those who did support him and his views? There could be a number of explanations. Firstly they genuinely were racist and xenophobic people. Secondly their views were a result of misplaced economic woes.

After the fall of the Berlin wall, it was said that history had ended. There was no other challenger to liberal democracy, and the world would progress towards homogenisation. But with the rise of liberal democracy, the prosperity brought by that same system hasn’t filtered down to the masses. They have not shared in the same prosperity. Median male income today in America is still less than it was in the 70’s according to The Economist. For the white male demographic, the rise in liberal democracy has not been synonymous with rise in their economic status.

But why does that lead to racist and xenophobic viewpoints? For generations white Americans, whose privilege and identity were treated as almost God given, have never had to ask questions of identity, privilege, race and all other questions minorities have had to deal with for their own survival. This survival instinct in my opinion creates a philosophical revolution within minorities who become galvanised to take their equal seat at the table of society. That awakening leads to intellectual self-determination. This coupled with the actual social actions are hard fought victories for the people, and Hilary’s supporters, those who uphold the ideals of liberal democracy, are those people. They may not agree with all of Hilary’s track record, but they would choose Hilary over Trump because she supports similar ideals.

The white-male demographic has never had to go through similar intellectual and social upheavals because their positions in society and their identity is treated as a birth right and embedded in the way things work, and that produces a civilizational arrogance and pride. This demographic has not seen the economic prosperity their country has produced and has seen its identity challenged and chipped away. As a result of this identity complex, they are more likely to seek social explanations for their frustrations which include blaming refugees, immigrants, and all that they feel is a threat to that identity. The slogan ‘Make America Great Again’ is a throwback to when that identity reigned supreme and so did their bank balances. Brexit and the Trump vote may show that the masses have voted to reject the ideals of open markets and liberal democracy as long as economic prosperity doesn’t filter down to them. This doesn’t question liberal democracy, but rather shows that economic prosperity must come hand in hand with social progression.

Over the course of history we have seen how economic frustrations have manifested in the rise of the far right and caused once consolidated identities and its associated self-pride to be chipped away leaving a vacuum for an ideologically dubious strongman to take control and create an enemy to galvanise their supporters. The target is usually immigrants and minorities. In a world where borders are as porous as ever, and different cultures and points of view are mingling because of the movement of vast swathes of people, it is most important that we remain open minded.

We also need to realise that if we don’t take peoples’ frustrations seriously, that frustration can manifest itself in many ways. Donald Trump’s win may be one such manifestation. Whilst political correctness should never be a vehicle to completely silence people and their opinions, it should not also become completely overturned to normalise hate which may manifest and encourage hateful acts against minorities who have fought hard for the status quo to be changed.