-By Warner Todd Huston
As the presidential primaries roll out across America it has become clear that the voters are revolting against the establishment — both on the left and the right. Usually we think of the Republicans and Democrats as being polar opposites, but in today’s climate large numbers of voters on both sides are lining up in opposition to the elites for exactly the same reason. Both the left and right are in revolt over “fairness.”
Large numbers of voters, those voting for Trump on the right side of the aisle and those voting for Sanders on the left, are upset that America is no longer fair for everyone. Certainly the definition of fair and the cure for this lack of fairness takes different forms on the left and right, but it is fairness they are both exercised about, nonetheless.
Many center right Americans are worried that the large youth vote jumping on the bandwagon for self-professed socialist Bernie Sanders is a harbinger for a collapse to come and proof that America’s children have become communists. It is also proof that they have rejected the American ethos and tradition. But, while the end product might be much the same, I’d argue that it isn’t true that these Sanders voters are really voting for actual socialism.
In fact, I’d argue that most of them haven’t a clue what socialism even is. If they did they’d realize what a stupid idea it would be to vote for someone so foolish as to imagine socialism is a good idea. 20 years ago Bernie Sanders would have been thought of as a crackpot and would have been utterly dismissed from presidential politics.
In reality, though, Sanders isn’t being taken seriously by young voters because he is a commie. Sanders is being taken seriously because he is harping on “fairness” as his core message. In Sanders’ formulation, it isn’t “fair” that young people have to actually pay for their own education, it isn’t “fair” that rich people have more money than others, it isn’t “fair” that Wall Street is allowed to make money, it isn’t “fair” that… well, insert your gripe here.
These young people have been brought up to expect to be handed things and when that doesn’t happen, suddenly they feel life isn’t fair. They’ve been told that the U.S. is supposed to be “fair,” so when the current state of affairs seems to be the farthest thing from fair they think something is broken and needs to be fixed. Bernie is telling them he’ll “fix” it and he will make things “fair.”
They are wrong, of course. Sanders’ plans are devastating and would further destroy this country. But these young voters aren’t smart enough to see that.
So, what about the right? What’s their beef? Why are so many center right voters who think of themselves as conservative or leaning that way voting for Trump. Turns out they are all upset about “fairness,” too.
Of course, it isn’t the purported fairness of getting things for free that center right Trump voters are yearning to see implemented. It is the fairness of being left alone and being allowed to do what they want to do free of government interference.
Trump voters are upset that America is no longer fair to the individual striving to get by. They are mad that the elites are running the table and won’t let the rest of us even get in the game. Trump is promising to bring back the central American idea that we all have the God-given right to make out own way in life free of some overlord telling us what to do- — whether that telling us how to speak, how to think, how to pray, or how to carry on our businesses.
Sadly both sides are ruled by a vague feeling they can’t define in political terms or in suggestions for policy ideas. They just “know” something isn’t working, they want it fixed and they are willing to pull the lever for any big talking candidate who says he gets what they are feeling.
Unfortunately, both sides are right. America isn’t a place for the middle class or the normal, work-a-day American. The United States is no longer the place where one can “make it” through hard work and dedication. Many, left and right, feel that the game is rigged and that only the elites have a chance to make it any more.
Can anyone say these feelings of rage are misbegotten?
____________
“The only end of writing is to enable the reader better to enjoy life, or better to endure it.”
–Samuel Johnson
Follow Warner Todd Huston on:
Twitter
Facebook
Tumblr
Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer. He has been writing news, opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and before that wrote articles on U.S. history for several American history magazines. Huston is a featured writer for Andrew Breitbart’s Breitbart News, and he appears on such sites as RightWingNews.com, CanadaFreePress.com, Wizbang.com, and many, many others. Huston has also appeared on Fox News, Fox Business Network, CNN, and many local TV shows as well as numerous talk radio shows throughout the country.
For a full bio, please CLICK HERE.
NOTE: If you want to comment, for some reason our Facebook comments section takes a bit of time to load. It’ll pop up soon. Thanks