• cracksmoke2020 [none/use name]
    1·
    4 years ago

    I'm not talking about what a leftist would believe, I'm talking about a random swing voter, and socialists are doing themselves a disservice if they deny why Trump is popular to a particular group of people beyond just his fascist rhetoric.

    Fascism has popularity beyond for just the purposes of racism, the way fascists coopt leftist language has been a key part of their success wherever they've popped up.

    There are people who vote in every election, and they always view it as a choice between two evils. A subset of white small town working class voters will decide Trump is that lesser evil on the basis of trade and how he won't get rid of their jobs due to environmental regulation. Do I agree with that, no, but there is a valid argument there, and it was a primary reason why Bernie was a stronger candidate against Trump than Biden, and especially Hillary in 2016.

    Fascism isn't defeated by just saying it's bad, you need to understand the very real logic for how people feel globalization hurt their communities, and present a solution centered around how exactly you plan on bringing jobs back to their communities (a green new deal is a fantastic opportunity to help these places and drag them back to the left).

      • cracksmoke2020 [none/use name]
        2·
        4 years ago

        I seriously don't understand how someone who thinks of themselves as some sort of socialist is able to unironically make an argument that is completely detached from materialism.

        You can argue that regardless of material concern these people still need to be faught, and I'd mostly agree with you that all legitimate Trump supporters do need to be faught. The difference is that not all Trump voters are Trump supporters. Elections are won on the margins, and marginal Trump voters aren't the same has his deeply fascist base.