Defeating Donald Trump in the 2024 election is a necessary step, but it is only one short-term step toward preserving freedom and security. Trump is a symptom far more than he is a cause. Realizing that simple reality opens the door to a deeper understanding of the particular strain of US political culture behind the movement that currently takes Trump as its focus.
Earlier in 2024, the French and the British both turned back the far-Right by engaging in collective, deliberate action. We can’t rely on the Democratic Party to fight the Right (recent events in France show that political parties aren’t reliable); we need to engage in our own collective, deliberate action. First, we need to understand what we are dealing with. That’s why I wrote this book.
In my latest book, Why Trump? Why Some People Support Him— How the Rest of Us Can Respond, I describe how Donald Trump is the current focal point of the particular strain of US political culture that is the American right wing. I trace the rhetoric and actions of the right wing through US history, and I offer ways by which we can think about this cultural movement and how we can respond to it.
Links to the Book:
Amazon e-book and paperback
—
Intelligent and well-reasoned examination of why voters continue to support Trump despite his pathological character, immorality, mental decline, patent incompetence, and his criminal convictions. The analysis is rooted in historical precedents and psychology. An excellent and informative read of immense relevancy. – BookBub
Why Trump? Why Some People Support Him— How the Rest of Us Can Respond engages with the following important issues:
- Why do some people support Trump? There is little new in Trump or the things he says and does. His success in attaining power lies in his ability to harness a long-simmering feeling in a segment of the American population.
- What the right wing is: In broad terms, those on the right wing of the spectrum wish power to be more concentrated and limited to select people. The goal of the right wing is a more restricted hierarchical society divided between the haves and the have-nots with power concentrated in one sector of society.
- The strongest power in politics: Philosopher Max Scheler described the phenomenon of “ressentiment”–a particular form of hatred that arises from beliefs that one is lacking recognition and thus is socially impotent. The feelings of ressentiment lead to false moral judgments on others that Scheler calls “value delusions.” These delusions are a form of moral blindness that results in “a tendency to belittle, degrade, dismiss or ‘reduce’ genuine values as well as their bearers.” Ressentiment explains much of the emotion behind right-wing reactionism.
- America’s long history of anti-immigrant rhetoric: US history shows the paradox that it is a nation of immigrants that has throughout its existence tried to slam the door on new immigrants. Looking at that history reveals that the right wing in the United States has tried to cling to the myth of the cultural purity of American exceptionalism. This myth, informed by the ideology of Calvinism, fueled by the emotion of ressentiment, and manifested in conspiracy theories and acts of oppression, is a prominent strain of US social and political culture.
Official Press Release
Publisher Promo Text:
Many people talk about Donald Trump. Some people love him, and some people hate him. Some people try to explain why people love or hate Trump. Despite the copious conversation and plenteous explanations, there’s a lack of clarity about why people support Trump. Neither academia nor the political pundits can adequately explain the phenomenon that is Trump.
Why do some people support Trump? Why has the subject of Trump become the dominant subject of US politics? Why Trump? considers those questions and connected questions by looking at American history to reach the conclusion that the phenomenon really isn’t about Trump. He’s a symptom more than a cause. Realizing that simple reality opens the door to a deeper understanding of the particular strain of US political culture behind the movement that currently takes Trump as its focus. There is little new in Trump or the things he says and does. His success in attaining power lies in his ability to harness a long-simmering feeling in a segment of the American population.
If you’re looking for a diatribe against Donald Trump, this book is not for you. If you’re looking for a hagiography extolling Trump, this book is not for you. This book is for you if you want to understand why people support Trump and similar right-wing politicians and what it means for the future. Stepping away from the partisan bickering of America’s political duopoly, Why Trump? takes seriously the question of why people support Trump. What do these people see in Trump and why? Avoiding oversimplification, Dr. Giles provides a serious historical and philosophical analysis of the dynamics at play in the support of and opposition to Trump and offers concrete proposals for moving politics beyond its current morass of antagonism.
Why Trump? Why Some People Support Him— How the Rest of Us Can Respond
Links to the Book:
Amazon e-book and paperback
—
Contents
- Framing the Issue; What Is the Issue? 1
It’s Not About Trump 2
The Need to Dig Deeper 4 - If You Think Trump Is the Problem. . . 6
Is Trump the Problem? 7
What Is the Problem? 8 - The Lessons of the Power Spectrum 11
It’s Not About Clichés 12
The Three Trajectories of the Right Wing 14
Political Movements and the Power Spectrum 15
The MAGA Political Movement 16 - The Strongest Power in Politics 20
Ressentiment 21
Distilling Ressentiment 23
Two Cornerstones of Trump’s Campaigns 25 - People Aren’t Stupid—They’re Lazy Thinkers 30
Two Forms of Thinking 30
Lazy Thinking 32 - What Lurks Behind Conspiracy Theories? 35
What Are Conspiracy Theories? 36
The Three Dimensions of a Conspiracy Theory 37
Why Do People Believe in Conspiracy Theories? 41
Political Con(spiracy) Artists 45
Conspiracy Theories in the Internet Age 47
The World of the Conspiracy Theorist 49 - The Fine Line Between Patriotism and Jingoism 51
Pride in What? 51
Honoring What Exactly? 53 - Calvinism and the American Conception of Evil 57
Who Was John Calvin? 58
What Was Calvin’s Religious Doctrine? 59
The Polity of the Elect 62
The Worldly Consequences of Calvinism in the US 63
Secular Calvinism in the US 66 - The US’s Long History of Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric 68
American Exceptionalism Again 70
Slamming the Door on the Germans and the Irish 72
Slamming the Door on the Chinese 74
Slamming the Door on Southern and Eastern Europeans 75
Slamming the Door on War Refugees 77
The Classist Component 79 - Let’s Call Bigotry What it Is 81
Fearful Reactions 82
Circling Back to the Strongest Power in Politics 84 - “Christian” Nationalism 86
Let’s Call “Christian” Nationalism What it Is 87
American Nationalism 89
Lurching Toward Trump 94 - Making America Victims Again (and Always) 99
Trump Is a Focal Point, but a Focus for What? 100
Victim Envy and Victimhood Culture 103
The Ressentiment of the War on Woke 106 - The Big Lie—Desire Versus the Law 111
Beliefs and Desires 111
Exploiting Desires 113 - How Do We Break the Cycle of Antagonistic Politics? 116
Three Forms of Politics 118
Recognizing Reality and Each Other 122
Eyes Wide Open Politics 126
Responding to Trump and the MAGA Movement 127
Reference List 132
The political fringe dwellers will spread disinformation and conspiracy theories. My book won’t reach the idiots on both sides who are dead set on stoking the cycle of antagonistic politics. Hopefully, my book can help those people interested in a different more human mode of politics that circulates more power to more people.