Donald Trumps Victory is a Failure of Liberalism by TaraElla

[OldSchoolLiberal]

Ever since Donald Trump’s victory last year, progressives have been doing two things: mutually reassuring each other that we’re the sane people and Trump voters are the brainwashed people (who would soon wake up to the real Trump); and devising theories as to why Trump won and how to prevent it from happening again. The latter activity is much more constructive in my opinion: while the former is therapeutic, it distracts us from the reality that we have to face: Trump won because something went wrong, and if we don’t fix it, history will repeat again, probably in worse forms. As to why Trump won: there have been many theories flying around: that people don’t take feminism seriously, that people actually want some protectionism, that Hillary Clinton was seen as too establishment, that many voters are racist and would therefore love to see mass deportations, etc. All these theories are unsatisfying, however. They are superficial explanations of what we are seeing, and like the things people said in 2004 in the aftermath of the Bush victory, are likely to be either wrong or trivial in the whole scheme of things. But Donald Trump’s victory represents something more fundamental.

Donald Trump’s Victory is a Failure of Liberalism.

America never had a Trump before because it was, to a more or less extent, a liberal nation, with a liberal consensus. There was consensus that government power was limited, individual liberty was supreme, and by extension the arbitrary exercise of government power was unacceptable. But as America (and the rest of the West) had rapidly become less and less liberal in recent years, this consensus faded. Donald Trump won because liberalism failed. If liberalism had not failed, America would never have allowed Trump to win.

In truth, liberalism has been forgetting its roots for many years now.

https://medium.com/taraellas-liberal-conversation/donald-trumps-victory-is-a-failure-of-liberalism-d92ae2a2e6c3

[OldSchoolLiberal]

1. This is something

liberals should really think about, I think.

[Eliot Rosewater]

2. Trump lost.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

3. Then why did Hillary win the popular vote? Trump only won the election because

Republicans stole it!

[OldSchoolLiberal]

4. I know we won the popular vote,

but Trump is in the White House now, and we want him out by 2020. We need to think, and think wisely and rationally.

[yallerdawg]

5. How do we get real democracy into our elections?

THAT is what we should be thinking about!

[50 Shades Of Blue]

6. Then why blame liberalism? I blame criminal Republicans!

[OldSchoolLiberal]

7. I think the point of the article

was to argue for reviving liberalism, not blaming liberalism

[50 Shades Of Blue]

8. It didn't work for me.

[uppityperson]

9. " Donald Trumps Victory is a Failure of Liberalism" isn't blaming liberalism?

Start treating liberty like a serious idea. Social justice is important, but liberty deserves at least an equal focus too. Start having conversations about liberalism and democracy, and what a serious application of these concepts will mean in today’s society. Dispel the myth that liberal equals big spender if it comes up. Start behaving like a committed liberal: stop trying to make society more politically correct by social pressure. Instead, we should talk about the issues underlying racism, sexism and homophobia, and address these via rational discussion and debate.

To put it bluntly, well duh. We do. We are.

[FiveGoodMen]

10. Between the two choices, Hillary should have gotten about 99% of the vote

in any nation of decent people.

The fact that she won by such a relatively small margin means we're in real trouble.