Why do people vote for Trump? | Footnotes with Michael Sandel

Michael J. Sandel argues that to overcome the polarized politics of our time, we must rethink the attitudes toward success and failure that have accompanied globalisation and rising inequality. Sandel highlights the hubris a meritocracy generates among the winners and the harsh judgement it imposes on those left behind. He offers an alternative way of thinking about success - more attentive to the role of luck in human affairs, more conducive to an ethic of humility, and more hospitable to a politics of the common good.

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[lavenderbride]

That's exactly right. And to anyone reading this, I humbly ask, are you grateful enough in your daily life for all the fruits of others' labor around you?

Are you brave enough to consider that, alongside being a unique and valuable person to many, it's also true that you aren’t special? And that this, too, is a wonderful thing, to be a nobody. You aren’t threatened by the idea of being "a loser" because you are grateful for the chance to be alive and to experience everything you have, both good and bad. Even a can of Coke, a single French fry, the miracle of being able to enjoy such things, is not your doing. You are truly lucky.

Because of this, you do not need more. You are content with who you are. Your life has meaning in the vast network of dependencies, you are indispensable simply because you belong in that web. Anyone who brags about being better or a winner is just projecting their own deeper fears, and that should not shake your self-conviction in maximizing your unique responsibilities, challenges, and role in the world.

Even a president is just one role, just like a cleaner, and each is irreplaceable in their own position. A president is useless for sanitizing a space. A cleaner is useless for uniting a nation. They aren’t meant to be compared in truth.

[TonyHart-nxvm]

This only explains why they are unhappy with the status quo, not why they believe Trump would improve things. Unless they dont, actually.
If the goal is just to take down the current Establishment, no matter the cosequences for themselves or anyone else, then voting Trump over Harris does make sense.

[ericgosnay]

Way way back years ago, my freshman comp I professor had us pick a video of yours to watch for an assignment. I could listen to this man lecture all day.

[Hound]

If you have ask why…..it’s doubtful you will ever understand.

[lawngreenlyp]

I am from HK. This book is introduced by a quite famous HK YouTuber. I am surprised as I have never had such thinking of our world.
I hope the new US government will continue concern about the benefits of grass roots. Not only the rich or cleverer deserve to live a descent life.

[tomasofaolain]

People are fed up with global politics focus on USA more important the Americans who make the country great

[PortsladeBySea]

Politicians make promises and we love them for it.
It’s nothing new and will continue for ever 🫢

[Hollergirlohio]

I am going to press my luck. If it requires a college education to succeed why is it not part of our basic educational program. I am a Generation X. My parents couldnt afford college so i enlisted. There were no programs or student loans for the middle income parents to pay for their child's college. In approximately 35 years the higher education has managed to not only require classes that are totally worthless the 1st 2 yrs of college but profit of the students, parents, and grandparents backs on interest alone. This is why the common person is angry with the elite.

[melissasaint]

A lot of this has its roots in Calvinist thought in early European settlers to America.
But one of the worst things about the "go to college, work hard and you will rise" messages is that it was drilled into high school kids for about thirty straight years, and many took the advice. (They had to, frankly, because after the fall of the Berlin Wall in particular, blue collar jobs that paid a good living wage, not to mention a pension, mostly went away)
Unfortunately, many did just this, even when college costs in the US spun up impossibly out of reach for most families, and young people got their degrees and graduated, with enormous debt, straight into the great recession....
And the same miserable right-wing-radio listening older people who told them "if you don't go to college, you won't have anything!" Now tell them they are idiots "brainwashed by the left" for having gone to college I stead of trade school.
😑

[paulwarren]

WHY DO PEOPLE YAK 'VALUES' TO ME ?

[jaysgamingcorner]

This is a spectacular commentary of the class/cultural rebellion that has been happening here since 2016. Trump didn't create the anger and resentment, he uses what was already building to his advantage. Kind of like a surfer riding a huge wave, the surfer doesn't make the wave that he/she rides on.

[EVEPRAY]

That´s what the europeans have told america for decades. Glad somebody said something finally!

[ChuckN]

I admire YouTube and Google because the scheme of benefit sharing which allows everyone in all the corners around the world to share the fortune that Google presents to the world. You don't need to participate in universities, but you just need to find some interesting ideas and make videos out of them, and you start to earn money. Now youtubers cannot blame anyone but themselves if they could not be successful. I think this new benefit sharing idea is new and only available in the Internet age.

[lmn]

Donald Trump was doing quite well for working class Americans before covid. He reduced taxes for the working classes and the economy was going strong. What America doesn't need is another actor who has learned how to pander to working class people only to continue to over regulate markets which increases the cost of living for working class Americans but doesn't affect the middle class or wealthy.

[isatousarr]

Many people vote for Trump because they appreciate his strong stance on issues like the economy, job creation, and national security. Supporters often see him as a straightforward leader who prioritizes American interests and promotes policies that they believe foster growth and stability. They value his outsider perspective and his willingness to challenge the political establishment, which resonates with those seeking significant change in Washington. Additionally, many admire his emphasis on patriotic values and his commitment to putting America first in international relations.

[hotmeish]

Disagree because most universities are sponsored n funded to preach scale of standardisation of human knowledge.

[FFL]

Tldr, The US needs a strong Workers Party, a Labour Party. The US needs more socialism.

[MrMjwoodford]

We are well past the point of believing we live in a meritocratic society. Sandel's critique is dated.

[jayh]

Why would you vote for joe biden he cant make a decision or talk for himself

[VijayKumarVinjamur]

In my opinion, It is an interesting argument that meritocratic hubris is leading to a greater divide and resentment. But instead of addressing that issue, if you focus on resentment in "non college" people then you may be messing up basics of merit and excellence and promoting mediocricity.