Trump’s popularity with his base isn’t the result of economic anxiety, as many claimed in 2016. It’s about race and demographics.

TO UNDERSTAND THE rise of Donald Trump, you don’t need to go to a diner in the Midwest or read “Hillbilly Elegy,” J.D. Vance’s memoir.

You just need to know these basic facts:

In 1980, white people accounted for about 80 percent of the U.S. population.

In 2024, white people account for about 58 percent of the U.S. population.

Trump appeals to white people gripped by demographic hysteria. Especially older white people who grew up when white people represented a much larger share of the population. They fear becoming a minority.

  • grrgyle@slrpnk.net
    2·
    1 month ago

    To this point, how could we increase the number of people who take the side of humanity?

    My thinking is that reducing anomie and inequality, increasing the bonds between people, all help move that number in a positive direction, as more of us realise that we need eachother.

    This is my sneaky way of saying that we could be doing this now. That sure, maybe there will always be those who are just in it for themselves or a tiny in-group, but that’s no excuse for fatalism/doomerism.

    IE we don’t have to wait for baleful aliens or demons spewing forth from hellgates. If we’re not waiting for the perfect unifying scenario, we can start moving the needle in a positive direction now. :)

    • Eiri@lemmy.world
      2·
      1 month ago

      Oh yeah I certainly hope we can. It’s just hard when there are big systemic and evolutionary obstacles in the way.

      • grrgyle@slrpnk.net
        2·
        1 month ago

        Aye it’s hard road… hundreds of years of progress can be erased with the swipe of a sword.

        Not much else to do about it except try. That’s how I see it anyway.