Great article, Doug. As a life-long Republican and son of a Republican myself, this helps me to understand a little better why it seems that the most vocal Pro-Trump Republicans appear to demonstrate a desire for anarchy. They clearly wish to tear down the institutions that they feel have not served them. I fear it won’t happen with peaceful and gradual reform after witnessing January 6th and the lead up to this year’s elections. There are too many in the party that are too angry and full of desire for retribution (not excluding Mr. Trump) for that to happen in a manner that is not disruptive (and potentially oppressive or even deadly) for many Americans.
Doug, this is a useful interpretation. Trust in government in particular has been sliding for a long time, since Vietnam and Watergate. But it is not just a function of failed leadership; pushing distrust has been a deliberate political ploy since Reagan (“government is the problem”) and Newt Gingrich, and a moneymaking source for Fox News since forever. And while you correctly point to the financial crisis, the Iraq and Afghan wars have I think been an equal source of distrust and bitterness, demonstrating that today’s ‘best and brightest’ are capable of catastrophic policy mistakes. Also, I would note that similar trends are evident outside the US, though the US is an outlier especially in distrust of government.
Great article, Doug. As a life-long Republican and son of a Republican myself, this helps me to understand a little better why it seems that the most vocal Pro-Trump Republicans appear to demonstrate a desire for anarchy. They clearly wish to tear down the institutions that they feel have not served them. I fear it won’t happen with peaceful and gradual reform after witnessing January 6th and the lead up to this year’s elections. There are too many in the party that are too angry and full of desire for retribution (not excluding Mr. Trump) for that to happen in a manner that is not disruptive (and potentially oppressive or even deadly) for many Americans.
Doug, this is a useful interpretation. Trust in government in particular has been sliding for a long time, since Vietnam and Watergate. But it is not just a function of failed leadership; pushing distrust has been a deliberate political ploy since Reagan (“government is the problem”) and Newt Gingrich, and a moneymaking source for Fox News since forever. And while you correctly point to the financial crisis, the Iraq and Afghan wars have I think been an equal source of distrust and bitterness, demonstrating that today’s ‘best and brightest’ are capable of catastrophic policy mistakes. Also, I would note that similar trends are evident outside the US, though the US is an outlier especially in distrust of government.