This weekend, in one of my bookshelves, I came across Arthur Miller’s late 1940s play, Death of a Salesman. It was a chance encounter, the best way to renew a relationship with an old friend. The play’s main character Willy Loman is an elderly man thwarted by the failures of his life, a result in part of his own choices, but due more to vast and impersonal forces outside his control. Willy is in extreme despair, and it is a cold heart indeed that does not share vicariously in the sorrow of Willy’s plight.
Great piece. I’m no fan of Michael Moore and to say I’m no fan Of Donald Trump would be an understatement, but the below speaks so clearly to your point that anyone who hasn’t ever read it, should. Moore, almost presciently, wrote it in the run-up to 2016 election.
“I know a lot of people in Michigan that are planning to vote for Trump and they don't necessarily like him that much, and they don't necessarily agree with him. They're not racist or rednecks, they're actually pretty decent people, and so after talking to a number of them I wanted to write this:
'Donald Trump came to the Detroit Economic Club and stood there in front of Ford Motor executives and said, "if you close these factories as you're planning to do in Detroit and build them in Mexico, I'm going to put a 35% tariff on those cars when you send them back and nobody's going to buy them."
It was an amazing thing to see. No politician, Republican or Democrat, had ever said anything like that to these executives, and it was music to the ears of people in Michigan and Ohio and Pennsylvania and Wisconsin -- the "Brexit" states.
You live here in Ohio, you know what I'm talking about. Whether Trump means it or not, is kind of irrelevant because he's saying the things to people who are hurting, and that's why every beaten-down, nameless, forgotten working stiff who used to be part of what was called the middle class loves Trump. He is the human molotov cocktail that they've been waiting for. The human hand grenade that they can legally throw into the system that stole their lives from them.
And on November 8, Election Day, although they lost their jobs, although they've been foreclosed on by the bank, and next came the divorce and now the wife and kids are gone, the car's been repoed, they haven't had a real vacation in years, they're stuck with the shitty Obamacare Bronze Plan where you can't even get a fucking Percocet. They've essentially lost everything they had, except one thing -- the one thing that doesn't cost them a cent, and is guaranteed to them by the American constitution: the right to vote.
They might be penniless, they might be homeless, they might be fucked over and fucked up it doesn't matter, because it's equalized on that day - a millionaire has the same number of votes as the person without a job: one.
And there's more of the former middle class than there are in the millionaire class.
So on November 8, the dispossessed will walk into the voting booth, be handed a ballot, close the curtain, and take that lever or felt pen or touchscreen and put a big fucking X in the box by the name of the man who has threatened to upend and overturn the very system that has ruined their lives: Donald J. Trump.
They see that the elite who ruined their lives hate Trump. Corporate America hates Trump. Wall Street hates Trump. The career politicians hate Trump. The media hates Trump, after they loved him and created him, and now hate.
Thank you media: the enemy of my enemy is who I'm voting for on November 8.
Yes, on November 8, you Joe Blow, Steve Blow, Bob Blow, Billy Blow, all the Blows get to go and blow up the whole goddamn system because it's your right. Trump's election is going to be the biggest fuck you ever recorded in human history and it will feel good.”
(Note: This is only the first 90% of the piece, the last part is an attempt to say, “You are going to do what you are going to do, but it is going to be a mistake”)
I get your point and agree with the basic analysis and comparison. Trump gets it too, but uses it solely for his personal gain with no real interest in any of his supporters, except to the extent that they serve his purposes.
"Would Donald Trump have given Willy a narrative, false as it might be, to prevent his tragic end?" Here, I think the answer is no. He might postpone it, but not prevent it for that would require meaningful effort on their behalf, of which he is simply incapable.
I only read the headline, you can be sure. Maybe it's not a lot to run a national campaign, but it probably represents a lot of small donors, which was my point. Lots of folks are desperate to believe.
It doesn't mean what you think it means. You think it means his followers are dupes following a criminal, but what it actually means is people are tired of our polticized 3 letter agency justice system that only prosecutes the crimes of one party. And I have never even ever voted for a Republican and I am 57. That may change this time around, I too have had enough...
Really good one, David. I think it’s important to try to understand people, even when it’s challenging. Honestly, that’s no choice. When people have said to me that the only way to make things better is to vote for Democrats, my response has been (depending on what we’re talking about), that’s like asking me which cliff I’d prefer to jump off of. How about neither one!
One of my favorite pieces! Really first rate writing: (eg higjly original pathetic fallacy of....) "Now the city has come for him in the form of looming apartment buildings that surround his house and block his view." And for me evocative. I remember being moved by the play almost to tears when I first read it in, I think, 9th grade. The pity I felt for Willy. Great to frame it in terms of the disaffected Trump supporter. (I also.got to see the play twice on Broadway,once decades ago with Dustin Hoffman as Loman and more recently with the sadly departed Phillip Setmour Hoffman in the role -- both extraordinary). Well done sir. Attention must be paid [to the substack]!
Apropos of little: today included one of my favorite Trump-related headlines, which I think is very funny and says most of what you need to know about the guy: "Trump tells restaurant patrons ‘Food for everyone!’ then leaves without paying"
I think there are are a multiplicity of reasons that people support Trump. That said, I do think the Willy Loman category of supporters is a large part of the base. And as someone else pointed out to me, it could be that economic reasons have given way in part to cultural reasons.
When Bill Clinton talked to blue collar people with economic and social issues (e.g., unemployment, opioid crisis, etc) he said "I feel your pain." He didn't call them deplorable or pity them as if they were losers.
The arrogance of low info TDSers is appalling and insufferable IMO. The Biden administration has been a disaster with inflation that causes the poor to suffer, and a new endless war to fund, as if we didn't have enough wars, or financial liabilities. Plus he is dangerously senile for being leader of the "free world." And no I didn't vote for Trump so no dog in this race.
I never mentioned Biden in my post. I was trying to explain the appeal of trump to a segment of the population who is furious at what they consider to be a betrayal of them by the "elites" for lack of a better word.
Well I was responding to the part of the essay where when you even hesitated slightly about the choice between Elizabeth Warren and Trump you got called all sorts of names. But I do get the impression you are a Democratic party partisan trying to engage in empathy or something as well, and I was just pointing out the Democrats other than maybe RFK Jr. are no great shakes now either.
David,
You have my deep respect.
You are a very rare human being.
You are the first writer I have found
who is opposed to Trump
but who at the same time cares deeply
for those who love him.
Rather than judge them
you seek to understand them.
You do not join in vilifying them.
Your writing is insightful,
compassionate,
constructive.
Thank you for your brave patriotism.
Your insights strengthen us
to reach across the chasm
to our neighbor
and reunite our country
so loved by us both.
Thank you so much. I greatly appreciate what you wrote.
Great piece. I’m no fan of Michael Moore and to say I’m no fan Of Donald Trump would be an understatement, but the below speaks so clearly to your point that anyone who hasn’t ever read it, should. Moore, almost presciently, wrote it in the run-up to 2016 election.
“I know a lot of people in Michigan that are planning to vote for Trump and they don't necessarily like him that much, and they don't necessarily agree with him. They're not racist or rednecks, they're actually pretty decent people, and so after talking to a number of them I wanted to write this:
'Donald Trump came to the Detroit Economic Club and stood there in front of Ford Motor executives and said, "if you close these factories as you're planning to do in Detroit and build them in Mexico, I'm going to put a 35% tariff on those cars when you send them back and nobody's going to buy them."
It was an amazing thing to see. No politician, Republican or Democrat, had ever said anything like that to these executives, and it was music to the ears of people in Michigan and Ohio and Pennsylvania and Wisconsin -- the "Brexit" states.
You live here in Ohio, you know what I'm talking about. Whether Trump means it or not, is kind of irrelevant because he's saying the things to people who are hurting, and that's why every beaten-down, nameless, forgotten working stiff who used to be part of what was called the middle class loves Trump. He is the human molotov cocktail that they've been waiting for. The human hand grenade that they can legally throw into the system that stole their lives from them.
And on November 8, Election Day, although they lost their jobs, although they've been foreclosed on by the bank, and next came the divorce and now the wife and kids are gone, the car's been repoed, they haven't had a real vacation in years, they're stuck with the shitty Obamacare Bronze Plan where you can't even get a fucking Percocet. They've essentially lost everything they had, except one thing -- the one thing that doesn't cost them a cent, and is guaranteed to them by the American constitution: the right to vote.
They might be penniless, they might be homeless, they might be fucked over and fucked up it doesn't matter, because it's equalized on that day - a millionaire has the same number of votes as the person without a job: one.
And there's more of the former middle class than there are in the millionaire class.
So on November 8, the dispossessed will walk into the voting booth, be handed a ballot, close the curtain, and take that lever or felt pen or touchscreen and put a big fucking X in the box by the name of the man who has threatened to upend and overturn the very system that has ruined their lives: Donald J. Trump.
They see that the elite who ruined their lives hate Trump. Corporate America hates Trump. Wall Street hates Trump. The career politicians hate Trump. The media hates Trump, after they loved him and created him, and now hate.
Thank you media: the enemy of my enemy is who I'm voting for on November 8.
Yes, on November 8, you Joe Blow, Steve Blow, Bob Blow, Billy Blow, all the Blows get to go and blow up the whole goddamn system because it's your right. Trump's election is going to be the biggest fuck you ever recorded in human history and it will feel good.”
(Note: This is only the first 90% of the piece, the last part is an attempt to say, “You are going to do what you are going to do, but it is going to be a mistake”)
WOW. Thanks for sharing this, Sam. Like you, I'm not a fan of Moore, but this seems wildly prescient.
Chris Arnade was another writer who was picking up on this zeitgeist ahead of the 2016 election. A couple of his pieces here:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jul/30/what-do-donald-trump-voters-want-respect
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/nov/03/trump-supporters-us-elections
I get your point and agree with the basic analysis and comparison. Trump gets it too, but uses it solely for his personal gain with no real interest in any of his supporters, except to the extent that they serve his purposes.
"Would Donald Trump have given Willy a narrative, false as it might be, to prevent his tragic end?" Here, I think the answer is no. He might postpone it, but not prevent it for that would require meaningful effort on their behalf, of which he is simply incapable.
Politico headline: "Trump raised $2 million hours after arraignment". End of comment on my part.
Maybe I’m wrong, but it seems to me that isn’t very much. (I can’t believe you read that! 😉)
I only read the headline, you can be sure. Maybe it's not a lot to run a national campaign, but it probably represents a lot of small donors, which was my point. Lots of folks are desperate to believe.
Good point.
It doesn't mean what you think it means. You think it means his followers are dupes following a criminal, but what it actually means is people are tired of our polticized 3 letter agency justice system that only prosecutes the crimes of one party. And I have never even ever voted for a Republican and I am 57. That may change this time around, I too have had enough...
You are incorrectly assuming the meaning I had in mind. However, as I wrote, I will not comment further.
Really good one, David. I think it’s important to try to understand people, even when it’s challenging. Honestly, that’s no choice. When people have said to me that the only way to make things better is to vote for Democrats, my response has been (depending on what we’re talking about), that’s like asking me which cliff I’d prefer to jump off of. How about neither one!
One of my favorite pieces! Really first rate writing: (eg higjly original pathetic fallacy of....) "Now the city has come for him in the form of looming apartment buildings that surround his house and block his view." And for me evocative. I remember being moved by the play almost to tears when I first read it in, I think, 9th grade. The pity I felt for Willy. Great to frame it in terms of the disaffected Trump supporter. (I also.got to see the play twice on Broadway,once decades ago with Dustin Hoffman as Loman and more recently with the sadly departed Phillip Setmour Hoffman in the role -- both extraordinary). Well done sir. Attention must be paid [to the substack]!
Apropos of little: today included one of my favorite Trump-related headlines, which I think is very funny and says most of what you need to know about the guy: "Trump tells restaurant patrons ‘Food for everyone!’ then leaves without paying"
That made me laugh. So Trump!
you paint a very dark picture. Too dark.
I think there are are a multiplicity of reasons that people support Trump. That said, I do think the Willy Loman category of supporters is a large part of the base. And as someone else pointed out to me, it could be that economic reasons have given way in part to cultural reasons.
When Bill Clinton talked to blue collar people with economic and social issues (e.g., unemployment, opioid crisis, etc) he said "I feel your pain." He didn't call them deplorable or pity them as if they were losers.
The arrogance of low info TDSers is appalling and insufferable IMO. The Biden administration has been a disaster with inflation that causes the poor to suffer, and a new endless war to fund, as if we didn't have enough wars, or financial liabilities. Plus he is dangerously senile for being leader of the "free world." And no I didn't vote for Trump so no dog in this race.
I never mentioned Biden in my post. I was trying to explain the appeal of trump to a segment of the population who is furious at what they consider to be a betrayal of them by the "elites" for lack of a better word.
Well I was responding to the part of the essay where when you even hesitated slightly about the choice between Elizabeth Warren and Trump you got called all sorts of names. But I do get the impression you are a Democratic party partisan trying to engage in empathy or something as well, and I was just pointing out the Democrats other than maybe RFK Jr. are no great shakes now either.
Do you think Biden is doing a good job?
You lost me at RFK Jr.
Why, are you a Branch Covidian? Do you support the proxy war against Russia? Do you think the 3 letter agencies are our friends?