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This Political Theorist Predicted the Rise of Trumpism. His Name Was Hunter S. Thompson. (Original Post) Gman Dec 2016 OP
Left behind Achilleaze Dec 2016 #1
tangentially zappa 90-percent Dec 2016 #4
K&R flying rabbit Dec 2016 #2
K&R 2naSalit Dec 2016 #3
There's some truth to this! Buckeye_Democrat Dec 2016 #5
Effing bikers Gman Dec 2016 #7
The one who approached me earlier was smaller than me. Buckeye_Democrat Dec 2016 #8
They don't like educated types! Trump said he loved the uneducated. Madam45for2923 Dec 2016 #6

Achilleaze

(15,543 posts)
1. Left behind
Sat Dec 17, 2016, 11:57 AM
Dec 2016

" After following the motorcycle guys around for months, Thompson concluded that the most striking thing about them was not their hedonism but their “ethic of total retaliation” against a technologically advanced and economically changing America in which they felt they’d been counted out and left behind..."


Buckeye_Democrat

(14,860 posts)
5. There's some truth to this!
Sat Dec 17, 2016, 04:25 PM
Dec 2016
Understood in those terms, the idea that Trumpism is “populist” seems misplaced. Populism is a belief in the right of ordinary people, rather than political insiders, to rule. Trumpism, by contrast, operates on the presumption that ordinary people aren’t going to get any chance to rule no matter what they do, so they might as well piss off the political insiders using the only tool left available to them: the vote.


After the election, internet comment sections were full of Trump supporters mostly expressing glee at pissing off liberals and the elite.

I didn't know that Thompson was assaulted by bikers too. That happened to me a few years ago after I entered a biker/redneck bar on a whim. One of the bikers approached me and expressed hatred for Obama and other races, but it was mostly couched in how he perceived immigrants taking jobs that he thought should be reserved for long-time, loyal Americans. After I answered him in intellectual terms, he looked like he wanted to kill me and he walked back to his gang of buddies. I was knocked out from behind and hospitalized after I left the bar.

Gman

(24,780 posts)
7. Effing bikers
Sat Dec 17, 2016, 05:27 PM
Dec 2016

And just like the Trump people, they're real sneaky and brave when they're with their gang. By themselves, they're wimps.

Buckeye_Democrat

(14,860 posts)
8. The one who approached me earlier was smaller than me.
Sat Dec 17, 2016, 05:34 PM
Dec 2016

I still considered him very dangerous as soon as I met him because of his mental state. Crazy people concern me far more than physically big people.

It's possible that I was assaulted simply for money (since all of the cash in my pocket was taken too), but I think it's probable that my earlier, unwanted discussion with that guy caused it.

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