Donald Trump and the Fear of Death

Tump was able to capitalize on two streams of insecurity left over from America's past: Nativism and Populism. Nativism is "a policy of favoring native inhabitants as opposed to immigrants." Definition of NATIVISM As part Chickasaw, it strikes me as ironic that Americans of northern European ancestry claim this sentiment, but it's been quite potent during past waves of immigration during the Nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and immigration from south of the border has revived it today. In fact, it's gone global, finding a parallel in the "Great Replacement" anxieties of Europeans. Much of the impetus comes from the low fertility rate of persons of European descent, their need for cheap labor, and the dilemma that the newcomers will eventually take their place at the top of the pecking order. Populism reflects the anxieties of whites in the lower social echelons of being replaced by educated elites and machines. Instead of exerting the energy and initiative to adapt to changing times, these folks seek to preserve the local status quo by protecting obsolete industries like coal, resisting foreign trade, and railing against newfangled ideas like feminism, affirmative action, and gay pride. Put them all together and they spell MAGA.