The Atlantic talks to a Bernie or Buster thinking about voting for Trump.
I do think a sort of “white” tribalization has something to do with it, though it isn’t all tribalization; class appeals are part of it as well. I can remember the first time I was spat on in an activist meeting, sometime after Occupy. I hadn’t said much of anything, but I have always been an independent thinker and follow my own analysis, something of an idiosyncratic Marxism typically, and it was just for being white and male and not agreeing with whatever the speaker had said. I was “privileged.”
I didn’t make too much of it at the time, as there are always some unpleasant people you end up dealing with while doing activism, but I started noticing more and more of this over the next few years. I was not the only one. Most of my old circle of activist contacts dropped out one by one. Then I dropped out, quit Facebook and social media. It felt like such a relief; things had become so toxic.
Since then, I have been extensively re-evaluating my politics, and I know there are many others doing the same thing. A left which is focused on issues of identity and excludes issues of class (it was class issues which drew me to the left years ago) is no friend of mine, and it is no friend of the working class. And if it is all going to be tribal politics, then well, I guess you have to go with your own tribe—if not for your sake, then for the sake of your kids.
http://www.theatlantic.com/notes/2016/05/why-one-bernie-sanders-supporter-is-tempted-to-vote-donald-trump/484841/
Very insightful. I can't grasp why anyone progressive would want to flush the country down the toilet by letting Trump win, but I think the key point is "if it is all going to be tribal politics, then well, I guess you have to go with your own tribe." It's not pretty.
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