The Buchananism at the heart of Trumpism

Chauncey Devega

Here are the biggest hypocrisies behind America’s Trump-fueled white paranoia politics

He's absolutely right that white fear - less so white anger - is central.

After all, when have non-whites in America not accurately and loudly complained of the slings and arrows of minority status?

When has any minority in any country not faced trials ranging from minor (but real) annoyances to ethnic cleansing and even genocidal attacks?

But he gives short shrift to the rest of typical Buchananism, focussed on ditching NATO, the EU, and our alliances in the Pacific, on undermining globalist institutions from the WTO to the UN, on protectionism, and on a break toward authoritarianism.

And the whole built-in sociocon gun-rights, anti-abortion, real men and real women schtick.

All of it serving to put in the shade the plutocracy's agenda item in chief, repealing a century of progressive constructions.

"The browning of America.”

“A majority minority country.”

“By the year 2050 whites will be a minority in America.”

These phrases inspire extremely divergent responses from liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans.

Liberals hear those three phrases and are (mostly) pleased and inspired because they view America’s ethnic and racial diversity as a source of strength and proof that the country’s creed is transcendent and inclusive.

Conservatives — and especially Trumpists — hear those three phrases and are filled with dread, anger and fear. 

While they often hide their sentiments behind words such as “tradition” and “culture,” on a fundamental level, white conservatives believe that to be a “real American” requires a person to be first and foremost white and Christian.

Donald Trump rode this wave of white rage and fear to the White House. He had many criers on that damnable highway. 

Extreme right-wing opinion columnist and occasional Republican presidential primary candidate Pat Buchanan was and is one of the loudest and most panicked.

He quotes Charles Blow who has this absolutely right, and whose quotes of Buchanan reveal the outlook of whites who not only fear the dangers of minority status (I fear them too. What white person but a fool would not?) but are prepared to stave it off by extreme measures reaching well beyond what Trump is doing and will yet attempt.

But Devega writes,

Of course, these claims and worries that whiteness (and white people) in America will be eclipsed or annihilated are ahistorical, lack proper social and political context in the present, and in total are nightmares of shadow and fog without any real substance.

That is egregiously and wholly untrue, though reports of white genocide are clearly greatly exaggerated.

[And his nonsense about changing definitions of who is white is plain fake news, though it is perfectly true that some have felt, perhaps with Churchill (or maybe it was some other English master of arrogance), that "the wogs begin at Calais."

Not to forget the Irish, of course.]

And this is how so many whites have been herded successfully into voting Republican and, specifically, voting for Trump, blatantly contrary to their class interests.

As an aside, note that the supposed cultural worries of the Nativists make more sense - but not that much more sense - in Europe, where migrants are overwhelming non-Christian and mostly Muslim, than in America, where the migrants are overwhelmingly Christian and mostly Catholic.