Here's a selection of narratives regarding the result of the 2016 Presidential election. I partially agree with some of them, but I'm not by any means endorsing them all. Although there are some common themes, they represent a variety of viewpoints.
Allin Cottrell, November 14
Robert Reich: “What has happened in America should not be seen as a victory for hatefulness over decency. It is more accurately understood as a repudiation of the American power structure. [...] Recent economic indicators may be up, but those indicators don't reflect the insecurity most Americans continue to feel, nor the seeming arbitrariness and unfairness they experience. Nor do the major indicators show the linkages many Americans see between wealth and power, stagnant or declining real wages, soaring CEO pay, and the undermining of democracy by big money.” LINK
Naomi Klein: “Here is what we need to understand: a hell of a lot of people are in pain. Under neoliberal policies of deregulation, privatisation, austerity and corporate trade, their living standards have declined precipitously.” LINK
Lois Beckett and others: “For months, the image of the Donald Trump supporter has been the face of an angry white man. But it was white women who pushed Trump to victory. Rejecting the candidate who had aimed to be America's first female president, 53% of white women voted for Trump, according to CNN exit polls.” LINK
Torsten Bell: “Yes the rich are always more likely to vote Republican (they teach this in US politics 101 I believe) but what matters is that the move towards Trump and away from the Democrats was entirely amongst middle and low income voters, with a huge 16 percentage point net move for instance amongst those with incomes under $30,000.” LINK
Garrison Keillor: “To all the patronizing b.s. we've read about Trump expressing the white working class's displacement and loss of the American Dream, I say, "Feh!" -- go put your head under cold water.” LINK
Dave Eggers at a Trump Rally in Sacramento: “Americans who have voted for Trump in the primaries have done so not because they agree with all, or any, of his statements or promises, but because he is an entertainment. He is a loud, captivating distraction and a very good comedian. His appeal is aided by these rallies, and by media coverage, and both are fuelled not by substance but by his willingness to say crazy shit. [...] The audience at a Trump rally is thinking, How funny would it be if this guy were across the table from Angela Merkel? That would be classic.” LINK
Paul Krugman (last year, but relevant): “With job growth at rates not seen since the 1990s, with the percentage of Americans covered by health insurance hitting record highs, the doom-and-gloom predictions of [Obama's] political enemies look ever more at odds with reality. Yet there is a darkness spreading over part of our society. And we don't really understand why.” LINK
Thomas Frank: “Hillary Clinton was exactly the wrong candidate: a technocrat who offered fine-tuning when the country wanted to take a sledgehammer to the machine.” LINK
Jessica Cornwell: “I am proud to be a millennial, leftwing, polyglot, dual-citizen woman who desperately wanted Britain to remain in the EU and desperately wanted Clinton to win the race for president. Which -- if you were to believe some broadsheets -- puts me on the losing side of history. I do not believe this is true.” LINK
Martin Kettle: “It makes good headlines to treat Trump's win as a tsunami of the ignored that overwhelmed the established and complacent... But be careful. It hardly squares with the result of the popular vote, in which Hillary Clinton got more votes than Trump, only the second time in the past 100 years that a winner has trailed his rival. Nor does it easily explain why Trump, who was supposed to be bringing squadrons of new voters to the contest, actually polled fewer votes than Bush in 2004, John McCain in 2008 and even Mitt Romney in 2012.” LINK
John Mearsheimer: Very interesting audio from the pre-election period with a political science professor from the University of Chicago. LINK
Eric Kaufmann: “The Trump and Brexit votes are the opening shots which define a new political era in which the values-divide between voters -- especially among whites -- is the main axis of politics. In a period of rapid ethnic change, this cleavage separates those who prefer cultural continuity and order from novelty-seekers open to diversity.” LINK
Nelson Schwartz: “Last Tuesday, blue-collar workers across the industrial heartland hearkened to Mr. Trump's call, putting states never thought to be in serious play, like Wisconsin and Michigan, in his win column. Can Trump save their jobs? They're counting on it.” LINK