Perspective: Why the Electorate Likes Trump and Carson

The Media and the Republican Party hierarchy cannot figure out the Trump and Carson phenomenon.  That is understandable because both the Media and the Politicians are so out of touch with the voters. A casual look and one would note that about 90 million Americans are out of meaningful jobs, and they are mad as hell about it because they have been unceremoniously dumped out of the market and can’t get back. These are not ditch digger jobs, and every segment of the labor market is affected. Moreover, it is more than the loss of income. It’s the loss of who you are! For example, when you are introduced to someone, they inevitably ask you what you do and you proudly respond, I am a manager, teacher, minister, supervisor, secretary, nurse or whatever. Your job defined you!  

Now, out of work for 3-4 years or more and asked the question, you have to say that you used to be a bank teller, or a paralegal, a manager, an accountant, secretary, teacher or a waiter. Now you are unemployed. The Republicans don’t know how to tell you how they will bring jobs back. The Democrats seem content to leave things the ways things are, blame Wall Street and only want to tax the rich and give the unemployed stuff free. These folks want a job, not a handout!!

The truth is that those out of work do not trust the Politicians. They think the Politicians are the cause of the problem, and they are right. Moreover, the out of work don’t care what a Politician says about his record or the claims about what he has done. Take Jeb Bush for example. He says that ten years ago he did great things as Governor of Florida. Neither Bush, the politicians nor especially the Media understand that ten years is equivalent to a century considering what has changed in a mere ten years. Ten years ago the I-Pad, the Smart Phone with all of it apps, Face book, Twitter, Instagram, Streaming of TV programs and Movies, Google searches and the driverless car were ideas but did not exist in the mainstream as they do today.  

And these developments have already impacted or are about to impact virtually every good paying job including medicine, law, manufacturing, shopping, restaurants, and  particularly education, to name just a few. If you checked into a restaurant or a store and found a kiosk where there used to be a person, you know what we are talking about. Where there used to be people waiting upon you; now there are machines.  

You would think politicians would notice that the machine pays no tax, and buys no goods. Thus, one might expect the Politicians would plan to tax or regulate the machine. Instead the Politicians allow the capitalist who purchases and installs the machine, to get a fast tax write-off. Is any wonder the out of work are so angry!! 

Making the problem more complex for the out of work voter, is that jobs that are available such as managing the machines require higher skills than many of those displaced have. Worse they and potential employers are not sure they are even trainable. Exacerbating the problem further is that employers can find a younger more trainable person who works for a lower salary than the 50 something who lost a good high paying job.  

Then there is the case that many manufacturing jobs are returning, but employers such as GE, who constantly tout their digital expertise, seek employees with skills in science, technology, engineering and math. Many Asians who came here to school who have these skills are being encouraged to stay, thus creating another facet of the immigration dilemma that the Politicians are unable to articulate, least to solve.  And this impacts the jobless, as well.    

Now, creating those self rewarding jobs will not be easy. However, the least we should expect of the Politicians and the Media to do is to take a stab at talking about it in truthful terms instead of blaming Wall Street or China or something else. Then they might be able to come up with plans that fit the needs of these 90 million out of work. 

The bottom line is that the voting public in both parties whose jobs have been impacted by globalization and the digital revolution know the Politicians are responsible for the entire problem due the tax and regulations they have promulgated that impede job creation. The Media is completely out of touch or worse is deliberately misleading and therefore is no help. These unemployed are furious and have had it with the Political Class and the Media. They want someone who is honest and will do what they say they will do about their plight, and furthermore and most importantly, someone who is not and never has been a politician controlled by lobbyists!! This is why Trump, Carson and Fiorina, the non-politicians, pole so high. The Media and the Elite Political Class don’t get it, and it is not likely that they ever will!

 

 

 

 

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