The Origins of Trumpism and the Birth of the Present
Reflections on the pre-history of Trump’s rise, the peculiar nature of Trumpism, and the radical politics of white despair – based on John Ganz’s masterful “When the Clock Broke”
New piece:
thomaszimmer.substack.com/p/the-origin...
Donald Trump, Ganz argues, represents the synthesis of the white nationalist, the billionaire populist, and the gangster patriarch – elements that were still scattered in the early 90s. This, to me, is the most compelling paradigm of the nature and appeal of Trumpism yet.
When the Clock Broke powerfully dissects how the end of the Cold War opened the door for those who emphatically rejected liberal democracy, even as an aspiration, to move closer to the mainstream, and make their case to a mainstream audience more explicitly.
Based on this brilliant book, I reflect on the nature of Trumpism and how to situate it in the American Right’s recent history; the role of the rightwing intellectual sphere; the challenge of how to approach, research, interpret, and tell the pre-history of the present.
I also reflect on the relationship between conservatism and radicalism. In the early 90s, the self-regarding counter-revolutionaries still existed mostly on the margins of mainstream politics. Today, they define rightwing identity as well as the Rights style and agenda.
Finally, I discuss the recent wave of 90s nostalgia that often has a reactionary political valence – and doesn’t hold up to the kind of precise, sincere assessment of the period’s historical significance John Ganz offers in his book.
thomaszimmer.substack.com/p/the-origin...
