1A. Despite a majority of voters not having faith in his qualifications as a presidential candidate, Donald Trump had victory over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. In order to understand this seemingly paradoxical fact, it is beneficial to assess what each candidate represents in the eyes of the voter, and to do so in a similar way that sociologists Arlie Hochschild and West and Zimmerman would have.
In Hochschild’s book Strangers in Their Own Land, she assesses what she calls “the Great Paradox” – wherein voters, strangely, seem to vote against their own best interests. One could argue that Trump does not have the best interest of the average American at heart, because he is not qualified to do so. He has no political or …show more content…
Donald Trump won the 2016 Presidential Election with the promise that he would “Make America Great Again.” He offered a return to the (ambiguous and undefined) time in United States history in which all individuals had equal opportunity at the American Dream and where the majority of the U.S. was satisfied with the life they led. This slogan seems to have appealed to those who felt their family situation was worse off today than before, because 78% of voters who felt that way cast their vote for Trump. Hochschild observed in Strangers in Their Own Land that many members of the “extreme right” felt that the government was denying them access to the American Dream.
Many confided in her about how they felt that less deserving individuals were given an easier time achieving the American Dream – a feeling that Hochschild paralleled with “line cutters.” Line cutters can be explained as individuals who are assumed as less-deserving, yet the government aids them in achieving the American Dream. Throughout Trump’s campaign, he frequently isolated and harassed minorities and immigrants – populations that the right feels have been cutting them in line. With the promise of making America great again, individuals can feel secure in knowing that Trump has their best interest at heart and will crack down on the line …show more content…
The members of the tea party that Hochschild interviews and builds relationships with also hold very extreme right views. Despite the obvious ideological differences, Marx might have seen the extreme right as a manifestation of the proletariat. The proletariat are a class of wage-earners who represent the majority. Donald Trump got a lot of support with this modern American equivalent of the proletariat. The wage-earning, average American saw Trump as someone who could help them improve their quality of
In Hochschild’s book Strangers in Their Own Land, she assesses what she calls “the Great Paradox” – wherein voters, strangely, seem to vote against their own best interests. One could argue that Trump does not have the best interest of the average American at heart, because he is not qualified to do so. He has no political or …show more content…
Donald Trump won the 2016 Presidential Election with the promise that he would “Make America Great Again.” He offered a return to the (ambiguous and undefined) time in United States history in which all individuals had equal opportunity at the American Dream and where the majority of the U.S. was satisfied with the life they led. This slogan seems to have appealed to those who felt their family situation was worse off today than before, because 78% of voters who felt that way cast their vote for Trump. Hochschild observed in Strangers in Their Own Land that many members of the “extreme right” felt that the government was denying them access to the American Dream.
Many confided in her about how they felt that less deserving individuals were given an easier time achieving the American Dream – a feeling that Hochschild paralleled with “line cutters.” Line cutters can be explained as individuals who are assumed as less-deserving, yet the government aids them in achieving the American Dream. Throughout Trump’s campaign, he frequently isolated and harassed minorities and immigrants – populations that the right feels have been cutting them in line. With the promise of making America great again, individuals can feel secure in knowing that Trump has their best interest at heart and will crack down on the line …show more content…
The members of the tea party that Hochschild interviews and builds relationships with also hold very extreme right views. Despite the obvious ideological differences, Marx might have seen the extreme right as a manifestation of the proletariat. The proletariat are a class of wage-earners who represent the majority. Donald Trump got a lot of support with this modern American equivalent of the proletariat. The wage-earning, average American saw Trump as someone who could help them improve their quality of