Robert Reich - There is no 'right' v 'left': it is Trump and the oligarchs against the rest
... So long as the oligarchy divides Americans – split off people of color from
working-class whites, stoke racial resentments, describe human beings as
illegal aliens, launch wars on crime and immigrants, stoke fears of communists
and socialists – it doesn’t have to worry that a majority will stop them from
looting the nation. Divide-and-conquer allows the oligarchy free rein. It makes
the rest of us puppets, fighting each other on a made-up stage. Trump is the puppet master.
He has been at it for years, long before he ran for
president. He knows how to pit native-born Americans against immigrants, the
working class against the poor, whites against blacks and Latinos.
Trump can make the working class believe they’re losing jobs
because of 'deep state' bureaucrats and Hillary Clinton.He is well-versed in getting evangelicals and secularists
steamed up about abortion, equal marriage rights, out-of-wedlock births, access
to contraception, transgender bathrooms.
He knows how to stir up fears of brown-skinned people from
“shitholes” streaming across the border to murder and rape, and stoke anger
about black athletes who don’t stand for the national anthem. He’s a master at fueling anxieties about so-called communists,
socialists and the left taking over America. He can make the white working class believe they’ve been
losing good jobs and wages because of a cabal of Democrats, “deep
state” bureaucrats and Hillary Clinton.
From the start, Trump’s deal with the oligarchy has been
simple: he’ll stoke tribalism so most Americans won’t see CEOs getting
exorbitant pay while they’re slicing the pay of average workers, so most
Americans won’t pay attention to Wall Street demanding short-term results over
long-term jobs, won’t notice a boardroom culture that tolerates financial
conflicts of interest, insider trading and the outright bribery of public
officials through unlimited campaign “donations”... read more:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jul/07/donald-trump-oligarchs-democrats-right-left