I wanted to come back to this because, as absurd and laughable as Trump’s War on Low Shower Pressure is, I think it reveals something important about the real motivations driving Trumpism.
No, not shower pressure. Trumpists are driven by a general desire to return to some vague past state of existence that they intuitively believe is synonymous with “America.”
When you and I think about what defines America, we might mention legal principles, economic theories, and geographic features that distinguish the US from other nations. We’re a resource rich, continental-scale nation that operates a regulated capitalist economy and is governed under a constitutional democracy that reserves certain rights for the people and the states. You might even mention our history as former native land that was colonized by European powers, won independence through war with the British, and then expanded through a series of purchases, wars, and other means of grabbing land.
But if you ask a Trumper what “America” is to them, I guarantee you’ll get a wholly different answer. They may pay lip service to vague ideas like freedom and liberty, but much of what Trumpers think is important about America are in reality just superficial details they recall from a hazy memory of the way “things used to be.” It might include things like prayer in school, standing for the anthem, unquestioned respect for cops, and people at stores saying “Merry Christmas” instead of some commie bullshit like “Happy Holidays.” And yes seemingly absurd shit like stronger water pressure and hard-flushin’ toilets and gas guzzling cars.
If they’re honest, they might admit that America as they understand it had a lot fewer ethnic people. Those on the left have zeroed in on this as if racism was the driving animus for the majority of Trumpers. That is a mistake. Most Trumpers believe themselves to not be racist and, in many important respects, they likely are not. They may count minorities among their friends and family and might welcome members of all races into their flock with open arms.
Certainly there is a significant part of the Trump block that is overtly and unapologetically racist. And many of Trump’s policies have racist motivation or impact. But I don’t believe even the majority of Trump supporters are consciously, intentionally racist in the same way that, say, David Duke or Jared Taylor are. Some degree of casual racism is part of rank and file Trumpism, but I tend to think much of it is tied up with a general sentimentality for the good old days when you could say crass, insensitive, even racist stuff without being accused of actually being a racist. In other words, it’s just more sentimentality for the perceived “good old days.”
Trumpers fundamentally want the world they think they used to have. Trump understands that instinctively, and he keeps finding different flavors of weird sentimental attachment to stroke. Meanwhile, we dismiss each one on its own specific merits as if it’s not part of a larger phenomenon. That’s a mistake. Low-flow shower heads, anthem kneeling, and PC culture are all just different perceived attacks on the same driving sentimentality. What we should be doing is emphasizing sentimental attachments to constructive ideas and policies from the past, which is of course difficult for progressives to do.