One of the worst things about American elections is that, even when they’re over, they’re never over. Even though we’re not American, our news and social media have been deluged with American politics for the past two years; we’ve weathered the spectacle of the primaries, the spectacle of the campaign, and now we’re stuck in the spectacle of the postmortem. Pundits and insiders and essayists line up with their takes on what we can learn about the American people from the results. I’m not sure the election results can tell us anything about Americans in general, but I do think that reflecting on the election can tell us a great deal about ourselves.
Who Are “The People”, and What Do They Want?
Political pundits can’t help themselves from breaking the population down into identity groups, assigning them particular views or issues, and speculating about how those issues connect to either candidate. Women will vote against Trump because he’s a serial abuser who opened the door to banning abortion, right? But large numbers of them voted for him anyway. And Latinos will vote against him because he’s openly racist against them, threatens a mass deportation of undocumented immigrants, and detained immigrant children in camps after separating them from their families…but Latinos voted for Trump in huge numbers. Rich people will vote for Trump because he’s all about cutting taxes…but rich people overwhelmingly voted Democrat this time. No matter which way you slice it, it seems that virtually everyone voted against their own interests in this election, so the pundits are drilling further and further down into these identity groups and their potential motives.
Whether or not they can articulate it, everyone has some rationale for how they vote. For some it is a tradition, a party loyalty, or a local identity: around here, we vote _______. Others look for a party platform, or vote based on issues they hear the candidates talk about. There’s often an assumption that we’ll all vote based on our self-interest, which is why governing politicians go out of their way to give away tax breaks and rebate cheques in election years (which is why we should expect a provincial election soon); but many of us vote based not on our own short-term gain, but rather for whoever can cast a vision for a future we want to live in. And then there’s the candidates themselves: some people look for someone they are willing to follow, someone whose character and rhetoric inspires them, or whose experience and skill qualify them well to govern.
For any given person, a single vote could mean any or all of those things. In light of that, trying to break down the motives of millions of people en masse seems almost foolish — and that’s not even getting into the issues. And so by the same logic, deriving some kind of mandate from an election result is even more foolish. And yet that’s what populist politicians do: even with a bare majority, they take victory as a sign of widespread endorsement of everything they choose to say or do.
In the case of Donald Trump, it’s impossible to determine a clear mandate: much of what he says is literally gibberish, and much of what can be made out is obvious lies. To imply that he has a mandate to do what he said he would do suggests that everyone actually knows what he’s talking about, and that they believed him when they voted for him. These campaign postmortems consistently show that people voted for him in spite of what he said as often as because of it, with many of his supporters dismissing or explaining away his atrocious plans. “He’s just joking,” we keep hearing. So what did people vote for? We can’t know.
So what can we learn from all of this?
A Mirror
We often hear that elections hold up a mirror to society, but we’ve just seen that society is difficult to parse. Let’s narrow it down a little: what does this tell us about ourselves as individuals? Rather than projecting onto others, what does this say about me and the people I know and love best?
For some of us, this election result has caused a sense of grief, uncertainty, and despair. It feels like we don’t know our neighbours as well as we thought we did, and that’s really destabilizing. The richest and most powerful country in the world just elected a convicted felon known for violent rhetoric, hateful language, and unscrupulous practices; someone who already did significant damage to international institutions in his last term. The lives of a great many people around the world will get harder because of this. But the people I’ve been speaking with who are struggling the most are not even thinking of the practical questions of how to adapt to another Trump presidency; many of us are instead mourning what appears to be the defeat of dignity, the triumph of cynicism and hatred. This tells me that character still matters, at least to many of us. Truth still matters, and it hurts when it seems to have lost its value for so many.
For those who are thinking along those more practical lines, wondering about the future of international institutions like NATO and the UN, worrying about Tump’s ability to appoint more supreme court justices this term, concerned that his threats to “govern as a dictator on day one” will bear out, this tells me that institutions still matter, at least to many of us. The idea of a society that is governed by law and supported by institutions remains critical for the wellbeing of us all, and some of us haven’t given up on it.
Some of us are also indulging in a little bit of schadenfreude, feeling glad that we’re not American right now. This tells me that we’re not immune to selfish politics. And we have our own divisive populists here in Canada who increasingly borrow from Trump’s playbook, belittling and attacking their opponents rather than making better policy proposals. And according to recent polls, it’s working for them.
Don’t Worry
Last week I saw comedian Adam Conover say that he’s not worried about the election, not because he was confident in the outcome but because worrying is what we do when we aren’t working to affect the outcome. He challenged his audience: don’t worry about the election, get out there and make a difference instead. So what does that look like for us Canadians right now?
I’ve just listed some things that I learned about myself and my loved ones through reflecting on the election: that truth, character, and institutions matter to me a great deal, as they form the basis of any vision for a future that I want to grow old in. It’s distressing and depressing to think that these things don’t matter to large numbers of people in our society. But here’s the thing: like in the first section of this post, I don’t think we can really say that people voted the way they did for any particular reason. We can’t say that people who voted for Trump don’t value institutions, even though he’s been very clear that he wants to tear them down, because what people know and believe about him is almost impossible to determine. So the first action I need to take is to not give up on my neighbours, whether that’s the United States of America or the guy flying the “F*** Trudeau” flag down the road.
The second action is to talk to people. The pollsters and pundits can’t figure out why people voted the way they did en masse, but the great thing about living in community is that we can just talk to each other about what we value. We tend to get stuck talking about what we hate, or what shocks or upsets us, and that kind of conversation can’t withstand disagreement. So instead, get curious: rather than assuming your uncle with a red hat hates immigrants and women and the rule of law, ask them what they like. And then talk about what you like and value. I bet there’s a lot in common. Normalize being curious and open.
The third action we can take now is to prepare ourselves, mentally and socially, for our next elections. We’re likely to see both a provincial and federal election in 2025, and the Ford PCs are already fundraising. They’re talking openly about invoking the Notwithstanding Clause to suspend the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in order to continue to evict homeless people from public parks, which is a heavy anti-institution move that would allow for expensive and inhumane policies that play to the fears of the many to the detriment of the most vulnerable people in society; it’s a big swing, the kind that lets the premier look tough, perfect election fodder. He’s also promising $200 cheques for everyone, and he just spent $225M to break a contract with the LCBO and Beer Store in order to let convenience stores sell beer and wine a year ahead of schedule.
Populists often make offers and look for ways to tell us what we want to hear; but they also play to our fears and frustrations, and that’s the part that really works. I don’t think more beer or $200 cheques will win the day, but making us afraid of homeless encampments and then promising to take care of it for us likely will. And that’s the kind of thing that only works if we aren’t connected with our community — because people experiencing homelessness are absolutely part of our community, and they aren’t scary once you get to know them.
So to prepare ourselves for the next election, we need to engage with our own community. Politicians can try to pit us against each other, but if we have real relationships with people we disagree with then we won’t be manipulated. If we’re curious about those who are different from us rather than fearful of them, it will take more than a slogan to make us vote against their interests. And if we normalize talking about and embodying the things we value, rather than just griping about the things that disgust and frustrate and terrify us, we can inoculate our whole community against divisive populist rhetoric. In short, we need to be the principled and inspiring people we want our leaders to be, right here in our own town. And that’s easier than it sounds, so don’t worry — just do your best.