Trump wins U.S. presidency ..... baffled and curious!

I am also baffled.

Scary times for the vulnerable.

Sorry, I'm over it. Don't care.

Desperate folks seem to fall for any charismatic leader no matter what they say or how they act....straight from the movies eh!....strong lone macho male saves the day (despite mass destruction everywhere else for everyone else, while he saves his own family, country, whatever!) ...people want their heroes Sahara and they somehow convince themselves that his actions will somehow benefit them....the repercussions are yet to unfold but I'm hoping he doesn't turn paranoid and vindicative when things don't go his way.....like so many other lone male 'saviours' of the last few decades in other countries!

As for the females (and males) that voted for him it just goes to show that perceptions of strong men still fits into a certain category ....devoid of human equality/wholesomeness....and full of feelings of dependence and inadequacy?

baffled AND curious 2bsure!

AND fearful!

Oh, @Arjay, I can relate to you... I really don't care very much about what happens in the U.S. either. They are not us and we are not them. I guess I am just thinking about the Trump situation from a psychological perspective.

@DoneInDialogue, yes, people seem to fall for a charismatic leader, certainly. People voted in Hitler's party, back in the day, didn't they? I just hoped we would have learnt something since then. But maybe not.

I mean, I guess I watch too much T.V..... but recently there has been a bit of a focus in the U.S. and then following on in Australia about date-rape on University campuses. It's something like one in 8 women are raped at University.... it's so common. It's like pretty much everyone must know someone who has been sexually assaulted and the resulting anguish that follows from such assaults.

Then you get a person like Trump who is shamelessly boasting about assaulting women and no-one really cares..... well, they don't care enough not to vote for him, do they?

I wonder if it's something like 'Stockholm Syndrome', where a kid-nap victim begins to identify with their captor? Like, these women who have either been assaulted, know someone who has, or else who are in danger of being assaulted in the future- they identify with a misogynist like Trump? Is that it?

Seems like a lot of strange, warped perception going on!

I feel depressed about it, cautious & wary, but not totally surprised. The adversarial blocks in American politics are too entrenched.

I am also connected to it as I have 3 children who could be elegible to vote in the US, dependent on a few things.

I share @Sahara's concern. My concern is intensified when Australia follows "in the footsteps of" or "aspires" towards American style policy making. I actually think a lot of Deomcrats and the whole population can take some responsibility for the disaster that is the US. A disaster that may be made even worse for the world if Trump gets his way to make ... America great again. his vision is too "us & them" and its all too easy to find a new enemy. Trump seems quite talented at making them.

I think it folly and naive to dissmiss it as "we are not American so it doesnt effect us". America is too large a global player. It already is effecting Australians. Yet it is something outside of our direct control.

I guess the swing to the right is continuing the world over. There are hopeful things the world over too, so I wont let it get me totally pessimistic , but ...

I am with you, @Appleblossom, I don't feel too pessimistic right now. It remains to see what happens. Yes, I think many parts of the world are heading towards right wing politics now.... in France for example, the extreme far right political party may win their next election.

I know the U.S. is a major global player, but I, for one, feel very disconnected from them.

I think Australia has been very wrong to follow the U.S. into war- in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Gulf. I do not believe we should have done so. I wish we were more independent. I also wish we isn't instantly adopt their culture and kept our own culture instead.

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@Kurra wrote:
If you ignore the proletariat long enough they will rise against the bourgeoisie. Although Trump is bourgeois he had in his 'rise to power ' shown mercy for the low paid or unpaid masses. Whether this comes to pass is yet to be seen. 🎶

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This is on the money and elegantly put @Kurra.

The benefits of free trade and Reaganomics (particularly massive tax cuts for the well-off) have all flowed to the upper classes. Free trade has all but annihilated blue collar manufacturing jobs not just in the USA but throughout the western world. Further, In the states tax cuts and 'user pay' policies (e.g. health care and education) have hollowed out the middle classes because most people cannot afford a university education*.

This has resulted in a lot of pissed off people. Hillary just represented more of the same. If you're one of these people that can no longer get a job because of globalisation would you vote for her? No. People are pissed over there and I can see why they are voting for Trump. He is not their saviour but I guess for them it's better to roll the dice.

I wouldn't be complacent in Australia, that same feeling is already here. The Senate is hobble of various minor parties with views ranging of 'well, that's not too stupid' to 'that's crazy' to 'that's dangerous'. And this is after Senate reforms that were meant to wipe these parties out. People are pissed. And a lot of them have a right to be so. The 'new deal' of a social safety net, education, health care, and full employment has been dead since the late '70s both in the USA and Australia. The negative effects of free trade and Reagonomics are finally being felt. If you're not university educated today your ability to earn a good wage and provide for a family (both in the USA and AUS) at a middle class standard of living is severely limited.

People deserve better and at least Trump is offering something, Hillary was more of the same.

*We know a strong middle class is the best thing ever for an economy. It allows talent to rise and decisions on who gets what job to be made on merit rather than how much money you have. Leading to higher levels of productivity and growth.

Edit: sorry I need to add this in. Before anyone says anything about health care in this country is appalling. It is better than the USA but it is still appalling. People in Aus with mental health problems are regularly being let down by the public system but they cannot afford to see a doctor privately. Even though a private psychiatrist would be of great benefit to them. And medicare rebates these days are a joke for specialist services. The only good thing going for us is the PBS and if the TPP got up medications on patent would have gotten much more expensive. We can thank Trump for fixing that.

I agree it's depressing. From what I can tell, most people who voted for him didn't do so because they're racist or mysoginist. They did it because he disowned the status-quo and told them he'd stand up for them. His racism and mysogeny just made the anti-status-quo claim seem more believable.

Neoliberalism and globalisation has been bad for a significant section of the voting public in the US, UK and Australia. This isn't a new realisation. Raimond Gaita (among others) was writing about it a decade ago. It's just taken this long for someone to agree to represent those people's interests in the political system.