There’s a viral video going around by Michael Moore about why Donald Trump will win, almost as an endorsement:
It’s funny how this is the same Michael Moore who did this:
Michael Moore like any politician will change his tune when the timing is right.
He has a point though. Since the early 80’s, the GOP has been a duopoly of neoconservatism and Cato-libertarian neoconservatism, without any other options. Both have very similar economic policies. Trump does not fit either mold, and any voters find this refreshing, as neocon economic policies, especially as pertains to trade and immigration, have fallen out of public favor since 2008.
But being that it’s Michael Moore, reductionism and appeals to emotion at the cost of accuracy is par for the course. At around 1:32, it’s hard not to roll your eyes. It’s obvious why the left has trouble connecting with with blue collar voters. It’s as if everyone who isn’t like him is dysfunctional ‘trailer trash’ like on Springer, who needs his sympathy.
Blue collar workers are not poor, unsophisticated homogeneous rubes whose jobs would not exist if not for people like Michael Moore. Rather it’s a very diverse assortment of jobs that fall under the label ‘blue collar’, some of which are very specialized and pay good money – jobs such as elevator repair, HVAC installation, plumbing, and die making. These are also jobs that are hard to outsource. You cannot pander to blue collar workers in the same way the left panders to minorities — it does not work.
In Michael Moore’s America, there are only three types of people: autoworkers, laid off autoworkers, and evil executives who spend every waking moment trying to find ways to fire the remaining autoworkers. His obsession with autoworkers stems from growing up in Flint and experiencing first-hand the closures of auto plants in the 80’s, but the whole country isn’t like that. Autoworkers are only a small part of the total ‘blue collar’ labor force, and has been shrinking for a long time. Manufacturing has given way to specialized, hands-on service jobs (repair, sharing and gig jobs, hospitality and concierge) that are hard to outsource or automate. The auto repair and parts industry is booming because people are not replacing their cars as often. Also, Trump’s support spans the professional, upper-middle income class too. Not to mention that many foreign automakers build factories in America:
If these factories were to close as a consequence of a trade war, American jobs would be lost, which is an example of how policy in an interconnected world can have unintended consequences. Free trade may destroy jobs but it may also create jobs too. I’m sure Trump and or his economic advisers are aware of this.
In the video he mentions foreclosures, but the foreclosure ‘starts’ have returned to pre-2008 levels:
As the successes of Reagan and Bill Clinton show, voters are more receptive to a message of optimism than pessimism. Instead of being told everything that is wrong with America and their lives, they want to be given hope. Online it’s different…there is a lot more pessimism than what you see on TV. Michael Moore’s brand of class warfare and divisiveness doesn’t work as well for national politics as it does for his documentaries.