The Problem Is Not Trump, but What He Represents

Watching and listening to Donald Trump’s campaign is, in a way, like going back in time and seeing the birth of Nazism in Germany in 1920.

It is not that Trump is a Nazi. At least nothing on his records places him in this ideological position — irresponsible, foolish, a liar, yes, certainly; his rhetoric is poisonous, insidious, abhorrent. And if he talks like a duck, walks like a duck, hangs out with ducks, and swims like a duck, the looks are convincing: He is a duck even if he insists he is a rooster.

The fact is that according to history, Germans in the 1920s and ‘30s were neither more nor less totalitarian or racist than others, but they were coming out of a brutal World War I and a humiliating military defeat, under even worse conditions, with no hope for the future and feeling defenseless in a hostile world.

Today, in the second decade of the 21st century, the U.S. population, or at least part of it, is extraordinarily afraid of the socio-economic change the country is living. The dreaded demographic change is no longer a threat, but a reality, and “white people” are, all of a sudden, the country’s largest minority, not the absolute majority.

The economic situation is not manifesting in the U.S. in the same way it did in the Germany of almost 100 years ago, with high inflation, but with the expression of distrust and a growing difference in wealth distribution; the economy no longer guarantees the American dream, especially for people with a relatively low level of education.

However, this atmosphere raises fury and vindictiveness. In Germany’s case, this translated into Adolf Hitler and his racist, ultranationalist ideology. In the case of the U.S., and at least this time, it is Donald Trump, a man who talks without filters, exaggerates or lies with singular cheekiness, and does not backtrack even when he is proven wrong.

He is defined as a populist, and he certainly is one — at least in his words. He does not respect institutions, nor does he take legalities or realities into consideration.

In both cases, in post-World War I Germany and 2010s U.S., parts of the population have believed that the political class has betrayed its citizens and, therefore, that the democratic processes do not work.

And in the same way that Hitler appealed to the most basic instincts of the Germans, Trump calls on the most basic instincts of U.S. citizens and their latent frustration.

It is probable that Trump is not a neo-Nazi, not by a long shot. But his rhetoric implicitly appeals to racial hatred and white supremacy.

How far can Trump or those who are lagging behind him, such as Sen. Ted Cruz, go? Or, how far can the fear and anger of those who listen to them go? This is something that remains to be seen. But they are there, and they can turn into an electoral factor.

Of course, in the German case, a literal coup de force was needed, something that U.S. citizens believe is out of place in their political system. But Trump — like a good populist — does not seem to be above the idea of mobilizing the rabble to achieve his goals, whatever these are.

In any case, the worst part is realizing that someone is listening to and believing in his increasingly twisted logic and arguments, his lies, his poisonous oratory.