Trump: All About Borders
P. Schultz
“The
unparalleled advances in scientific discovery and technological innovation of
the 20th century, which made possible exponential increases in the
killing power of weaponry, had also contributed to the erosion, and ultimately
the near dissolution, of the boundaries between military forces and civilian
populations.” [Dominance by Design,
Michael Adas]
The
blurring, if not the dissolution of boundaries,
of borders has much to do with
“the Trump phenomenon.” Boundaries and borders are crucial human artifacts, so
crucial that they can be made to appear “natural.” So, when boundaries or
borders are blurred, it often feels like a violation
– e.g., as happened to Americans on 9/11 – and such violations can shake
people’s confidence in what they take to be “the natural order” of things. So
exposed, so violated, people are fearful and angry. And they seek the safety of
those who promise to restore the boundaries, the borders that, for them,
defined and thereby made sense of their world.
Not
coincidentally, Trump’s rise to prominence began with his promise to restore
the border separating the United States from Mexico, a border that had,
allegedly, become so porous that rapists and other criminals passed through
regularly. And not only would Trump restore this border by building a wall, but
he would make Mexico pay for the wall.
However
outlandish Trump’s stance might appear to be, it is by boundaries or borders
that Trump took his stand and acquired his popularity, his power. Along with
restoring the U.S.-Mexican border, Trump opposed those trade deals, like NAFTA,
made by mainstream Republicans and Democrats because they led to loss of
American jobs which “went overseas,” went beyond our borders. From the
standpoint of these disappearing jobs, it was as if there was no border, no
boundary preventing American jobs from “moving overseas,” as if these jobs were
“flowing” out the country all on their own.
Similarly,
Trump’s critique of the Bush/Cheney invasion of Iraq in 2003, as well as his
criticism of other U.S. military actions abroad, also reflects his concern with
restoring America’s boundaries. American blood and treasure have been wasted in
Iraq and elsewhere, as if the body politic itself were hemorrhaging. The integrity
of that body depends on there being boundaries, which must be restored or
“death” will result. And it is “staying home,” respecting our borders and
boundaries, that will stop the bleeding, just as erecting a wall along the Rio
Grande will keep the nation unsullied from without. Borders and boundaries
require both keeping undesirables out and staying home, “minding our
own business,” taking care of our own.
That Trump
is concerned with securing, fortifying our borders helps to explain why his
“over the top,” “beyond the pale” rhetoric does not disturb his supporters.
That his rhetoric “crosses the line” of socially acceptable speech is redeemed for
his supporters because it is in the service of reasserting, reinforcing other,
more important lines, other more important boundaries or borders. Just as Sarah
Palin’s “going rogue” oddly appealed to conservatives, so too Trump’s “border
crossing” rhetoric is redeemed for his supporters by his essentially
conservative goal of restoring the nation’s integrity by restoring and
respecting its boundaries.
And
speaking of Trump’s supporters or others who sympathize with but don’t openly
support him, it is a mistake to see them as racists, sexists, or hate-mongers.
Some of them may be such, but that is neither how most of them see themselves
nor how they act. They respond favorably to Trump, some openly and others
covertly, because they feel disoriented, feel adrift, as a result of their
perception that there are no borders, no boundaries, at least none that are sustainable.
And they feel this way for many reasons.
For despite
“exponential increases in the killing power of [our] weaponry,” the United
States’ “homeland” is no longer inviolable, as it seemed to be with the
triumphalism that followed the end of the Second World War. The Cold War,
Korea, Cuba, Vietnam, the 60s, black power, Watergate, the Iranian revolution,
Islamic fundamentalism, and, above all, 9/11 brought our vulnerability to the
fore, made it so real that it could not even be erased by the collapse of the
Soviet Union or the de-radicalization of what was once called “Red China.” In
the midst of such changes, which seemed to reflect or to threaten the loss of
all boundaries, that Trump has gained the popularity he has seems unsurprising
insofar as he is addressing real concerns, concerns that can’t be met with
promises of “hope” or vacuous slogans like “Yes We Can.” And because these
concerns are real, they are misunderstood if they are seen as merely ghosts
inhabiting the minds of the uneducated or the unsophisticated. Trump is “real,”
and he hasn’t gone away because the human need for boundaries, for borders is
real and it isn’t going away.