Quote of the Day: Explaining Trump edition

Eric Raymond ponders how the Elites are blind about the dynamics that led to Donald Trump's victory in the last election.  An anonymous comment hits what I believe is the key point:

They think we’ve betrayed and abandoned them for a mess of virtue signaling and glib ideologizing. On the left: identity politics, PC, and open borders justified on multiculturalist grounds. On the right: free trade and open borders justified on laissez-faire principle.

I’d claim that one of the things that is causing resentment isn’t even the immigrants as such: It is the fact that they are being EXPLICITLY used as replacements for the low-status (and not so low-status in the case of software engineers) natives. This is happening both in terms of work (train your replacement and die in a ghetto), and in terms of voting (illegal if you’re not yet a full citizen, but being quite deliberately tolerated and encouraged with a smirk.)

So, no, we don’t think you’re betraying us for virtue signaling. You’re betraying us because we’re expensive, we’re not pliable and dependent serfs, and we’re not voting to keep you in power. The virtue signaling is one part leftist mental tic and one part rationalization. You want to disposes us. You scream it from the podium that you want to take what we have, and that immigrants are your instrument, and that you were almost demographically there if it weren’t for those meddling populists. Err .. I mean “Russians”. Yeah…

Given that, how could Trump (or worse) NOT happen?

And now for extra credit, ponder what is the likely response if the Elites win the current culture battle.  How will those being replaced react?  How likely will it be that someone else will tap into the (ever increasing) rage of the dispossessed?  How likely is it that the Elites will be even more horrified at this new someone else?

This will not end well.