Understanding trumpocalypse

Understanding trumpocalypse

Donald Trump will be the 45th President of the United States. These words will echo in the hearts of 324 million Americans today, some shell-shocked and downcast, others delirious (उन्मत्त/भ्रांतचित्त/प्रलापी) with joy. The sheer (निरा/असली/वास्तविक) divergence (भिन्नता/विविधता) of emotions over the surprise result is a poignant (हृदयविदारक/मार्मिक/ तीखा) signal of how deeply divided the nation is, after a polarizing two-year election campaign. Bigotry (कट्टरता), patriarchy and racist rancor (विद्वेष/मालिन्य), which reared their ugly heads throughout this season of incivility (असभ्यता/अशिष्टता), may find no welcome catharsis (संशुद्धि) with the apotheosis (आदर्शपन) of Mr. Trump. According to the exit polls, 58 per cent of whites and 21 per cent of non-whites voted for Mr. Trump, whereas 37 per cent of whites and 74 per cent of non-whites voted for his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton. He also scored higher with men than women, and with those voters who did not have a college degree. In other words, blue-collared white men and women thronged (इकठ्ठा होना/साथ देना /भीड़ करते हुए फिरना) to Mr. Trump in droves (भीड़/समूह), angry about their perceived impoverishment (परिक्षीणता/दरिद्रता) and disenfranchisement (मताधिकार हनन) inflicted by the country’s political and financial elites. It had left them with only one option: to throw a metaphorical (रूपक/लाक्षणिक) grenade at these power centres.

At the heart of the shock result is the shock itself, which stemmed from what most analysts have been calling the vote of the “silent majority”. Why did the U.S. media and pollsters fail to see which way the wind was blowing? They apparently did not suspect, when poll results suggested that Ms. Clinton was the more acceptable candidate, that some of the respondents to these polls may have been unwilling to admit to being supporters of Mr. Trump. It is likely for instance that women, 42 per cent of whom voted for Mr. Trump, were reluctant (अनिच्छुक) to reveal their preference after Mr. Trump was exposed for boasting about sexual assault and faced allegations (आरोपों) of the same. What was not taken proper note of was that in almost every swing State, there were between 11 and 18 per cent “undecided” voters in late October — a significant number of people that tilted the election in favor of Mr. Trump. Insofar as this election reflected expressions of frustration that went against the grain of political correctness, the Trump victory resembles Brexit. However, in his victory speech Mr. Trump has appeared to quickly move past campaign recrimination (परस्पर दोषारोपण), the conciliatory tone of which may go a little way in calming nerves at home as well as of anxious world leaders watching the election from afar. If indeed he presents a softer, more collaborative face at home and abroad, the Divided States of America may yet hold firm and lend strength to the global order, as it has done in the past.