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“Is Trump Avant-Garde?”
Jens Lönneker
Why do populists like Donald Trump dominate public discussion?
Jens Lönneker writes in The European:
"Donald Trump is considered a difficult politician to calculate. Even his environment is repeatedly surprised by his agility and the apparent instability of his positions. The pronounced "hire and fire" practice among his own companions fits into this picture and creates an aura of permanent uncertainty. Despite - or perhaps because of - the sharp criticism that his behavior brings him, half the country and his supporters remain loyal to him. He is popular with them, while the other part of the country develops strong antipathy towards him."
A new style is spreading in the political debate. While the rule used to be that you can't 'sometimes this, sometimes that' and can't claim untruths with impunity in the long term, this no longer seems to apply to the new populists like Trump.
On the contrary: their followers apparently find them particularly credible and authentic. A mixture of half-truths, unpredictability, polarization and emotionalization apparently makes their opponents 'speechless'."
Arguments or the classic instruments of opinion formation do not seem to be able to achieve anything really sustainable against this 'populism'.
But why exactly is that and can't we do something about it?
