Americans trying to unpick he phenomenon of Donald Trump have turned to an obscure academic, who predicted that old industrialized democracies were heading into a Weimar-like period in which populist movements could overturn constitutional governments. In the book, Rorty predicted that what he called the left would come to give “cultural politics preference over real politics”. They would also realize that the middle classes – themselves desperately afraid of being downsized – would not come to their rescue. Ultimately, he wrote, the so-called strongman would be powerless to do anything but “worsen economic conditions” and “quickly make his peace with the international superrich”. Trump appears to have already fulfilled this prediction, filling his transition team with lobbyists, including for oil, telecom and food industries.

Source: The Guardian November 19, 2016 16:52 UTC