TRUMP AND THE UNEDUCATED

          I don’t think that the tape by Donald Trump in which he made vulgar statements about women, or the fact that a number of women came forward with accusations of Trump groping them, or his many outrageous statements had much of an impact on his campaign for the presidency. Sure this information offended many women, especially women who were already planning to vote for Hillary Clinton, but for the most of his supporters they had no adverse effect.

 They say that most of the people who supported Trump are uneducated. I’m sure that many of the people who voted for Trump do not think of themselves as low class or uneducated. Nevertheless, by the mere fact of supporting and voting for Trump they have defined themselves as low-class.

 Mel Robbins is a CNN commentator, legal analyst, best-selling author, and keynote speaker. She wrote that neither Trump’s statement that he wanted to grab women’s “pussies,” nor his other outrageous acts and statements, made any difference to his supporters. She said: “This election isn’t about greatness, the future, or even Donald Trump. It’s about defiance. To his supporters, a vote for Trump is a way to flip the middle finger to the system, the media, the elite, the liberals, the know-it-alls, and the people who pretend they’re better than “us.”’

 For many of Trump’s supporters his lies, verbal abuse, insults, and foul language were not to be held against him, but rather, were reasons to admire him. They felt that he was sticking his thumb in the eyes of the hated upper-class who graduated from colleges, read books, enjoyed the arts, had some sophistication, and basically ran this country.

 While we may not have an institutionalized class system in America, most people understand that they are either upper-class, upper middle-class, lower middle-class, or low-class. I have known people who have both money and college degrees, but who act like they are lower class and even look at themselves as lower class. Their speech is rough like that of the working class. They have no books or tasteful works of art around the house. They do not go to art museums, or sit for classical music concerts, or travel abroad. These people probably voted for Donald Trump.

 I think that today, social class is not so much a matter of money as it is a matter of education and sophistication. Better educated people may not be wealthy in the classic sense. They may be writers, musicians, artists, college professors, social workers, or teachers. They may also be highly sophisticated and well educated. Despite lack of great wealth they are often looked upon as high-class in modern society. Some very educated people are not wealthy, and may not have even been able to afford college. Instead, they may be self-educated. Autodidactic people are often readers of books, periodicals, newspapers. They may visit museums, Broadway-shows, classical music recitals, and other art forms. People who know them count them as educated people.

 Because the well-educated people are big readers they are usually very well-informed. They are not influenced by the idiotic conspiracy theories that sway the less educated. They realize that there really is a global warming and that it is caused by human actions. They look with horror at the wild statements of Donald Trump. Their politics are usually liberal. Likewise, because the less educated people do not read, they are easy prey for purveyors of odd conspiracy theories and phony stories about politics.

The uneducated people of America resent the government and the leaders of the media, arts, universities, women’s groups, and others because they feel that those people look down their noses at them. Maybe they do. Trump, who has been very wealthy and has attended college, gives evidence of being one of the uneducated. That makes him low-class. He appealed to the low-class people of America, many of whom are not poor but who are uneducated.

I think that we may be in the first stages of a class war in America. It is not a war between the rich and the poor, but rather, a war between the educated and the uneducated. This may be the beginning of a long dark period in American history.