By Alyssa Oravec (JD ’18)
On February 22nd, the Harvard Law School Forum Hosted Michael Sandel for a lunch talk, where he discussed his views on the most recent election and next steps for the democratic party to take following the rise of Donald Trump. Michael Sandel teaches political philosophy at Harvard, and has written several books on the topic including Democracy’s Discontent and Public Philosophy.
Mr. Sandel began by acknowledging the anxieties many have faced following the first month of Donald Trump’s presidency. He highlighted the autocratic tendencies of Mr. Trump, including his encouragement of violence amongst supporters, threats to jail opponents, threats of mass deportation, and his refusal to say he would accept the legitimacy of the election if he had won. He went on to argue that the election of Donald Trump was an, “angry verdict on global inequality that leaves ordinary people disempowered.”
Mr. Sandel believes that the election results were not based purely on economics, racism, or xenophobia, but instead on the fact that the Democratic Party has shifted its focus away from the concerns of the blue collar and middle class voters. He claims that this shift occurred in the 1990’s, during the Clinton administration, when Bill Clinton joined with Republicans to promote globalism at the expense of protecting the concerns of the middle class. He also claims that Barack Obama further alienated the middle class that by bailing out the banks during the housing crisis instead of providing aid to those citizens who lost their homes. These policies led to the rise of populist movements as a backlash against the elite, including the Occupy Movement and the Tea Party.
To win back the support of the electorate, Mr. Sandel believes that Democrats should learn from these populist movements and take seriously the grievances of the blue collar and middle classes. He claims these grievances can be separated into four categories: Income Inequalilty, Meritocratic Hubris, the Dignity of Work, and Patriotism and Developing a Sense of National Community.
Income Inequality: Mr. Sandel believes that Democrats need to focus on developing greater degrees of equality in the opportunities for US citizens. America is built on the idea of the “rags-to-riches” story, but in today’s economy it is a difficult, if not impossible, undertaking for those born below the poverty line to rise to prosperity.
Meritocratic Hubris: Meritocratic Hubris is the idea that those who experience economic success have earned said success. This causes them to look down on those less fortunate than themselves and to decide that they deserve to be in their financial position. In turn, those who are poor tend to believe that their failure to achieve financial success is their own doing or that those who did succeed cheated their way to the top. He claims that Donald Trump understands and exploited this sentiment during his campaign, and that democrats must alter their attitudes towards the middle and lower classes if they are to succeed next election.
The Dignity of Work: Mr. Sandel next highlighted the fact that traditional (manufacturing) jobs have been lost to both technological innovations and to outsourcing. He claims that this gives workers the sense that society affords less respect to the kind of work that the middle class does, which fosters resentment.
Patriotism and Fostering a Sense of National Community: Mr. Sandel believes that middle class workers who have traditional jobs feel betrayed by their government, and feel that the country as a whole cares more about finding cheap manufacturing and labor than about its citizens. This leads to citizens lashing out with racist and xenophobic attacks. Mr. Sandel believes that to address this issue, liberals must stop focusing on the rhetoric employed and instead seek to address the underlying questions posed by the populist complaints. These issues include discussions on the moral significance of national borders; if we owe more to our fellow citizens than to citizens of other countries; and the question of whether patriotism is a virtue in the modern world, or if we should focus on developing our global identity.
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