Brexit and now Trump are clear signs of discontent with our political leadership, although I hesitate to call it a mandate when it's very much 50:50. But still, to overlook the clear and deep character flaws of Trump, Brexit leaders, and other populists/nationalists, because of disgust and distrust with the system is a clear call to political arms.
An article in the New Yorker on the Euro gave a great example of leadership failure from our established leaders. "As Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Union, has memorably said, “We all know what to do, but we don’t know how to get reëlected after we’ve done it.” That doesn’t sound like a prediction of radical reform. It’s a dangerous moment for Europe. Stiglitz observes that if the countries that committed to the single currency in 1992 had known what they know now, and if people had had the chance to vote on the proposal, “it is hard to see how they could have supported it.” That’s a hell of an indictment. The lack of pragmatism, the willingness to go on doing something that visibly doesn’t work, would have appalled that old fixer Jean Monnet." (The Failure of the Euro - The New Yorker)
As for Trump, Foreign Affairs had some great coverage on the rise of populism and his place in it.
"In 'Trump and American Populism: Old Whine, New Bottles' Michael Kazin argues that while Donald Trump is an unlikely populist, tapping into popular angst in not new. He has clearly "tapped into a deep vein of distress and resentment among millions of white working- and middle-class Americans." (Trump and American Populism | Foreign Affairs)
Now post election, let's assume we see a glass half full. Let Trump be the sort of shock to the system America has relied on before to get society back to owning their politicians rather than disowning them.
Perhaps a Trump Presidency could be a blessing in very deep disguise....just keep those nuclear codes away from him!
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