Teachers in Canada's public schools see a true cross section of humanity in their work every day. They see the rich and the poor, the talented and the struggling, immigrants, refugees, longtime citizens, kids with disabilities, those with devoted parents and those with parents who are challenged to support their kids. Out of that whole mix of people, they create community.
One might think political leaders would understand their job is to build and support communities that serve all their constituents. Those born to intergenerational wealth and intergenerational poverty, as well as the nouveau riche and the recently impoverished. The successful and the struggling. "Old stock" citizens, refugees and recent immigrants. Those who share their ideology and those with whom they disagree.
Sadly, this is not the case. Politicians today thrive on creating a divisive attitude. They do not thrive on creating inclusivity. That means putting some people down and raising other people up, even if they are not deserving. It means mocking those who are different. It can mean saying those who disagree are "the enemy" or "the enemy within". It can mean making up "facts" to suit their purposes. If they benefit from having rich and powerful friends or nations, they are happy to kowtow to them.
No one exemplifies this more than Donald Trump.
Trump is everything we as teachers teach our kids not to be.
As teachers, we teach our kids not to make fun of others. It's not ok to mock their disabled classmates. It's not ok to call people names. We teach them to accept and learn from people who are different from ourselves- not to demean them for their race, gender, beliefs and ideas. We teach them not to be bullies and not to exert power over other peoples’ bodies. We teach them about consent. We teach them not to lie to get out of trouble. We teach them not to make things up to build themselves up. We teach them to share. We teach them to use reason in their arguments. We teach them to tell the difference between fact and fiction. We work to create a community where all voices are heard. At least, that is the hope. That is the dream.
Trump exemplifies everything we teach our kids not to be. He mocks people relentlessly, he calls people names, he instills fear of the "other", and he works to divide instead of unite. He makes up lies about his own intelligence, his income level, the size of his crowds, his medical knowledge, who he knows, what he can do, and his sexual prowess. He doesn't appear to distinguish fact from fiction. And he is proud of all those things. I wonder how he thinks he can serve others with that attitude and the answer is simple- he doesn't care about service.
I wonder how many of Trump’s followers got into trouble at school because they mocked a disabled kid or made a racist remark or bullied another kid? How many of them got a bad mark on an essay because they couldn’t back up an opinion with facts? And now along comes a man who is celebrated for all the things they got into trouble for. A man who is vindication for all the things they were told they shouldn’t be. No wonder some people love him. He criticizes the very foundation of a society that they believe has failed them.
Teachers know that a community is a tapestry composed of many threads that all need to support one another for the fabric to hold. Trump and his followers are working to destroy the fabric of American society- a fabric that was based on freedom, equality, and opportunity for all- on democracy and rule of law and the institutions designed to support a just society. All Trump's talk about “making America great again” is just code for giving some Americans more rights than others. He plays into the inequality experienced by Americans as a way to gain power. He knows it's easier to promote division and unrest than compromise and consensus. It's easier to break than to fix.
In a classroom, when teachers see this kind of behaviour, they have to try to see where it’s coming from in order to correct it. If we don't think about the conditions that have created people who think and behave in certain ways, we can't even start to move forward. There are issues confronting American society- in fact, confronting everyone on this planet. Population growth, climate change, economic inequality, poverty, homelessness, the rising cost of living, the inordinate power of the rich over the poor, changing demographics, changing values, the loss of power for young white men - all play into what is going on. Not simple problems, nor simple solutions. But if you don't see where it's coming from, how do you change it? Change is hard. Anger is easy.
Countless books and articles have tried to explain the rise of Trump. I've tried to understand it. I understand that people are angry with the status quo and Trump promised change. Now he is in charge of the most powerful nation in the world. How do we deal with that? I know a lot of people who are just burying their heads in the sand, turning off the news, and focussing on local issues. Lately that's become hard to do when the man wants to turn your nation into the 51st state.
