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by Gabriel Andrade

2016 was the year of “Make America Great Again.” 2024 will be the year of “I’m Voting for The Convicted Felon.” In a nation of catchy slogans, this one seems to strike a chord. Donald Trump has been indicted on multiple counts and he is a convicted felon. Yet he has been elected as the 47th President of the United States.

How can one explain this? Perhaps the insights of a renowned Marxist historian can be of help. In 1969, Eric Hobsbawm published his seminal book Bandits. Its main thesis is that bandits are not merely outlaws, but often emerge as figures of resistance. Hobsbawm presents banditry as a form of social protest, reflecting the struggles of marginalised groups in society.

The book also positions bandits within a broader historical narrative, suggesting that their actions can be viewed as symptomatic of the larger socio-political changes occurring in their respective societies. Hobsbawm emphasises that bandits are “some kinds of robbers, namely those that are not regarded as simple criminals by public opinion… [they] are considered by their people as heroes, as champions, avengers, fighters for justice, perhaps even leaders of liberation, and in any case as men to be admired, helped and supported.”

For many decades, the Left has embraced the sympathy for bandits. In the perennial struggle between the haves and the have-nots, the Left has frequently seen banditry as a romanticised struggle for social justice and wealth redistribution, and it is for that very reason that college freshmen still sport T-shirts with images of Che Guevara or get “Thug Life” tattoos as Tupac Shakur proudly displayed them.

But the times, they are a-changing. In the United States, the Left is no longer upholding the cause of the disenfranchised. The Left is now dominated by wealthy elites who uphold seemingly progressive values but actually demean everyone else. The Left is not particularly concerned about the top 1 percent preserving massive wealth, provided that this 1 percent has plenty of people of colour and enough rainbow flags are waved on Pride Day.

Exposing Hypocrisy

Yet, the disillusionment with the Left is not merely about the economy; it is much more about the culture. In a system where you can be accused of being racist, homophobe or misogynist on the grounds of minute — and sometimes even non-existent — gestures, Americans are fed up. They are mad as hell, and they are not taking it anymore. But instead of announcing that they will kill themselves — as in Network, the film that popularised the mad-as-hell rant— Americans have rallied behind a felon to push back against that morally corrupt system.

Most Americans are not deceiving themselves; they recognise that Trump has engaged in actions that are deeply immoral — and potentially illegal. The 47th President is a convicted felon, but not of the Gandhi or Martin Luther King Jr type. Most Americans are fully aware that in his felon condition, Trump resembles more mafiosi such as Pablo Escobar or El Chapo.

But in Latin American countries, at some point those bandits had popular appeal, largely because they managed to expose the hypocrisy of the systems they opposed. In an American context, one of the remarkable cinematic qualities of The Godfather saga is its portrayal of Vito and Michael Corleone as possessing a higher moral ground when contrasted with the corrupt police officers and senators they encounter.

Trump is a deeply flawed man, but he has managed to preserve an air of authenticity in a system that is increasingly rotten by its cult of fakeness, not least in Kamala Harris’ constant change of accent in a desperate attempt to pander to ethnic minorities. Much like the Corleones, Trump may not embody the highest moral virtues, but he has succeeded in revealing the hypocrisy of the elites.

Resisting the Establishment

For many years, the American Left claimed to be rebels against the system. With time, they actually became sellouts. Joseph Heath and Andrew Potter famously explained this transformation in their book The Rebel Sell: “the overwhelming majority of what gets called radical, revolutionary, subversive or transgressive is nothing of the sort … This is the rebel sell. It’s a sell that has been used not only to sell ordinary commercial goods, but also to sell a myth about the way that our culture works.”

The Left ceased to be the bandits; they have become the establishment. They have seized control of universities, the media, Hollywood and corporations. They still want to portray themselves as transgressive, but few Americans are buying their narrative.

Quite the opposite, Americans have rallied behind a demagogue who for his own narcissistic motives, has become the new bandit. They know he has broken some laws, but they become very upset when they learn that Trump’s adversaries are not indicted when they break those very same laws. This felon vows to protect those who are constantly harassed by the hypocritical representatives of the establishment. Inevitably, a large number of people are thrilled by this prospect.

The overwhelming majority of bandits meet a tragic end, and over time, their romantic allure fades. People ultimately recognise that being perpetually opposed to the system is unsustainable and that banditry is, at its core, a destructive phenomenon. As Trump begins his second term in office, it is essential for him to grasp this reality. His banditry has propelled him back to the Oval Office, yet he must confront the truth that to leave a lasting positive legacy in history, he must transcend his outlaw persona.

He has the opportunity to fulfil the promise of exposing the system’s corruption and hypocrisy, but he must also commit to his institutional responsibilities. Only time will reveal whether he can rise to meet that standard.

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Gabriel Andrade is a university professor originally from Venezuela. He writes about politics, philosophy, history, religion, and psychology.

Republished with thanks to Mercator.