[Trump Era] Trump era, 'our' era

By Oh Young-jin

Don't whine. Don't even think of suggesting a recount.

If one does either of the two, it could mean that he or she doesn't understand the dynamic underneath this expected but unexpected victory. Most media outlets took in their disdain and fear for the man who is "all too human," or in other words falls short of a decent man by normal standards. The result was their lopsided prediction for the victory of his opponent Hillary Clinton until they were pressed to the wire.

Those last-minute predictions proved true.

Incredible as it may sound, it's Donald Trump's victory, but at the same time it is not his.

Although his presidential privileges won't be diminished a bit, it is worth noting he has just acted as an avatar for the disenfranchised. There are many layers of irony. Trump is an aristocratic, mercantilist, male chauvinist, who happened to serve as a lightning rod for ordinary people. He has been in the position of saying, "You're fired," but has also ridden on the frustration of people on the receiving end of his firing squad.

This is not the first time. After the surprising June 23 British vote for an exit from the European Union, it is not the masses but their supercilious well-heeled, royal college-educated parliamentarians who have taken the job of executing their will. If it was meant to be a revolution, it was a half-successful one not because the process has been halted by a court but because a different cast from the same ruling class has been put in charge.

Therefore, the function of irony, the rhetorical application, has met the end of its day.

Whether he likes it or not, Trump is now saddled with their collective desire and there is no turning back for him. He is the icon of the people he is expected to be least capable of representing.

What made this mismatch possible?

From the viewpoint of U.S. domestic politics, Trump's rise has been overanalyzed ― a last-ditch attempt for the less-educated, left-behind class of white Americans to wrest back control of the nation before the demographics change and make it impossible, their wrath against the first black man's rule, their unwillingness to accept a woman as president and the shallowness of Americanism itself.

These white, male and American concerns have metastasized more concretely into enthusiasm for Trump's suggestions of building a wall to fend off Mexican rapists (more American was his suggestion of having Mexico pay for it), keeping Muslims out of America, getting even with the Chinese challenge for global hegemony and forcing its allies ― South Korea and Europe ― to stop being freeloaders and pay for their defense. It remains to be seen whether or more exactly how far Trump can go in implementing these.

Although the impact could be enormous in the U.S. and internationally, the business of the first order is to understand the depth of popular frustration that propelled Trump to the throne of American democracy. The reason for that is the likelihood that the Trump victory is one of the first harbingers of more to come. After Brexit, the world has still been in denial. It remains to be seen how it will react to the Trump victory. Then from Trump's point of view, a failure to irrigate the public antipathy that enabled him to win the presidency can also deprive him of much of his political capital, if not the mandate in its entirety.

The common currency that fueled Brexit and Trump's rise is the popular feeling of betrayal that democracy and capitalism as we know them are losing their relevance. Democracy is the rule of a majority but it has been distorted to serve a minority with capitalism being their friendly tool. The result is the rich getting richer, and the poor getting poorer. Now, those fat cats are bringing in the fourth industrial revolution ― automation for the maximization of profits at the expense of the majority.

The majority have sent their signals ― the Occupy Wall Street movement and similar movements that followed across the world. Most of them were the strong manifestation of the frustration of the masses that came close to civil disobedience. Then came Brexit. In Korea, we have seen many events similar in character and different in size to the Brits' momentous decision ― the 2002 presidential election of President Roh Moo-hyun, a man with humble beginnings who rose to power through young people's rejection of the status quo.

In Trump's victory, the majority has spoken again.

This warning can be ignored like before to give it a chance to morph into an even bigger Kraken that can sweep the world with a greater degree of ferocity. The chance is that even Trump doesn't know what he is getting into. But let's give him the benefit of the doubt for now. Let's summon up our sense of optimism and put on hold our fear of the rule of Donald the Vulgar. Let's concentrate on the benefits of his victory ― for one, the Shumpeterian possibility of destruction for constructive purposes. Let's remind ourselves that this election is not about one person but is a vehicle for taking power back. Naïve, maybe.

Oh Young-jin is The Korea Times' chief editorial writer. Contact foolsdie@ktimes.com and foolsdie@gmail.com.