I do think a sort of “white” tribalization has something to do with it,

though it isn’t all tribalization; class appeals are part of it as

well. I can remember the first time I was spat on in an activist

meeting, sometime after Occupy. I hadn’t said much of anything, but I have always been an independent thinker and follow my own analysis, something of an idiosyncratic Marxism typically, and it was just for being white and male and not agreeing with whatever the speaker had said. I was “privileged.”

I didn’t make too much of it at the time, as there are always some unpleasant people you end up dealing with while doing activism, but I started noticing more and more of this over the next few years. I was not the only one. Most of my old circle of activist contacts dropped out one by one. Then I dropped out, quit Facebook and social media. It felt like such a relief; things had become so toxic.

Since then, I have been extensively re-evaluating my politics, and I

know there are many others doing the same thing. A left which is

focused on issues of identity and excludes issues of class (it was class issues which drew me to the left years ago) is no friend of mine, and it is no friend of the working class. And if it is all going to be tribal politics, then well, I guess you have to go with your own tribe—if not for your sake, then for the sake of your kids.

Trump as a person seems despicable. But he also seems strong. And he

listens to the popular will. He is against many things that I, as a

leftist, have protested over the years, such as NATO, international

trade agreements, and foreign wars. I feel like the corporate

globalization of the 25+ years has just ripped a hole through this

country, especially in the Midwest where I am from. Clinton will just

continue this and Trump seems like someone who wants it to stop.

Just driving through so much of the Midwest now makes me so incredibly angry and depressed. It’s my home and they’ve wrecked it.

Immigration is part of it as well. I don’t expect that my job is going

to be stable long term. I spend half of my time managing people

overseas. If management thought they could get away with out-sourcing all of it, I have no doubt they would. Most of the people we hire domestically are immigrants on various work visas. They’re nice people, but it doesn’t feel like there is any long-term future in tech in this country for people like me.

And not really in anything else either. My brother is a top research scientist at a government agency and he tells me they have projected that in the next few decades 40 percent of all jobs will be automated. That is going to be social suicide. And immigration makes that way worse. Looking at Europe over this past year has made people wake up to that somewhat. It is hard not to get a tribal feeling in your bones when reading some of those stories.