Many of the pundits have spent hours scratching their head at the popularity of Sanders and Trump. What positions do they hold? Why are their crowds so large?
Political culture is culture after all and here is a beautiful example of people (pundits) caught completely by surprise because they spend so much of their time talking to themselves in a bubble.
This is no different than the tone deaf CEO that pays no attention to the line workers. Who never spends a day in the field.
At its purest the Trump/Sanders phenomena is about the idea of “being left behind”. It is about groups of people who feel they have been denied a voice in a country that prides itself on “giving voice”.
Republicans will make fun of Sanders supporters, Democrats will make fun of Trump supporters and the pundits will make fun of both, but this will be simple minded and miss the larger point.
Right now in our political culture there are huge masses of people who feel they are not being heard by their party, by their country, by anybody. This will not be solved by more speeches (ever), this will only be solved by an improved system that listens a whole lot better than it does now.
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