I had lunch with a Millennial the other day and we discussed American politics. Boy was it an eye-opener. The sole source of information for this millennial appeared to be Instagram and people she referred to as “Influencers.” These “influencers” were where she got all her political opinions from. If they said Trump was a horrible person then that was that.
I also got up close and personal with a taste of identity politics. “I don’t know how you as a woman could say that,” she said to me as if my gender determined my political opinions. I was informed that everybody hated Trump and that all women hated Trump and that all feminists hated (you guessed it) Trump. I mildly pointed out that I didn’t hate Trump and that I was also a woman and a feminist. This puzzled her exceedingly. I was told that only rednecks liked Trump. I pointed out quite reasonably that I was not a redneck. I was then told that any woman who liked Trump was not a respectable kind of woman. I then asked if she thought that I was not a respectable kind of a woman. This puzzled her exceedingly. She frowned.
I was then told that all businesswomen hated Trump. I gently pointed out that I run a business. She again stopped and frowned. Further conversation revealed that she didn’t know the difference between a Democrat or a Republican and was shocked when I stretched the truth a little and neatly summarised that the Democrats were like the Labour Party and the Republicans like the National Party (yes a bit of a whopper I know but as she was black and white in her statements I wanted to make it easier for her.)
I told her that the Democrats were the party of slavery and that it was the Republicans who ended it. She didn’t know that. She frowned. She told me that all the good states like California hated Trump. I asked her if she knew about all the homeless camped out in California pooping in the streets and how the state is almost bankrupt. She frowned, this was not the California of her Instagram, influencer world.
She admitted that her friends would not like it if she said anything good about Trump when I pointed out that unlike under Obama, Black employment under Trump is at record highs. She told me that nothing I could say (facts and examples) would change her mind about Trump because he is a bad person because he said something mean about women and his attitude towards women is terrible. Her view of her own sex was sad. Women apparently are all vulnerable and men like Trump take advantage of them.
I suggested that women are attracted to powerful men and that some in fact, far from being victims are very willing participants. I pointed out that her mother is a very strong woman and asked if she imagined that Trump could boss her mother around. She frowned. This thought puzzled her exceedingly.
The lunch ended before I had the chance to say one more thing. What I really wanted to say to her was to consider the fact that her friends would reject her for having the wrong opinions whereas I and other Trump supporters have no problem whatsoever with someone disagreeing with us or hating Trump. I wanted to ask her, “Why do you think that is?”