"Almost everyone is a little bit in love with the USA, declares Edward Stourton in his introduction to Made in America. And why not? It is the land of razzle-dazzle and high ideals, of jazz music, Bogart and Bacall, Harriet Tubman and Hamilton, a nation that was anti-colonialist and pro-liberty from its conception, whose Declaration of Independence states that all men are created equal."
"He looks at Trump and Trumpism through the run of history, arguing in a series of insightful essays that the 47th Potus is not an American aberration but a continuation, an echo of dark and often neglected aspects of the country's past. Trump, he concludes, is as American as apple pie. Stourton, who currently presents Radio 4's religious and current affairs programme Sunday, takes six key aspects of Trump and Trumpism and sieves the history of the republic, looking for precursors or parallels."
The United States pairs cultural brilliance and high ideals with recurring political clownery, racism, and imperial ambition. Trump and Trumpism function as continuations and echoes of darker, often neglected aspects of American history rather than anomalies. Six categories link past and present: religion, imperialism, immigration, tariffs, political persecution, and the exercise of presidential power. Christian nationalism occupies a significant place within contemporary MAGA support, revealing tensions between faith and political practice. Persistent imperial impulses and contempt for the international order reappear across eras. Historical continuities help explain the recurrence of populist leaders and systemic contradictions.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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