Hurt by his policies

Our president is pursuing a doctrine of cruelty, fearmongering, and divisiveness that is tearing the country and our society apart. By itself this would be not a good thing, but to make it even worse, a significant part of the electorate thinks this is something to be celebrated. They seem to feel that only by destroying the current system can progress be made toward an equitable solution to their problems. And they do have real problems.

In my opinion, the current income gap between rich and poor is at the root of the current troubles. From Wikipedia: From 1950 to 1980 the top 1 percent of households received approximately 10 percent of this country’s pre-tax income and by 2013 this had increased to 20 percent. The president has tapped into a feeling of being left out of the economic “good times” felt by some and used it as food to feed his need for ego-enhancing adulation. His hard-core supporters cheer when he denigrates the free press, the judiciary, and the “elite” because they feel the current system is not working for them.

I guess the sad part of all this is that the system really is not working for them. And the irony of their support is that the policies of the Trump administration have made their income inequality even worse. A tax cut that significantly helps the wealthy, in addition to conservative federal judges that favor business interests over low-income assistance (welfare), will inevitably make it even worse in the future.

President Trump has managed to get the very people who are most negatively affected by his policies to be the core of his most adamant and vocal support. At the same time those most helped by his policies quietly watch and take it to the bank. Who could have guessed?

RICHARD PICARD Little Rock