Since Election Night, when the impossible first started appearing possible, I've seen countless questions of “How did this happen” (often in all caps on social media). The answers given are more confused than the question. “Never underestimate people's stupidity.” “They're misogynists.” “They're racists.” “They were tricked by fake news on Facebook.”
Most voters had an unfavorable opinion of Donald Trump and were troubled by his comments. Many voted for him anyway. If you think the fact that he won makes even less sense, I'll explain here why the reason for his victory is clear. The reason it happened in my home state, West Virginia, is essentially the same as why I believe it happened everywhere else—and why it should matter to you, no matter where you live.
I'm typing through a lot of frustration as I see voters in places like West Virginia called everything except informed. Before you assume anything, this is not a defense of Donald Trump or an assault on Hillary Clinton. I'm a pragmatic guy, and I'm only telling you why Tuesday happened in places like where I live, which is to say most of America.
In the places with the most confusion, we've now seen riots. I know the reasons are sometimes complex. Some protesters are angry over social issues. What I'm writing about today revolves around people's financial wellbeing.
Many protesters keep reminding us how well the country is doing under President Obama's economic plan. That's likely only true where they live. Our current “recovery” has only taken place in large urban areas. Every other type of county in this country has lost jobs since 2008. That kind of thing has never happened before.
Now look at the county by county results on any election map or go for a more in-depth review here. Clinton dominated large urban areas. Trump won everywhere else, i.e. in most of America. What's happening right now in those large cities reminds me of Veruca Salt (from the movie, not the band) throwing a fit because it wasn't good enough that she had all the golden eggs, she wanted the whole goose.
Political scientists Jacob S. Hacker and Paul Pierson wrote a piece in the New York Times this summer that stuck with me as I tried to figure out this election. I kept remembering this simple sentence while Trump continued to defy the odds, “Economic performance is measured in the lives of individuals, not aggregates.” This is exactly why Trump won.
But Clinton offered to help small communities, you may say. It's true, she had a $30 billion, 10-year recovery plan for Appalachia. The problem is, $3 billion per year is not a lot of money for a region stretching from Georgia to New York. That's especially true when the value of one coal company alone was $20 billion just a few years ago. That company is now bankrupt.
On top of that her program involved job “retraining.” In other words, I'll give you some money to help you move someplace that actually has jobs. Kiss your parents and grandparents goodbye before you go. Let's hope your kids make fast friends at their new schools.
But the market caused your problems, not government, you may add. It's true that, in places like West Virginia, cheap natural gas and economic slowdowns in India and China are part of our problem. However, any honest observer also has to admit that our government manipulated the markets to make fossil fuels, coal in particular, less competitive.
Let me tell you a not-so-secret, secret: People in West Virginia would love to build solar panels for a living. This is especially true if it paid as much as mining jobs. Take a look at this BLS report on the wages of all coal mining related occupations. You see all the median wages towards the right? Those are pretty high numbers. What you'll also see is there are lots and lots of jobs associated with mining that don't involve being a coal miner.
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