I grew up in El Paso. The mayor was right when he said “This person did not come from El Paso. It is not what we are about. We are a special community, and this would not have happened from an El Pasoan, I assure you.” El Paso is not a perfect place, but it is one of the safest cities in the United States, and is home to some of the warmest people. I’ve long thought that if the folks in the Midwest or South who have little experience with immigrants or hispanic Americans could visit El Paso for just a few days, they would quickly come to realize that the racist blather they see on Fox News — and hear from the president — is just that: the sputterings of a delusional ideology of hate and resentment, meant to tear the country apart. Of course, that’s just the ideology imbibed by the shooter who killed 20 innocent people in El Paso yesterday. This was a terrorist attack on a peaceful community, and the terrorist was driven by the same force that is trying to tear this country apart.
The president stokes these fears, of course. But the Republican party allows him to do it. Republicans in Congress are happy to oppose the president when they really disagree with him, on Fed appointments, trade, and the like. As for his racism, you can press a few squirming mutters of concern out of some of them from time to time. But mostly they are willing to go along with it, and often enthusiastically. Why?
Because they find it an acceptable price to pay for plutocratic control of American society. If these sorts of acts of violence and the shredding of a harmonious society are the price to pay for corporate deregulation and tax cuts for the rich — the cornerstones of the Trump agenda — then it is a price they are more than willing to pay.
So, yes, Trump is to blame. Republicans in Congress are to blame. Fox News’ megaphoning of “Great Replacement” racist ideology is to blame. But all these are secondary figures. Who is driving this? Who really benefits from this evil that would tear this country apart? Who is willing to see horror visited upon the American people so long as they can make a few bucks out of the deal?
Let’s name them.
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Marlene Ricketts. Ricketts helped bankroll the effort to stop Trump from winning the 2016, but she has apparently had a change of heart. The Ricketts are now supporters of the president; her son Todd is serving as RNC finance chairman. The Ricketts made their fortune through Joe Ricketts’ building of TD Ameritrade. Perhaps Marlene, Todd, and the rest of them felt sad to hear about the carnage in El Paso. But they do not actually care. They know the president has built his base of political support by stoking racist resentment of hispanics and others. For them it is an acceptable price to pay so that they can add to their billions.
Bernie Marcus. The Home Depot CEO gave $7 million to Trump’s first presidential campaign. A 25-year-old mother died shielding her baby from the gunman. I’m sure Marcus would be upset to know that — but not so upset that he wants to make it less likely to happen. If Trump’s racist rhetoric leads to an increase in the likelihood that a young mother could die saving her child from a terrorist, that is acceptable to Marcus. After all, it got him millions of dollars in tax cuts.
Robert Murray. The coal baron gave $300,000 to the Trump inauguration committee. As a special perk, he got to help write the environmental rollbacks that have been one of the main planks of Trump’s agenda. Murray obviously doesn’t care about the millions of lives that are already starting to be lost due to climate change. But he also is willing to shred the social fabric of this country in order to marginally increase the profits of his corporation.
Robert and Diana Mercer. The Mercers are some of the most high-profile contributors to Trump. They are enthusiastic supporters of the man who came to political prominence by challenging the citizenship of the nation’s first black president, and who has not changed since then. They support the man who launched his presidential campaign by characterizing Mexican immigrants as murderers and rapists. I am certain the Mercers are appalled at the terrorist violence that was unleashed against my hometown. I am also certain that if the racist ideology that led to it helps billionaires like them to stay in a dominant position in American society, they consider that acceptable. They might disagree with that characterization, but their actions make clear what their priorities are.
Stephen Feinberg. Stephen made his fortune as the CEO of Cerberus Capital Management. He served as an economic adviser to the Trump campaign, and is also a member of The Business Council in Washington, DC, “an association of chief executive officers from a broad range of companies who meet several times a year for high-level policy discussions.” Perhaps he is a sincere devotee of free market ideology. Perhaps he disavows racism at a personal level. All we know is that he is willing to tolerate the fomenting of racist hatred if it helps to advance a political agenda that keeps billionaires like himself in power.
This list could go on and on, of course. You can find more of Trump’s wealthiest donors here and here and many other places. I don’t know anything about these people’s personal views on race and racism. Nor do I care about those views at all. What I know is that the wealthiest supporters of Trump are at the very least willing to tolerate Trump’s stoking of racial resentment in order to pass a political agenda that allows them to add to their already outlandish wealth.
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Imagine being a billionaire in 21st-century America. You belong to the most fortunate class of people in the history of the world, with immense power to shape society according to any vision you please. What would you make of your life? You could try to build a more harmonious national community. You, personally, could make a significant dent in addressing any of a number of social ills. You could take it as your calling to build a healthier, more flourishing society.
Or you could take this wondrous inheritance of a free and wealthy nation, and you could seek to deform this society in order to benefit yourself. You could support a political figure who is openly seeking to divide Americans as an explicit re-election strategy, because pitting Americans against each other, even if it leads to violence, even if it tears the country apart, is a way to add to your already inconceivable wealth. You could tolerate the surge in white nationalism, the violent targeting of minorities, the trauma of children so targeted, the active cruelty of detention centers for asylum seekers, and the pain of social divisions that will be carried forward for generations, because you can never have a yacht that’s too fancy.
You could choose to do good. You could choose to build a stronger, healthier society. You could be remembered for decades or centuries to come as someone who made America great. Hell, you could even support conservative economics, libertarian ideology, and all the rest of it, but simply draw a line at supporting racist demagoguery in the service of that goal.
Instead, you choose…
horror.
