I  was not paying a great deal of attention as President Donald J Trump went through the ceremony of his inauguration. Clearly, it was a great day for Trump’s admirers and the 1,500 felons he pardoned for their complicity in the January 6th insurrection. Naturally, for those on the left of the political spectrum it was a somewhat dispiriting spectacle to witness the triumphalist prodigality of the inauguration.  Suddenly, the very foundations of democracy seem  to be crumbling. The world looks on either in horror or bemused fascination. 

I noticed on Facebook some very forthright comment on the line up of tech billionaires present at the inauguration.  Key words in this angry litany were “nazis,” “fascists,” “scum” and “totalitarian.” Perhaps the moment has  come  to retire to some remote place and live out a quiet life?

And yet, for all its disquieting character, this was not the Nuremberg Rally, a vast and highly disciplined choreography of stentorian speeches, banners, swastikas and jackboots. By contrast, there was a sense of an uneasy set of alliances.  Trump, looking as though he’d just cheated his way to another win at golf; beside him, Melania who, by all accounts, would rather be home in Trump Tower. Adjacent in the front row, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, a bit bewildered in the snapshot I saw, next to  Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, a distinctly uneasy presence, and  Google’s Sundar Pichai, seemingly relaxed, but more interested in his phone than the proceedings. Inevitably, there too was Elon Musk engaging not with his tech peers but also, with his phone. Photographs appear to show him giving a Nazi salute at one point, but that certainly wasn’t part of any choreography, though we should perhaps be watching for further evidence of these Dr Strangelove tics.

The presence at the inauguration of these figures all linked with technologies that, not so long ago, were thought to be the key to a brighter and more democratic future, is disconcerting. Now it seems the tech behemoths are aligning themselves with the political leadership of a clown and stranger to the truth. It is not hard to see self interest in this positioning consistent with the notion that tech oligarchs believe themselves above regulation. They see in Trump a licence to do whatever they like so long as they play nice with Donald. 

It’s early days for that move to the country however, and the very tools created by those tech oligarchs may yet play out in ways that they do not anticipate. It’s true these tools are being abused and misused by some of the darker forces at loose in the  world. Yet of one thing we can be certain, those tech tools are here to stay and will remain a potential threat to those in power. Elon Musk posting to his followers on X does not spin out, week by week, like a latter-day Charles Dickens, a  tale full of complexity, intrigue  and richness of character. He is in fact a purveyor of half truths and innuendo which sooner or later will have to contend with the realities of Trump world as it unravels. His followers will lose faith in him and become bored.

 I don’t believe that the vast majority of people who support Donald Trump are anything other than decent. Their understanding of the Trump presidency will evolve as it proceeds. We are at the very zenith of the Trump phenomenon. Conversations will develop across myriad subnetworks and the apparent homogeneity of the Trump base will gradually be revealed as complicated and conflicted. In many cases they will quickly become tired of their favourite. People, in particular younger people, will start to shift politically and culturally. 

Such shifts take time to gestate. The evidence of change may not be visible at every turn but there will be a tipping point, perhaps triggered by events which dramatically undercut the faith of those who believe in Trump. It could be an economic crisis, or climate catastrophe, or the fallout from an untidy free market driven transition to an economy powered by AI. In four years time, Donald Trump’s presidency will be at an end and a great deal then will depend on the unpredictable “events” that have spun out in the interim. After all, his previous Presidency ran into the sand and there is no reason to suppose that some similar fate does not await him this time around. 

My judgements on matters of cultural shifts may have been skewed by the story of former Texas Governor, George Wallace. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Wallace was a staunch opponent of racial desegregation, a leading figure in resisting change to the Jim Crow laws. In 1972 an attempt was made on his life and he was shot four times. As a consequence he was confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. However he was later to recant his opposition to desegregation.

I first really paid attention to Wallace’s story when I listened to an edition of Alistair Cooke’s weekly BBC Radio broadcast, Letter from America.  In this broadcast Cooke recalled an interview with Wallace in which he was invited to reflect on his change of heart.  In a gentle imitation of Wallace’s southern drawl Cooke intoned the response: “Times change. People move on. I was wrong.”  I did not write it down but, over the intervening years, this resonant declaration has repeatedly surfaced in my consciousness and perhaps this is one reason why, like Sam Cooke, I say: “A Change is Gonna Come.”

You don’t have to believe in my theory of a gestating counter-revolution within the very demographic that brought Trump to  power but I suspect that believing in the essential decency of that demographic will make that transformation just a little more likely.  

Endnotes

Sam Cook  A Change Is Gonna Come

George Wallace – I have been unable to find a source for Wallace’s words exactly as I render them, but Wikipedia does record hims as saying “I was wrong. Those days are over, and they ought to be over.” My own version maybe a Chinese whisper, but it is what I remember.