Given the choice between victim and loser, the citizen steeped in the competitive values of the marketplace will always prefer the former. Trump is “a winner,” for sure, but he has not “won out” against me; he has merely prevailed more often than I have against a regulatory government that tries to keep both of us down. Essentially, we’re on the same side.

This bogus solidarity comes with tempting psychic consolations. It also comes with implicit corroborating testimony from those on the left too timid to identify the evils of the present plutocracy and the radical steps needed to destroy it. If progressives continue to insist that a bit of legislative tweaking is all that’s required to cure the body politic, are people unjustified in blaming “government” when they find themselves choking to death?

The very terms of our questions betray the inadequacy of our answers. Instead of asking how come a billionaire like Trump can be running successfully for the highest office in the land, why aren’t progressives asking how come there is such a thing as a billionaire? Calling Trump a Neanderthal is how cowards avoid asking why his species is not extinct.