It's not an open question at all.  The ideological fanaticism surrounding the Republican Party has been growing for decades. In an era when automation is responsible for eight times as much job loss as free trade and education is becoming less and less affordable, what the US needs - indeed, what the whole world economy needs - is more government intervention, better redistribution of wealth, and a much better social welfare safety net. What the US is getting is the shredding of the social safety net. A curious aspect of this article is that Ibbitson focuses his comments almost entirely on African Americans. But the people who will be hurt most by Trump's changes, at least in terms of numbers, are the white working class. At the end of the day, Trump is going in exactly the opposite direction of what the US needs, which is going to result in ever more disparity, income inequality and continuing and growing social unrest.