Recent Article for Understanding Trump Supporters Marx already envisaged such a post-labour environment, in which meaningful work ceases to be a burden and becomes a need. I'm inclined to read the communist maxim he popularized "From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs." as rooted in the Aristotelian tradition of the polis as the place in which truly human life emerges as opposed to one particular political project (communism). Neo-liberalism can be broadly characterized by the maxim "To each according to his abilities.". Broadly speaking what is described in America today as the left is concerned with fostering those abilities, while the right is concerned with maximizing what the individual can take (and keep) through the exercise of those abilities. This is the contradictory American dream. Obviously the expansion of government required to foster abilities is here pitted against the individual's "right" to take and keep as much as possible. The right's disillusion with the Republican establishment has much to do with their apparent inability or unwillingness to shrink government.
The typical Trump supporter finds himself with a marginalized life, and what scraps of meaning his life retains is threatened by change, especially globalization and immigration (at least in his mind). I think Obama is largely right here in that the ultimate cause of these disruptions is technology, although I don't think his singling out of automation is warranted. Regardless, these people - especially the middle-aged whites - are not thriving, and in many cases really need help: just not the kind that Trump can deliver. Trump's promise to hit the reset button - "Make America great again." - is of course an empty promise. Given their often dysfunctional lives and lack of critical thinking skills I find it hard to muster any democratic respect for their leaning.