Firstly let me introduce myself, by Orient I mean India, some say the most populous democracy out there.

Then let me explain the title, no need to get defensive as it is a critique and not criticism or attack.

I (or rather we) have been observing the Trump years closely, those who are patriotic about our own nation of India at least, and we had a reason: China. At least that's what we tell others, but there is another more subtle reason, that is, believe it or not we have many parallels in terms of social dynamics, in fact America is today what India would become in the future if we don't influence the course. Do not mind but in a way, you are our test subject, a pretty good one.

It was deeply sad to learn that Trump did not get re-elected even though most metrics and the vibe certainly pointed to that direction. But everyone is talking about the election or fraud. But let's talk about what actually is shifting, that is the culture. An election is a by-product of culture in many ways rather than the other way around.

There is a strong sense of anti-majoritarianism, and the culture that is associated with it, which have been prevalent since 2010s (at least that’s as early as I have been exposed to American content), but not to say the precious minorities do not add to the table, but it is a universal fact that the majority culture/ethnicity/race etc. definite a nation. For America, it has been white/Christian/American culture to us far off objective observers.

It seemed odd to me when I was young but could perceive the subtle critique of the very nature of these defining features of America, but then I realised they were criticisms too, and now I am well aware of the pushback; it was odd because I didn’t understand why not they are just criticising particular phenomena but the very abstract immutable characteristics of these groups. I didn’t get it and moved on.

Then in 2014 (2 years before the MAGA) we elected our first (at least in my lifetime) patriotic, capitalistic, and conservative Modi government, and we saw the sleeping beasts rise. Since day one, there was a sudden barrage of brutal attacks to our foundations such as culture, ethnicity, traditions and values; the Marxist gangs across India in their most verbose ways started dissecting and shredding everything we hold dear, particularly our religio-cultural heritage. Then MAGA happened.

All these big-name media giants such as NYT, WaPo, HuffPo, Time etc. which we used to follow all as suddenly joined the crusade as the sleeping monsters raised their heads over there too, their narratives were already familiar to me to some extent as for the past two years I have been hearing similar discourses, but this time the American context rang a loud bell… the subtle innuendos that sneered at what I knew to be America then, were all out and loud, blatant and conspicuous now. I could recognise who were the authors of these omens.

Since then, Trump came and reigned, our Modi has been reigning for the last six years. The good thing I saw is the rise of a great ripple of culture-awareness, pride in our foundations, turning towards our scriptures and literature, the willingness to learn again. No longer it was regressive to be proud of our roots. This too could be paralleled with what I saw in Trump’s America; as the opposition was more shrill than ever, so it is in India.

Before this turns into a TL;DR hazard, let me just conclude that we are still surviving, in fact thriving because we are resisting and even marching forth in the Culture War, while you certainly had a major setback this time once again. Because it is not just the elections, it is the elector, the sentiments behind him, the culture and beliefs that hold sway over his decisions, it’s the media, the university lectures, the papers, the seminars, the adverts, the forums online, the tweets, the speeches at social functions, the discussions over tea or coffee, the NGOS and thinktanks, the gossip at workplace, the trends that are in, the views that make you cool, it’s all of that. This is culture. We must work on that, elections will be own I believe when the culture is on your side. Currently, the leftist venoms are corroding all of them with significant fervour. The detoxification must begin now, and it is not simply voting for your favourite candidate in coming elections, but you yourself are a candidate, your every action influences the culture around you, you sway opinions and sentiments, you influence what another person thinks and that culminates into endorsement. We are doing that; it seems to be working. I hope you are aware of this too.

Thank you.

Needless to say, English is not my first language, apologises for any possible confusions.

Peace out.