Pandering to the public’s baser instincts as a tool of statecraft has been a mainstay of the political landscape since the dawn of agricultural civilization. Given the fact that our Western practice of liberal democracy has advanced quite far, however, one might be inclined to see the likes of Donald Trump as exemplifying all that is most foul within the underbelly of American society. Yet what truly merits examination is not the man himself. It is not those who utilize demagogic tools who are of interest here, but rather the reasons behind the effectiveness and appeal of the recent resurgence of populist rhetoric in the United States. And such reasons are sadly abundant.

Firstly, costs of living in the United States are rising rapidly and for the first time in recent American history, wages are not keeping up. Real wages have been stagnating for years while costs of everything from healthcare to food have been steadily creeping up. Many, including academics, policymakers, and the average American people themselves, are hard pressed to understand why exactly this is so. Despite the seemingly steady recovery after the financial crisis of 2008, few are feeling the positive effects. Furthermore, the recent trend toward greater inequality is becoming more and more visible while leaving a bitter taste in the mouths of millions of working men and women.

Secondly, we are now living well within the so-called Age of Globalization. Cheaper labor elsewhere in the world, as well as illegal labor in the U.S., will always win out over American labor by virtue of our global free market system. Outsourcing American manufacturing to China alone has cost at least 3.2 million jobs since 2001. Some might hope that as Chinese labor costs grow, American manufacturing jobs will come back; yet as long as there are places with lower labor costs than the U.S. and a relatively stable security environment, such a comeback is unlikely. This suggests that U.S. labor costs must be kept low enough to compete within the global economy, yet the aforementioned rise in living costs is creating a clear dilemma here.

Perhaps more worryingly, advancing technology, while a boon for productivity and efficiency, is set to replace up to a third of the American, and other advanced economies’, labor force by the mid-to-late 2020s. Such a radical shift is terrifying to say the least. It is no wonder that American people dependent in the earlier days on low-skilled manufacturing and service sector jobs are increasingly anxious about their ability to provide for their families. Compounded by rising costs of, and decreasing investment in, American education intended to connect people with the skills necessary to compete in the global economy of the near future, the picture is beginning to look all the more grim.

Lastly, America is living in fear. To the average American the world is seemingly crumbling as we sit and watch, unable and unwilling to piece it together. Threats of terrorism, a rising China, a resurgent Russia, European discord, and mass migration all loom large over the American mind. And American foreign policy, lacking in strategy, is not one to assuage fears of this global collapse. To make matters worse, our domestic situation is no better than the frightening world at large. Mass shootings, heroin addiction, and police brutality are merely facts of life to name but a few. Is it any wonder then that the number of those who report feeling happy has steadily decreased since 2001 while the use of antidepressants has skyrocketed by 400%?

In such vexatious times one wouldn’t be surprised to see instinctive and reactionary response wrest the reins from reason and informed decision-making. Compounded by rapidly changing demographics, America’s questioning of its very identity is causing the basic human tendency to divide into ingroup and outgroup to stir and demand attention. One does not know who he or she is without knowing who he or she is not. This in turn is changing America into a factory of xenophobia, distrust, racism, and fear while figures like Trump emerge simply to fill the power vacuum left behind by feckless policy and a loss of American identity, power, and means of sustenance. Bernie Sanders’s ideas of social inclusion and public spending, while morally somewhat more palatable, nonetheless, in their anti-establishment sentiment, stem from the same place. Thus, we should not be blaming Trump or praising Sanders for merely attempting to take advantage of our growing problems; rather, America would fare well to take a long, hard look at how it has failed its people, from the homeless and mentally ill to people of color and economically disadvantaged, poorly educated masses being steadily left behind. America is waking up from its dream and stepping straight into a deep puddle of uncertainty and disillusionment.