The life expectancy of Russian men nosedived in the 1990s after the fall of the Soviet Union. Society blamed it on the rise in vodka consumption. Mortality rates for America’s blue-collar whites have also been soaring. Many pin it on the opioid epidemic. Both mistake symptoms for cause. What Donald Trump’s electoral base shares with post-Soviet males is cratering morale. Their world is vanishing. Short of inventing a time machine, there is nothing anyone can do to bring it back.
上世纪90年代,在前苏联解体后,俄罗斯男性的预期寿命大幅下滑。社会将其归咎于伏特加消费量增加。美国蓝领白人的死亡率也一直在飙升。很多人将其归因于阿片类药物的泛滥。这两个例子都混淆了因果。唐纳德•特朗普(Donald Trump)的选民基础与前苏联解体后的男性的共同点在于士气低落。他们的世界在消亡。除非发明时间机器,否则谁都无法让他们的世界复原。