Are the two leaders cut from the same cloth? One made a fetish of Made in India and the other went straight for Make in America. Both have gone on record as wishing to clean the mess, wipe out the rot. Both want to make their countries great again but neither has told their people when exactly they stopped being great.
That chauvinism was further reflected in giving government back to the people. If you remember, Modi made much the same sort of promise which he then underscored with his demonetisation blitz to create the divisive ‘them’ and ‘us’ financial categories for the citizenry. Both blamed the rich and the privileged for the corruption of the national soul with an equally evangelical zeal.
Trump pandered to the segments who felt they had been left behind and Modi did much the same for India’s marginalized societies pointing a flinty finger at the enemies of the state…as he perceived them. In their self-deprecation is a touch of narcissism.
Modi said he is there to serve the people, they are the masters, we the servants of the people. Trump said the same thing, this is you, I am only the face.
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