The Friday after the election, I spoke on the phone with a friend from Europe while wandering around the riverfront park near the n+1 office. My friend informed me that he would soon be sending me an election rant. Within minutes the email appeared, subject line “rant.” “How come you didn’t see what was so obvious?” he wrote. The transactional nature of Trump’s appeal shouldn’t have been surprising. Especially not in a society where everything from your daughter’s education to your health care is commodified: is it a wonder that people vote for the candidate who promises the best “deal”? Someone just offered a more promising deal, while the Democrats offered the moral high ground IN A COUNTRY WHERE THE GROUND ITSELF IS UP FOR SALE . This was a helpful email, a bracing check on provincial self-soothing. But was it true? Had we so missed the obvious?…