I unashamedly quote this paragraph from Martin Wolf's article on Donald Trump in the FT this morning:
The fact that Mr Trump can be a credible contender for the presidency is astounding. In business, he is a serial defaulter and litigator turned reality TV star. He is a peddler of falsehoods and conspiracy theories. He utters racist calumnies. He attacks theindependence of the judiciary. He refuses to reveal his taxes. He has no experience of political office, and incoherent policies. He glories in ignorance. He even hints at a federal default. He undermines confidence in the US-created trade order, by threatening to tear up past agreements. He undermines confidence in US democracy by claiming the election will be rigged. He supports torture and the deliberate killingof the families of alleged terrorists. He admires the former KGB agent who runs Russia.
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#TrumpWon was retweeted about 300000 times after the debate. The result of the election appears to be based on people’s ability to self-delude
But other than that…..
Well…similar to here, the American people face another lesser of two evils negativity exgtravaganza choice.
trump has been playing to every court:
1) Evangelical Christians (despite a history that is quite contrary to that, to say the least)
2) The anti NATO faction which includes the left
3) The anti-corporatist faction which includes the left and the Libertarians.
4) The anti Cold War faction that includes the left and the likes of Ron Paul (Libertarian)
5) The racist faction that thinks immigrants take the jobs.
6) he’s honest about national debt (the country can’t default as it issues the dollar) but doesn’t draw the real conclusions from that fact (Greenspan said the same some years ago).
In a way he is a representative of the political cognitive dissonance that is raging out
there-to that extent he is a more genuine barometer than the ghastly ‘We came we saw he died’ Clinton.
I don’t envy American voters. I would probably abstain and continue campaigning for a ‘dirty corporate money’ free election where other parties are more strongly represented. America NEEDS change. Clinton will perpetuate NATO aggression and Cold War 2 rhetoric while see-sawing on TTIP.
Clinton is slightly safer in that we know what we are getting (corporate friendly imperialism and war mongering tinged with faux progressive sounding neo-liberalism).
Some of those FT allegations are a bit dodgy Richard, especially the one about default and Putin. It’s clear the US can’t default-full stop and as for Putin wanting to rule the world, well that’s just the FT doing the neo-liberal shuffle as per usual. Don’t believ what the FT tells you about everything.
Just an extremely gross form of individual in the same mould as Johnson, Farage, and many others we saw in the Brexit camp, Richard. The sad thing is that all of the character traits/features of Trump’s personality that Wolf lists are seen by many as ‘anti-establishment’ (or more accurately anti-government), which is now seen as the enemy of so many ordinary/working class/blue collar citizens. But then again, why wouldn’t it be when in the US this section of the population have seen no improvement in their standard of living since the 1980s, and in the UK and elsewhere they have suffered disproportionately since 2010, while the rich get richer and richer. So, will he be president? I strongly suspect the answer to that is yes, as a large section of the US voters exercise their right to deliver a US form of Brexit vote by putting two finger up to those in power.
On this one I really hope you are wrong
And like the desperate/deluded/bitter/well meaning but naïve (take your pick which is the most appropriate) UK voters who voted for Brexit, they will be making a bad situation even worse. We’ve swopped Cameron and Osborne for an even worse pack of right wing riff raff and charlatans. Out of the frying pan into the fire. I am neither particularly for or against Clinton, but compared to Trump……..God Almighty, he makes Boris Johnson seem competent and decent.
Isn’t it about time we laid the responsibility for Farage and Trump at the feet of the so-called ‘liberal’ establishment? After all they are the one’s responsible for corporate power, for the rise of the rentier, for political dumbed-downess, for not offering people real, authentic explanations for why they are so unsatisfied with their lives. They could have re-regulated banks, inhibited the property bubble, created more jobs for social purpose – but they didn’t, they hung on to trickle -down myths far beyond their sell-by date. This applies to the EU as well in my view in its cognitive dissonance between liberal values and international capital flows that allowed it to turn a blind eye while the Troika ransacked (and is ransacking) Greece.
As Chris hedges has pointed out, the ‘liberal’ was, at one time, the guardian of fairness, decency, cultural values and socila purpose. Instead they morphed into ‘I’m-alright-Jack’ ; ‘don’t touch my corner’ narcissism. In short they became defenders of the neo-liberal project, often without knowing it (making it more dangerous).
If we see Trump and Farage and Johnson themselves as loci of the problem we dangerously forget the cultural backdrop that allowed them to rise to prominence and prosper on simplistic explanations and also steal part of the ground of the so-called Left that has fallen asleep at the wheel.
and, Ivan, they made much of the Brexit vote being ‘anti-globalisation’ and for those ‘left behind’ by it. Yet what we saw this week was Fox stating this would be the way ahead and that Britain would be a ‘standard bearer’ for it on the world stage.
Today’s Express Dr Fox, one of the government’s so-called ‘The Brexiteers’ along with David Davis and Boris Johnson, said: “Today we stand on the verge of an unprecedented ability to liberate global trade for the benefit of the whole planet.
Despite all the talk of being strangled by Brussels, half the countries listed as a good place to do business, are members of the EU, Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden, Germany and the UK.
People will vote for Trump/UKIP because they are desperate – not because they are stupid or evil.
If the Democrats – and those who ape them like New Labour/the PLP – actually realised that and offered bold policies, enabling the State to balance public and private objectives more fairly they would not be taken in by this scumbag and the other political opportunists (Hi Mr Farage!).
Rolling back the State is over; rolling back markets is in.
That is where we are. But do the so-called progressives on either side of the Atlantic realise that yet? I don’t see much evidence of it – with the exception of some of the sentiment I hear from Corbyn & Co.
I am not sure we need to roll back markets per se
we need to get rid of crony capitalism that is corrupting markets
……….And an honourable mention of Bernie Sanders too in the USA.
I visit the US quite often and weep for the great country I lived in under the Carter administration. Falling apart infrastructure, wealth concentrated in fewer and fewer individuals. The Gini Coefficient is similar to that of the UK. Pretty much the same conditions that led to the Brexit vote are present in spades in the US. People want an anti-establishment candidate and I am no great fan of Clinton (Bernie would have been my choice – I suspect I am not alone here).
A have to disagree with Simon. I would certainly vote Clinton if I could – on environmental issues alone Trump could cause apocalyptic damage. Clexit will definitely be on the cards
Clinton is not a good choice
But there’s a duty to keep Trump out
Clinton on the environment?:
“That afternoon, they huddled with Bulgarian leaders, including prime minister Boyko Borissov, discussing everything from Syria’s bloody civil war to their joint search for loose nukes. But the focus of the talks was fracking. The previous year, Bulgaria had signed a five-year, $68m deal, granting US oil giant Chevron millions of acres in shale gas concessions. Bulgarians were outraged. Shortly before Clinton arrived, tens of thousands of protesters poured into the streets carrying placards that read “Stop fracking with our water” and “Chevron go home.” Bulgaria’s parliament responded by voting overwhelmingly for a fracking moratorium.” (Grauniad)
Worth also noting:
“A list of 40 registered lobbyists that the Clinton camp disclosed to the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday revealed a number of Democratic Party lobbyists who have worked against regulations to curb climate change, advocated for offshore drilling, or sought government approval for natural gas exports.” (huffington)
These people are the puppets and beneficiaries of the fossil fuel industry.
But better than Trump still
Agreed-it is up to Americans to change the corrupt system many are aware they have.
Trump et al. are just the symptoms of how deep the problems & frustrations are within Western society. Electing any of them will not deal with the systemic fault-line running through market-driven Capitalism. The MSM obsession with personalities simply serves to defer Armageddon. And, as always, the victims will be the population at large – whatever their current prejudices. Unfortunately, there is no realistic solution in sight – either side of the Pond – as the Neo-Cons have their feet firmly on the oxygen line. Heaven alone knows how it will play out. Personally I’m not optimistic. As Einstein reputedly said, but probably didn’t, ““Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.” Happy Wednesday!
John D there are some things which I hang onto
These people you deescribe are selfish and will shaft each other for their own gain. (look at the Gove – Johnson split) In Hitler’s Germany there were several decisive weapons and lines of research but they were not developed or delayed until too late, because of the lack of co-operation and co-ordination. They seemed to have no idea how to work for the common good. The various groups competed to get the Fuhrer’s attention and he was driven by emotion, not logic.
In a way evil works against itself.
2) there is always change-much of it can’t be forecast
3) people don’t last for ever
4) there are still many people who do wish for the common good and put themselves out for it. The writer of this blog no doubt could have had a higher and more secure income if he had not taken up the cause of tax reform.
Even my sons have worked the last out! And we have discussed it, at length
I can assure you it’s true
Ian S – an interesting analogy as coincidentally I’m currently reading Max Hasting’s latest WW2 tome ‘All Hell Let Loose’. Thoroughly recommended. Hopefully we won’t have to go through such a cataclysmic event – plagued with monumental errors of judgement and appalling management – to redress the current crisis. While I’m pessimistic (realistic) in the medium term, hope springs eternal. I’m conscious of all the positive activity that’s taking place globally. A march of a thousand kilometers … However, as in WW2, it will probably get worse before it gets better. Those with their hands on the levers of power don’t give up readily and the level of public brainwashing has reached proportions that Goebbels could only have dreamed of.
I would second John D’s recommendation of “All Hell Let Loose.” My mother who was a historian used to say that historians made dreadful politicians and were singularly useless at predicting the future. The book does ram home just how great the Russian’s contribution was to winning the 2nd world war. Ultimately Stalin pervaded over Hitler. Possibly showing that Left Wing evil is smarter than Right Wing evil?
He was also willing to lose more lives
Without wanting to labour the point – and distract from the basic theme of Richard’s post – but perhaps it’s worth reminding ourselves that at the outset of WW2, especially after the Nazis achieved such spectacular initial gains, significant numbers of the American Capitalist class (also elements within both the US & British Establishments) were convinced of a German victory and gave both tangible and moral support to Hitler’s cause (http://www.globalresearch.ca/secret-history-the-u-s-supported-and-inspired-the-nazis/5439236). The moral is so-called ‘free’ markets are amoral with a latent potential for immorality. I think there are lessons to be learned. ‘Nuff said!
I was all too aware of this during the summer when visiting the BMW Museum
The same could have happened anywhere
Frank Zappa once said that it was not hydrogen that was the most plentiful substance in the Universe – it was human stupdity.
Richard
To be clear I am all for a plurastic society and economy – a genuine one that is. I work in the public sector and we work with the private sector a lot on contracts. Osbourne was obviously oblivious to this when he was slashing and burning.
My view (influenced by Michael Sandel’s book ‘What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limiots of Markets’) is that markets or market thinking has been allowed to inculcate too many inappropriate areas of our lives – the NHS; the way in which the Government now stands back and thinks that the markets will ‘correct’ and carry out the investment it should be carrying out and so on. Contemporary market thinking has gone too far. And yes – it is crony capitalism that makes it this way.
That is why what I want markets rolled back. But not completely. They should be regulated and barred from certain sectors but they still need to be in the mix.
I’m a big fan of Tom Waits and here are his lyrics from a song called ‘God’s Away on Business’ which in a most visceral way sums what I feel is the current market obsession with making money at any cost from anything:
I’d sell your heart to the junkman baby
For a buck, for a buck
If you’re looking for someone to pull you out of that ditch
You’re out of luck, you’re out of luck
The ship is sinking
The ship is sinking
The ship is sinking
There’s a leak, there’s a leak, in the boiler room
The poor, the lame, the blind
Who are the ones that we kept in charge?
Killers, thieves, and lawyers
God’s away, God’s away,
God’s away on Business. Business.
God’s away, God’s away,
God’s away on Business. Business.
Digging up the dead with a shovel and a pick
It’s a job, it’s a job.
Bloody moon rising with a plague and a flood
Join the mob, join the mob
It’s all over
It’s all over
It’s all over
There’s a leak, there’s a leak in the boiler room
The poor, the lame, the blind
Who are the ones that we kept in charge?
Killers, thieves, and lawyers
God’s away, God’s away,
God’s away on Business. Business.
God’s away,
God’s away on Business. Business.
God damn there’s always such a big temptation
To be good, To be good
There’s always free cheddar in a mousetrap, baby
It’s a deal, it’s a deal
God’s away, God’s away,
God’s away on Business. Business.
God’s away, God’s away,
God’s away on Business. Business.
I narrow my eyes like a coin slot baby,
Let her ring, let her ring.
God’s away, God’s away,
God’s away on Business.
God’s away, God’s away,
God’s away on Business. Business.
(From the album ‘Blood Money’, 2002)
I know the song
I should write something on markets
I think Marx would have agreed they have a role, even in his vision of a socialist state
Marx hardly mentioned the state in his writings – he was more concerned about relationships between ‘associative producers.’ Co-operative structures.
And they would need markets
‘I should write something on markets’ – yes please. Gratefully received as always.
Hint taken
I think it is obvious that Bernie Sanders would have been the best choice for working and poor Americans, but that didn’t happen. Now their choice is either the neoliberal disaster that is Clinton or the neo-fascist psychopath that is Trump.
They need to choose the least worst option of those two, and enough of them are angry and crazy enough to go for Trump.
Let’s hope not, but they just might for the reasons Ivan notes.
I tend toward the Michael Moore theory about Trump, I have had the same scenario rolling about in my brain for quite a while
Its the one that goes like this:-
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/aug/17/michael-moore-donald-trump-does-not-want-to-be-president
People here may want to read the latest TomDispatch essay: Tomgram: Nomi Prins, Trump’s Future Piggy Bank, Our Country? The URL is: http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/176192/tomgram%3A_nomi_prins%2C_trump%27s_future_piggy_bank%2C_our_country/
Words truly fail this Englishman living in Southern Oregon!
I recommend a listen to Larry Lessig’s recent talk at the University of Dayton. He’s a transparency advocate suggesting (perhaps nudging) that Hillary will be a convert and game-changer the way Johnson was to civil rights. We can hope.