Reactions are best served cold, and I am writing at 5am when it looks likely that Donald Trump will be next President of the USA. As I tweeted not long ago:
It's a bad night to be a woman, black, LBGT, a foreigner, a member of generations to come or an intellectual. And not just in the US.
Serious as that list is (and it omits those with disabilities, low incomes and others) this is not the key issue. That is much more serious.
Critically for the long term, tonight is the end of hope on climate change.
More immediately though it's not just that there will be material loss to all those groups I note above, it is the wave of sentiment that will be unleashed that, if anything, matters more.
White, male America voted for prejudice tonight. Whether it is misogyny, racism or homophobia, Trump has unleashed an entitlement to hate in the USA, and beyond.
That is what really matters right now, I think. And it is profoundly worrying.
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I’m actually quite scared.
You are not alone
And that is not even mentioning the increased threat of nuclear war because of Trump’s desire for revenge; whether a slight is real or imagined.
Well you were right in predicting a Trump victory. My 12 year old son said in disbelief “American’s are so Dumb” this morning.
Simon Schama is profoundly worried. Not sure if you heard him on the Today Programme.
https://twitter.com/simon_schama?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
I didn’t hear him
I took some more sleep
His titter feed is pretty powerful
Sean- it’s no good saying Americans are ‘so dumb’ that’s what the American corporate media are saying about their own citizens -it’s a bit like the Labour Party saying they’ve got the ‘wrong’ voters.
The Left decided 40 years ago that it was going to buy into finance capitalism and globalisation and the unfolding environmental disaster. The decision has led to cheap careerist politicians in hock to big money, the depoliticisation of politics.
Clinton represented the foulness of the establishment/military industrial complex/prison industrial complex/trying to control the Middle East.
If Schama was supporting Clinton then that guy lives in a faux progressive fantasy world that is responsible for what he despises. It is ‘liberals’ like him that have bought into the globalisation/neo-liberal myth of progress.
Titter is, of course, what Trump does;o)
I’d say again this is the ‘responsibility’ of the failure of the Left to some degree.
The Left has failed to explain:
1) How housing became unaffordable
2) How growth has been predicated on debt peonage.
3) How banks were bailed out with sovereign money that could have been used for greater socila purpose.
4) How banks have rented out the currency for great gain
5) How debt/credit has replaced the gap between wage stagnation and rising productivity.
6) How unemployment was seen as ‘voluntary’ which is a return to 19th century explanations 7) How the poor and ill have been unconscionably scapegoated to take peoples’ eye off the ball.
8) How we don’t need to be slaves to bond markets.
9) How we’ve let speculators control economic direction by controlling commodity prices that cause hardship and even starvation.
10) How the mainstream media is in hock to corporate interests.
The list of the Left’s ( Left?)failures is endless.
Simon, how has that happened? Powerful vested interests have funded think tanks, politicians (who funded Blair’s office while he was in opposition?), and popular media. Eisenhower’s military-industrial complex has morphed into a financial-media complex. Even the big industrial companies have become dependent on largely invisible financial powers.
Much of political ‘discussion’ at popular level is about what you are against, not about viable alternatives. They say “conflict is the heart of all drama”. To keep selling newspapers, they needed conflict and outrage with simple answers.
Who is funding the liberal / left? Who can research and criticise the existing order? The left can call on a few academics but as universities become more dependent on corporate funding, they have to be careful. Unions are diminished and more restricted, charities are gagged, the BBC is threatened with privatisation.
The money? There is hope, Sanders raised more more than Clinton at one point. We have the power of the web to inform people and raise money. We have blogs like this one. Selfishness -which is the embodiment of the new financial order-tends to be shortsighted and contribute to its own downfall.
We can’t rely on the anger of the people to change this. The achievement of Right has been to use the anger to deflect the blame onto other targets. We need a coherent plan and we need to network. Then we channel the energy into reform. It is achievable. I have hope but it’s difficult to see at the moment.
I would love to see that plan
I am not sure I could write it
Not alone, certainly
And I am not sure who else is even volunteering who is any use
The Left has no excuse in many respects but in mitigation we also cannot rule out how ignorance of say money creation and other key factuals that are pushed at people 24/7 by the media has also has had an effect. Human beings learn by listening and doing things over and over again.
Even the progressive newspapers and journalists here talk about ‘black holes ‘ etc., as if these are facts.
We live in a world of lies – that is what a ‘post-truth world’ is. To be really progressive at the moment is a difficult place to be.
Ignorance rules. And as soon as the electorate here and in the USA think they have rumbled the truth, in comes a load of diversionary ideas to throw people off the scent (immigrants, wall building, loss of sovereignty – ad nauseum).
I know this might be me on the verge of conspiracy theory here but how often do we see this manipulation of the media and other systems of info delivery mis-informing people? Answer? On a regular basis.
It is the recieved wisdom of crowds that we are up against and its been discussed here many times before Simon.
On another one of your posts I said that I felt I was seeing a rejection of neo-liberalism. Well, perhaps its more of a rejection of standard politics/politicians per se – or what passes for it/them. Let’s face it – Trump is no standard politician!
There has been a coup in America by the Republicans over the Left. It is weird that Saunders who seemed more in tune with the pain of real Americans was pushed out. I think people have seen that, saw how Mr Clinton previously did not keep his promises and expect more of the same from the Clinton clan.
Trump must surely know that he has to reign in the pre-election hate stuff. Otherwise his country will become ungovernable – they are allowed to have guns remember? You can’t invest in a country that is so unruly and Trump will now need seasoned operators to help him to do what he wants to be done. This is when the stock Republicans will play their hand perhaps?
For now I choose to be open minded about Trump. But the one thing that still worries me is that when any American president starts to put his country first, the rest of us will suffer somehow as the Americans grab what they can for themselves as they always have.
My big hope is that he and Putin DO get along because the recent build up of tension between these two gigantic states has had me worried recently.
Trump also has to be mindful about China who as I understand it are a major purchaser of US bonds.
As Trump comes to terms with what he has inherited – lets see how it plays out. And the domination of the HoR by the Republicans is also worthy of note. But how will that be wielded? In the way in which Trumps has said – or what his fellow Republicans say?
Anyway………..that’s that over and done with. Back to dear olde blighty and those nasty stupid Tories that we have to deal with (as well as the poorly organised opposition).
Clinton was a damp squib. You have to hand it to Trump, he demonstrated passion and energy. If marks were awarded on how much somebody wanted the presidency, he’d be the clear winner.
I understand the knee-jerk reaction of saying this result is terrible for America and the world, but I think that is to overlook a vital element we need to grasp if we are to change this world for the better. There are actually two things. Firstly, we have our destiny in our own hands. The American people voted yesterday, and they had the freedom to choose the candidate they wanted. Secondly, we don’t always make the right decisions, and I think this fact is compounded on a great scale when millions of people are asked to vote. But can we blame the Americans for that? It is a problem written into our human nature, and I believe the decision of the American people needs to be respected whatever the result.
Therefore, I suggest it is incorrect to suggest that Trump releases an entitlement to hate. There is never an entitlement to hate, and now is the time more than ever to stand up to the forces of hate. We must stand up for our civil liberties, human dignity and respect. And to begin we must show respect to our opponents. Congratulations Mr Trump. It appears you defied the odds to beat Clinton to become the most powerful person in the world. Now if you would deign to stoop from triumphal throne to listen to the causes of all the poor, marginalised, oppressed people of the world, then you will earn my approbation too. If not, then you will be consigned to the waste bins of history. Four years is all you’ve got, at most eight, so let’s make it good.
Trump is only a short term phenomenon. Climate change efforts require long term commitment, so must be immune to short term political upheaval. Therefore, I agree that the left needs a plan, and I suggest it begins by looking towards a post political future where parliamentary elections are seen as a means of expression of the democratic free will of the people, rather than an end in itself for securing the power of the privileged few.
“It’s a bad night to be a woman, black, LBGT, a foreigner, a member of generations to come or an intellectual. And not just in the US.”
I think you have got this entirely back to front Richard – I hope Wikileaks, the FBI (once Comey goes) and the NYPD will show this to be so over the coming weeks…..
Trump is far from perfect and his feet will need to be held to the fire to ensure that he delivers on his promise to “drain the swamp”.
The alternative – CLINTON – was completely unacceptable unless you are part of, or a pawn of “those that believe they are entitled to rule us” and are dismissive of the views of the man on the Clapham Omnibus. Note I am avoiding PC language as this is the cover for Ingsoc!
I am sorry but I will be candid and say only a fool ( I am being polite here) could think what you have written
Clinton is undoubtedly flawed but your position condemns millions to prejudice and abuse in their daily lives
And that is wholly unacceptable
I hope you are deeply ashamed of yourself
I am not ashamed of myself – have you seen John Pilger’s interviews with Julian Assange?
I do not trust Assange and never have
Hang about Richard-when you say: ‘Clinton is undoubtedly flawed but your position condemns millions to prejudice and abuse in their daily lives’ haven’t we ALREADY got that?
1) Black neighbourhood some of the poorest in America with neglected schools
2) Epidemic of police violence evidenced over the last few years?
3) Many people of Hispanic origin in the lowest paid jobs
4) 35% of prison inmates od Afro-American origin.
Clinton illuminates the parodox of the so-called ‘liberal’ aspect of neo-liberalism, it appears to be tolerant yet produces results that are equivalent to intolerance because it only ‘tolerates’ you if you are financialised.
I’m glad the Clinton ‘dynasty’ is over. I think Trump used anger channelled into xenophobia as a crude tool to get votes – we won’t hear him say those things again, I suspect.
neo-liberalism has created xenophobia because it goes for broke and just doesn’t know when people have had enough but keeps ploughing the same furrow regardless of the writing on the wall -it has created the monster.
Clinton’s arrogance is monumental -she couldn’t even deign to speak to her supporters this morning and sent the deeply compromised Podesta to tell the supporter to go home and Clinton would speak to them later. The illusion of the ‘liberal/tolerant’ Clinton needs to be dispelled.
Sorry – but this is boring
If you think Trump is what we’ve had then I really have nothing more to say
If you really think Clinton is worse – I am staggered
But don’t waste my time saying it
You missed my point Richard and focused on what I most definitely didn’t say! The point I was trying to make was that the Liberal class have helped create the xenophobia by pushing financialisation too far when the signs were there to read. We can see it in Europe.
There certainly ARE some ways in which Clinton was worse:
1) Military industrial complex
2) Cosying it up to Wall Street (22 Million received from them so far)
3) Continuous and highly dangerous Russophobia.
4) The encouragement of NATO War Games.
5) Paying to ‘play’ by fostering a financialised lobbyist culture.
6) Taking money from the vile Saudis.
I despise Trump and his manipulations of fear but the warmongering was at least absent and that is BIG.
Let’s see if America’s geo-politics alters!
I can’t recall what you said now
I agree with this
Frankly I think you’re both right – this is almost certainly a very bad day for those people Richard lists, but I’d say that Clinton is more than just ‘flawed’. It was a bad day for the entire populations of Libya, Syria and Honduras when Clinton was appointed Secretary of State.
For further evidence of her recklessly cynical approach, you have to know that It was DRC policy in 2015 to big-up the more extreme Republican candidates in the primaries using their friends in the media so that they could then use these ‘Pied Piper Candidates’ to tar whoever won with the brush of their nastiness.
Needless to say that the campaign back-fired spectacularly.
I can’t link to it from here, but google ‘Wikileaks Pied Piper Strategy’ to find a link to the full reported memo. I’ve copied an extract below – look at the names at the bottom.
Team Hilary was instrumental in forcing the Republicans to the right – with a reckless disregard for the harm that might do to the people Richard is rightly concerned about.
“Re: 2016 GOP presidential candidates
Date: April 7, 2015
Friends,
This memo is intended to outline the strategy and goals a potential Hillary Clinton presidential campaign would have
regarding the 2016 Republican presidential field. Clearly most of what is contained in this memo is work the DNC is
already doing. This exercise is intended to put those ideas to paper.
Our Goals & Strategy
Our hope is that the goal of a potential HRC campaign and the DNC would be one-¬in-¬the-¬same: to make whomever the
Republicans nominate unpalatable to a majority of the electorate. We have outlined three strategies to obtain our goal:
1) Force all Republican candidates to lock themselves into extreme conservative positions that will hurt them in a
general election;
2) Undermine any credibility/trust Republican presidential candidates have to make inroads to our coalition or
independents;
3) Muddy the waters on any potential attack lodged against HRC.
Operationalizing the Strategy
Pied%Piper%Candidates%
There are two ways to approach the strategies mentioned above. The first is to use the field as a whole to inflict damage
on itself similar to what happened to Mitt Romney in 2012. The variety of candidates is a positive here, and many of the
lesser known can serve as a cudgel to move the more established candidates further to the right. In this scenario, we
don’t want to marginalize the more extreme candidates, but make them more “Pied Piper” candidates who actually
represent the mainstream of the Republican Party. Pied Piper candidates include, but aren’t limited to:
ï‚•ï€ Ted Cruz
ï‚•ï€ Donald Trump
ï‚•ï€ Ben Carson.”
Congratulations, if that’s the word. You called it right, Richard, trumping (sic) Nate Silver and all the pollsters. If Trump is at all true to his word, the USA is heading back into one of its periods of isolation – leaving Europe to be squabbled over by a dysfunctional EU, a would-be but can’t-be isolationist UK and the rebuilder of the Russian Empire.
And what about John Pilger?
Richard careful of this trap:-
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-11-09/nassim-taleb-explains-who-just-got-buried
I have avoided that trap
I have never shown any affection or support for Clinton. I have always made clear my distaste
BUT Trump is worse
The choice is dire
But for heaven’s sake Trump is worse than dire
Richard, I agree with you totally. (Anthropological) climate change denial and facism in the largest economy – and embedding in every EU country too. The best we can do at the moment is to try to ameliorate with sharp humour, but I can’t think of anything funny at the moment.
Me neither
I have to say, the idea that Trump is no worse than Clinton, or somehow a ‘refreshing’ break from career politicians strikes me as self-delusion of the highest order. What is Trump but a shameless chancer, liar and misogynist, who’s played on the anger in the US caused by immense inequality to whip up xenophobia and nationalism. In this respect, how is he different from Hitler, or the liars here who led the anti EU campaign?
I’m no admirer of Clinton, but the idea that she is on the same level as Trump is grotesque. There’s also all the evidence that Putin is behind a lot of the anti Clinton rhetoric in the US, and is funding right wing nationalist groups in Europe and the US, so he can weaken NATO and the EU. And now he’s got his way, and Russian aggression in Europe will increase. How the hell can anybody with any intelligence welcome that?
And what about Trump’s rhetoric on climate change? Clinton was committed to keeping the US’s commitments on this, whilst this lunatic has said he’ll strike it all down, in the face of all the scientific evidence. To me, this is exactly like the EU referendum debacle; the triumph of brazen lying by politicians who like to make out they’re not politicians, and monstrous stupidity by large parts of the electorate.
Agreed, entirely
Whichever way one assesses the situation today, it’s unquestionably dire. Maybe we are exeriencing the ‘morbid symptoms’ filling a socio-political vacuum, presciently explained by Gramsci. Change is certain but not always for the better. We can only hope that political progressives evrywhere correctly interpret the runes and over the course of the forthcoming decade unite to challenge and overcome prevailing reactionary forces. If they (we) don’t then this vacuum will be filled by fascist tendencies represented by Trump, Farage et al. (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/09/far-right-first-to-congratulate-donald-trump-on-historic-upset). I see it as a very dangerous period with possible outcomes not witnessed since the 1930s.
Of course it’s too early to make any definitive assessment. However there are some salient points to take on board. If the current trend continues it seems likely Hillary might marginally win the popular vote and become only the 5th candidate to do so yet lose the election. Secondly, as always with US presidential elections, a high percentage of the electorate didn’t vote, so neither party can be said to be overwhelmingly representative of the people. Finally, Trump really only has 3 years in which to deliver his manifesto before the next election road-show kicks off. That’s a big ask even for someone as self-confident and schemingly entrepreurial as Trump.
Yes, much to despair about but also a lot to learn with which to move forward positively. As always, hope springs eternal.
Trump, with his acceptance speech, seems a completely different person. This is quite worrying of course but it does have the advantage that he seems to be able to move the Overton Window on a pretty much continual basis. I may be clutching at straws – but that seems to me a basic plus of his election.
”White, Â male America voted for prejudice tonight” , how typically smug and arrogant of you
No
That was a statement of the truth