I totally agree that Trump isn’t exactly a beacon of virtue. But on the bright side (if we can call it that), he’s not driven by a political ideology. Trump does what’s good for Trump—he doesn’t care much about what’s best for the U.S. or the world. And if he needs to throw a country or two under the bus (hello, South Africa?), he won’t think twice. So, South Africa, brace yourself!
But let’s try to find some good in this situation. Here are a few thoughts: a) I’m admittedly a bit of an open-borders extremist—within reason! But I get that many Americans feel differently, just as South Africans are divided about immigration, especially with some of our neighbors facing near-state collapse. The question is, what positives could come from cracking down on illegal immigration? Perhaps it could help those who feel their jobs are at risk or their neighborhoods are changing too quickly. Realistically, though, I don’t see Trump deporting everyone; the backlash would be enormous. More likely, there’ll be tighter border control and screening, which might even turn out to be a net positive. b) On Ukraine, I saw Trump’s claim that he’d stop the war in a day, which... let’s just say sounds optimistic. But maybe there’s room for a different approach. Endless funding isn’t exactly resolving things quickly. Could Trump’s, er, unconventional diplomacy (or hardball bullying) possibly shake things up and push for a ceasefire? I’m not predicting peace overnight, but could he use his style to negotiate a better outcome? Stranger things have happened. c) Finally, the U.S. economy seems to be on an “endless spending” spree. The national debt’s ballooning, and maybe a financial reckoning is coming? Cutting government waste might actually do some good. Elon Musk claims he could save a trillion dollars—he’s said a few wild things, but maybe he’s onto something here. A leaner, more efficient government wouldn’t hurt. On Wed, 6 Nov 2024 at 10:34, Jochen Fromm <j...@cas-group.net> wrote: > I woke up today and saw the horrific news on TV that Trump has won again. > It is incredibly bad on many levels. It is bad for the environment. The > world will not be able to stop global warming without the U.S. It is bad > for Ukraine as well. To me it feels like the end of civilization and > democracy. The people who voted for him probably do not read Paxton, Arendt > or Levitsky and Ziblatt. Or do not care. > > https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/562246/how-democracies-die-by-steven-levitsky-and-daniel-ziblatt/ > > I was wondering how this is possible. If we define populism as an > ideology that presents "the people" as a morally good force and contrasts > them against "the elite", who are portrayed as corrupt and self-serving then > this could be a reason why Trump is so successful. He is good at populism > because he is corrupt and self-serving himself, and uses projection to > accuse others. > > > https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/308163/what-is-populism-by-muller-jan-werner/9780141987378 > > What do you think? Why have people voted for him although they know what > kind of person he his? Are we doomed now? > > -J. > > .- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. / > ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-.. > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom > https://bit.ly/virtualfriam > to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ > archives: 5/2017 thru present > https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/ > 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/ >
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