Snake Oil for Sale

I find it amazing that so many people have been conned by this two-bit snake oil salesman who occupies the office of the President.  They have given their allegiance to someone who has no loyalty to any principles, shows loyalty only to family, and exhibits a strong affinity to authoritarian regimes, only because they wish to follow a bully from his demonic pulpit. 

Most politicians have to sell some "Snake Oil" in order to get elected. Pledging allegiance to a man with few (if any) principles wouldn't be too bad if he understood how power should be used, and that he was truly making America great again.   Instead, Trump is destroying the very things that helped keep America great in the economic world we shaped after World War 2.  

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In their effort to extract more wealth from the populace, our nation's elites have abandoned the most vulnerable in our society. Structural unemployment is damaging both rural and urban areas in America, as it is doing in the rest of the developed world.  And the populist insurrection that brought Trump to the White House is playing all over the world with "Yellow Vest" protests in Paris, Brexit in Britain, and the shift towards autocratic rule in Eastern Europe.  Trump is acting exactly as I'd want him to do if I were Vladimir Putin.  Every action Trump takes is geared to destabilize American political institutions, American social institutions, and American economic institutions.  It only makes sense for Trump to have done what he did, if he were a puppet of the Russians.

Sadly, in its leaders' lust for power, the GOP has lost its soul.  The base no longer cares about principles.  It is mostly a populist mob led by people who will deliver meager rations of bread and entertain them with meaningless political stump speeches geared to promote tribal identity.  The base has allowed its leaders to become irresponsible, enacting a so-called tax cut which is adding more billions to the budget deficit than if they left the tax code alone.  Even more important than this is their tolerance of a leader who shows them no loyalty as long as he is willing to pursue a retrograde social agenda.

Did the swamp get drained?  No, that was only a useful political slogan.  And yet, the base ignores the lack of progress in this area. I think this illustrates a greater social problem in our society. America has divided itself into haves and have-nots. It has also divided itself into well educated people and poorly educated people.  More importantly, it is divided into compassionate people and non-compassionate people. I feel sorry for those government employees not getting paid because of a pissing match between the House and Trump.  My Dad, however, has no compassion for them - he lived a hardscrabble life, and only has enough room in his soul to care only about himself and his immediate family.  Many of Trump's supporters are very much like my Dad - life has not allowed them the luxury of caring for others who are not doing well. 

Sadly, we have only ourselves to blame if this traitor is allowed to hold the office of the President much longer.  It is no longer a luxury to be well educated or compassionate.  The world has changed from a "Win-Lose" world into a "Win-Win / Lose-Lose" world, where education, communication, and compassion will be needed for future prosperity.  That means we have a choice: Continuing to let this traitor lead us astray, or to go in the opposite direction - where we can all work together to pursue common interests, making things better to pursue our individual interests as a result....

Brexit - and what it may mean for America

Nobody really believed it would happen.  But the "Brexit" vote proved eveyone on Wall Street wrong. Once the vote count was announced, the stock market dropped over 600 points.  Wall Street hates uncertainty, and the "Brexit" creates great uncertainty for all of us.

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The initial analysis of Britain's vote found that older people tended to vote to leave the EU, while the younger set voted to stay in the EU.  The old folks will not have to live with the results of their decision as long as their children and grandchildren.  But this is the last gasp of a generation who has been betrayed by its political elites, and who doesn't much care what happens after they cast their vote of "No Confidence" in the system.

Will Brexit really happen?  Although it looks like it will, this was a non-binding referendum. Once the costs for leaving the EU are known, I'm not sure if the Brits won't be given a second chance to vote on this issue - as a way of asking: "Do you really want this divorce? Your husband may have had an outside lover, but he has always been there for you when you needed him - and you needed him a lot."

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The same forces that have affected Britain are affecting the United States (and many other Western countries).  Old folk are feeling betrayed by their elites, and no one is addressing structural unemployment.  The West is being tasked to absorb millions of immigrants from failed countries, and are facing serious challenges in preserving its cultures in the face of poorly educated people who have different cultural values, and who are not easily absorbed into the work force.

Donald Trump is using this issue as a springboard to gain power.  However, he is not a trustworthy person.  When the Brexit vote result was announced, Trump took this to be an opportunity to promote one of his golf courses there.  Do you think he wouldn't use the presidency to line his pickets?  I wouldn't trust him to give me the correct time!

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To beat Trump, Hillary has to play to her strengths.  But she has to pay attention to Bernie Sanders' platform.  Why?  She needs the votes of America's youth.  She may have to lie to them (as she has done to many people in the past), but she has to get their votes, lest they get totally screwed by a Trump presidency.

There is one problem with the above approach - No one trusts Hillary. So she will need to pick someone who can be believed.  But she can't pick Bernie - it would destroy his reputation and not help hers.  But Elizabeth Warren may be a good choice, if she feels she should risk Wall Street's wrath to get elected.

Is Hillary able to work with Bernie for the greater good?  Can Bernie accept that his base must be lied to convincingly to get them to choose the lesser of evils and vote for Hillary? Does Bernie have enough smarts to be a smart loser, and extract as much from Hillary as possible for him to be a leader in one of the opposition wings against Trump? One thing I know.  I don't want my dad's generation making decisions that will harm my children's generation - and a vote for Trump will harm my children and grandchildren's generations, and maybe more after that....