Trump seemed intentionally to take the tactic of exclusion or elimination of minorities in the campaign. He insisted that political correctness was of no use any longer. It seemed to synchronize with the hidden dark side of the middle income class. This has destroyed the value of the US approving the diversity in the society. How will he, as the president, restore this cleavage in the society from now? I am afraid this cleavage in the society is so profound that it is quite difficult to overcome.
In the past mass consumption society in the US, they have issued massive USD to import items from oversea. In turn, selling the national bond, they have that funds circulated back to the US. After the failure in Vietnam and Middle East, it was impossible for the US to go on playing the role of the leader in the international society. The financial capitalism since 1990s has experienced collapse at the Lehman shock in 2008. The economy in the virtual reality seems quite unstable. In this circumstance, the globalism has deprived wealth and sense of security of the middle class in the US. Trump seems to support the financial capitalism while he would go on with the policy based on isolationism. I am afraid his economic policy, if it is run as it was announced in the campaign, would rather relegate them to the predicament.
Trump seems to be concerned only about the profit to the nation. Alliance to the countries which the US has shared the same value for decades might be minimized while he would go hand in hand with such as Putin in Russia. It might give rise to the drastic change in the international society. Our nationalistic government would try to arm with nuclear weapon even though it is of no use to pacify the situation in the East Asia. The same thing may occur at many places in the world. I hope it won't lead us to the Apocalypse.
There seem to so many partisans and/or politicians with nationalism, isolationism and hatred toward minorities getting power in various places in the world. What is it bringing about to the world? What is the reason for such trend? Could we survive in such a situation?
You are predictable, Dr. Shin, as I was expecting this posting last night.
ReplyDeleteThe phenomenon of Trump is a desire for change. The American experiment that was so successful for a century or two has now evolved down to a society of parts. The government has allowed the components of America to individualize themselves with the timebomb of social correctness. We have removed symbols of our history, flags and statues that have existed for a hundred years. Like burning books to pretend something didn't happen. We have opened our restrooms to the opposite sex to protect a minuscule sector of society. We have made special concessions for non-special people. We have given lip service to our veterans, but we provide real support for illegal immigrants. No longer are we Americans, we were pink-americans, and blue-americans and green-amercans. By law.
This was not the concept of our society fifty years ago, in the days of our fathers. During the "greatest generation" we gave because we were American, part of the entire society. This deterioration is not the fault of the society, it is the fault of the leaders. Our elected officials have made a life-long job of ineffectiveness. The longer it takes to accomplish something, the better they like it. Job security for politicians in an obscene way. Our courts have evolved to providing criminals with more rights than victims. Our social system rewards the non-doers for not doing anything. The borders of our country are open doors to those that would choose to do us harm.
Trump did not succeed because he was a good candidate. Trump succeeded because he did not represent status-quo. Clinton was a mirror reflection of the administrations that have preceded this election. There is a sense of cautious optimism that now exists. Hope that we can recover what has gone. In that respect, I agree with your observation that it will be difficult, if not impossible, to return to a great single society. The popular vote was a vote for non-change. That alone truly tells the extent of how far down we have gone as a society.
We already have protests of his election. It is an amazing event. As noted by someone, it is like hoping the pilot of the airplane you are on will fail to do a good job.
Don,
DeleteI know you are pursuing the tradition of good old America. But the situation has been changed since that good old days. Politically and economically. CNN has showed us the investigation at the poll exit. It tells us those approving Trump are typically middle aged or older white living in the countryside. They get moderate to high income. They are concerned mainly about the illegal immigration and the terrorism. Isn't it you?!
What is causing those problems is much more important than deporting those illegal immigrants or constructing the wall. Trump supporters seem to consider only the phenomenon but not the cause. If Trump himself or his supporters won't do that, I am sure you will be disappointed at the new president very soon. I am sure the isolationism or a new Monroe Doctrine may dagame the economy in your country. As told in the post here, your economy is consisted of the circulation of USD, the US national bond and the items with the other countries.
Trump's campaign intentionally attacked the minorities in the society. That is why the protest is going on there. Isn't the US a country which allows diversity of people and finds the energy of the society from it? The division in the society due to his campaign won't be restored easily, I am afraid.
I might be too critical to Trump. Maybe, biased by the mass media. But what he insisted in the campaign has disappointed me a lot. And I was sure he has no idea how to do with the issues of the US and of the world. He is a kind of politician comparable to Duerte, Putin, Erdogan or Boris Johnson etc. Maybe, in a sense, to Abe our PM as well.
Let's see what will happen. I am sure in a year or two we know what a president he will have been.
Shin
Shin, I am reluctant to go into this deeply, because with all the nastiness that is going around, I do not want to see your blog getting targeted. Let's just say America IS a very polarized society, and I could not disagree more with Don. I grew up in the Deep South in the 50's and 60's, and the great America he is talking about was certainly not shared with about 40 percent of the population there -- racism was ugly and pervasive -- and it disfigured those who practiced it almost as much as it hurt the targets. It was a great America -- if you were a white male. But whether we old white men like it or not - the population is changing, mores are changing and it is very discomforting for those who did enjoy its full benefits. In Don's good old days, my daughter and grand-daughters would have had to settle for just a few possible occupations -- teachers, nurses, secretaries -- today, even with all our problems, their horizons are so much more open. They are in grad schools everywhere -- in science and engineering, and they doing a helluva of a job in science and industry. Again, angry old white men may not like that; think women should stay at home and raise lots of kids -- but it is not their decision to make. It is the height of arrogance to try to dictate a society and future that you won't be in. There are, even now, good jobs going begging for highly trained men and women -- but not for relatively unskilled labor and especially in those areas.
ReplyDeleteWhat I think most of us can agree on is that especially in rural America, it has been an increasingly rough time. Where there were once flourishing small towns with good local businesses most everywhere, there is now a depressing familiarity no matter where in America you go -- A Wall-Mart, a Dollar Store, a Family Dollar, a Dollar General -- but little else -- few locally owned businesses. A very large portion of this country has been left behind. Don and I would disagree pretty heatedly on the causes -- but the results are obvious. People there are afraid for their livelihoods, and don't see much on the horizon. Globalization, automation, even shopping on the Internet has gutted the kind of employment that, in addition to agriculture, was the mainstay in rural America. and there has not been much at all done about it. These are legitimate grievances -- very hard to remedy -- Trump has offered a mishmash of simple solutions -- depending on which day you catch him, but you have to be pretty easy to think it will be that easy. A lot of folks in the South, for example, were delighted when industry moved away from the Unionized North to the "Right-to-work" South -- what they didn't realize was that they were just a temporary stop until jobs could be moved overseas for even cheaper labor.
Unfortunately, Hillary didn't offer much of anything except more of the same. In all the recent presidential elections, the Republican ceiling has been about 60,000,000 votes - regardless of the candidates. Bush - McCain - Romney - Trump -- same vote totals. The Democratic base has been about 60 million --so the Democratic candidate had to energize his/her following to turn out more to win. Hillary didn't do it, so the popular vote was pretty much a tie, and she lost big in the electoral college. That's a whole other story.
Oh well, my kids tell me -- Dad, we love you, but it is going to be a much more open and equitable society when your generation is gone. We don't care about bathrooms -- there are stalls in them anyway. Only your generation spends all its time fretting about those kinds of issues when there are ones so much more challenging. We have a climate that is changing, college debts that are staggering, much bigger issues to tackle. I say, Good luck!
John,
DeleteThanks for the explanation why Trump has been approved mainly in the countryside by white blue collars. A friend of mine expressed the situation as the farmers' revolution to me.
I guess those white worker class might be feeling they have been threatened by the immigrants, the globalism and the decline of their class in the US. I recently learned the percentage of white people in the US is decreasing and would come to only 50% in the near future. Immigrants, legal or illegal, may look like the people who menace their status at present.
Being polarized of the people could have been the origin of the energy in the US. Diversity of people or melting pot wasn't the source of the vitality in the US, was it? Trump has taken the tactic to criticize and segregate the minorities.It has made the society divided in the worst manner. At present, Trump takes a pose to unite the nation. In the near future, I am afraid, his economic policy will end in failure since the US has enjoyed the massive consumption economy through the circulation of the items, USD and the national bond with the other countries and may suffer from ceasing that due to Trump's neo-Monroe Doctrine. At that time, I am afraid, he may return to an autocrat with the hatred and bigotry towards the minorities. What a mess it will cause there!
His policy in the international relationship is embarassing the allies including our country. In the Middle East, there will be even more conflicts started. I am afraid more blood will be shed there.
Okay, I will see what will happen after this drastic change. I really hope we could leave the better world to the next genenration.
Shin
Shin, in times like these, I am so thankful there has been -- and still is -- so much beautiful music written by us very flawed human beings!
ReplyDeleteI agree. I have listened to the unaccompanied sonata for flute Bach this evening. It has given me relief. Good day there!
DeleteShin:
ReplyDeleteI very much appreciate your perspective as someone outside our country.
I believe that Trump is doing this, not because he wants to help the US, but so he can make more money for himself and his family. Just this week, he met with your Prime Minister with his daughter attending the meeting. She is going to run his businesses while he is president. If she comes to Japan to ask for concessions for Trump enterprises, it's hard for Japanese government officials to say "no" when they see their own Prime Minister sitting with the US president and the very person asking for the concessions.
His tax cuts will be ruinous to the US economy. In 1970, when I started college and was learning Economics, they taught us the "supply side economics" behind the Republicans' fascination with tax cuts. One of my classmates became a tenured economics professor and told me they don't teach "supply side economics" at all anymore, because they know it doesn't work. But, those tax cuts will save Trump and his family millions.
I agree with John's statements about why older white people voted for him. It's a shame that they let themselves be manipulated that way. In many ways, they will be hurt the worst as Trump and the Republicans try to cut back the social programs that benefit those older white people the most.
By the way, I am an older white male, but my parents were immigrants, refugees after World War II from eastern Europe. So, I cannot agree with the limitations on immigration he wants to impose. I think immigration has been the strength of the US.
It was good to work you again this evening on 20 meters. I hope to see you again, Shin.
Bernie,
DeleteThanks for the QSO and your comment here. I was glad to hear you had visited this blog in the past.
I understand and agree with every point you mentioned here. It seems conflict of interest issues have already started among the transition team members. What a difference of attitude toward the president-elect is between Abe and Merkel! I am amazed to read what fraud and fake informations have been written in social media like Facebook. It has told me Trump caused the division in the society, or visualized it through his campaign. It is not only his tactic to win but his fundamental mentality. I believe it won't be solved easily. The other problem is how fragile and cult like the populism politics is. I am surprised to know many Trump supporters write overt lies or fake informations. Of course, the liberal side might commit the same mistakes. I wonder if there could be independent and intellectual people that could realize a real democratic society.
I am concerned about how the health care system will be changed there. Trump should be dependent on the old Republicans, Some of them intend to repeal the Obamacare, which I have fully learned about recently, and to privatize Medicare with/without voucher system. It will be imported to Japan in the near future.
Of course, I should know more about what trump supporters thought when voting to him.
I am glad to know of you, one of the representatives of the people in good old America. Wishing you very pleasant and healthy retirement. See you again when I have more time.
Shin