A (UK) Birmingham University-based commentary deplores Trump and the Deplorables, and goodness knows there are plenty of points to argue with about the incumbent, e.g. on environmental protection, employment protections, healthcare, pensions... But there is also the fact that Trump has attempted in some ways to level the economic playing field that has been tilted for decades against the American working (they would say, middle) class.
I comment, for what it's worth:
We've seen a four-year battle of polemic vs systemic: personal abuse, distortion, fact suppression, media partisanship and the co-option of many foolish civilians on social media as amateur political cartoon-spreaders... versus an attempt by a non-professional politician to address the systemic looting of America's working class by its own elites, using emerging market workforces as third-parties.
I see the Democrats as akin to British Labour: false friends of the lower classes. For their part, the Republicans are openly money-mad and scornful of the Deplorables, saying they don't deserve to have pensions and so on (my American brother keeps me up to date on this); Trump is a freak that both sides didn't want.
Let's see what Biden, after 47 years in politics, does to challenge the vampires. My bet is, nothing; and Business As Usual can only end in the collapse of the American economy as the welfare needs grow completely out of the reach of the diminishing tax base of an impoverished proletariat.
But America still has an excellent ratio of arable land to population; the UK will fall further, sooner and harder.
Here is ACL Blair on 2 May 1997, welcomed as a hero to do away with the venal and corrupt Tories, boosted and feted by the media. It took many years for us to be told that the adoring 'public' here were all selected Labour Party workers. And then...
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| 'Counted, weighed and found wanting' - Belshazzar's Feast |
3 comments:
"But there is also the fact that Trump has attempted in some ways to level the economic playing field that has been tilted for decades against the American working (they would say, middle) class."
How?
The 2017 tax cut was pushed through by the GOP. It cut taxes slightly for most people, raised mine by about 10%, and cut those for the wealthiest and corporations, yet again. Those cuts will expire for the lower incomes in a few years.
Meanwhile, they have blocked all attempts to increase minimum wages, cut aid and food assistance for the poor, cut funding for public education, cut access to medical insurance for many working poor.
Trump has said lots about helping the working classes, without actually doing anything. He is, after all, a good con man. Many of his supporters take his word over verifiable facts.
Even his great touted economic achievements pre-Covid can be shown to be a continuation of a trend since the housing bubble collapse recovery began in 2009. You can see that from any of the standard graphs at the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Not only that, but those gains were actually worse than the last term of President Obama, even though Fox News and conservative pundits declare otherwise.
It's all a case of "chocolate ration going up next week, double-plus good."
As for the Democrats, the US is terrified of progress, especially in racial equality. Every move for the common good (which the Constitution says is the job of government) is tagged as a 'road to communism', while the rich laugh their way to the bank.
in comment to Mr Paddington
Both the Democrats and Republicans promise the moon and deliver nothing. Each blaming the other side for not fulfilling their promises.
President Trump accomplished everything he ran on and more, he wasn't a politician, but a businessman.
Politicians are all talk and will say anything to raise money for their reelection and the feathering their nests.
You can't compare a politician to a successful businessman.
Trump came to office with millions and most politicians come to office broke and leave rich accomplishing little.
Except that Trump is a failed businessman, who, by all accounts, owes much more than the value of his properties.
In the past few years, he has sold most of his stock to shore up his empire, and he has something well over $400 million in loans coming due.
For goodness sake, casinos practically mint money, and he bankrupted 3 of them. He can't even get a gaming license for his property in Las Vegas.
And his lack of success in business is not because of generosity. He stiffed every contractor, worker (he was sanctioned for paying illegal Polish construction workers below minimum wage, and not paying overtime) and partner that he had, plus raiding a charity for his own gain (for which he was sanctioned in court).
Now, what did he actually do?
The 2017 tax cut cost me thousands per year because of the change in deductions. The same is true for many Americans. There was a small cut for those making a little less, which begin to expire in a couple of years. The tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy do not. The corporations which assured us that the money would be used for hiring and expansion used it for stock buy-backs to benefit the executives, and laid off workers, and still didn't have cash on hand when the Covid shutdown began.
The new section of border wall that was constructed along the Rio Grande is already falling down. The other small sections have been cut open and resealed by the coyotes.
We are still up to our ears in the conflicts in the Middle East, and are about to see more, as he is making illegal and ill-considered arms deals with the Saudis and the UAE.
I could go on, but will summarize: Donald Trump has one skill, and that is as a con man. For whatever reason, lots of people believe him over the facts.
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