Saturday, 8 February 2025

HELLO CHAOS, HERE I COME

 

HELLO CHAOS, HERE I COME

 

I started to write down the “bones” of this article two weeks prior to Inauguration Day on January the 20th, 2025 and hope to finish it in the weeks following, being able to include the predictable political fireworks that will be unleashed, similar to Trump’s first term in office.  The American public is in for a real treat as Bozo the clown and his circus encamp once more in the White House.  This time around with a comfortable majority, which is viewed by Trump and his acolytes as a mandate for some radical changes.

The lead author of project 2025, Russell Vought, is once more part of the inner circle as the office of Management and Budget director.  Throughout the election Trump denied any knowledge of the report and it authors, yet it neatly follows all the ideas and proposals Trump supports and endorses.  A vindictive right-wing assault on everything perceived by them as undermining America’s potential and divine right to rule supreme.

In this article I am going to make some dire predictions and that Trump’s second term in office will unleash a veritable shit-show never witnessed before in American history.  Project 2025 is the brainchild of right-wing zealots, many of them privileged and born into wealth, that use their simplistic views—basically bypassing due process and parliamentary procedures—to unilaterally impose their wishes upon the nation as a whole.  Democracy and its processes are viewed by them as a waste of time, grinding down in endless debates and watered down solutions.

Basically it consists of a small, but determined group of people, wanting to bypass Congress and the Senate and introduce autocratic rule.  They follow the dictator’s playbook to a T and the first order of business is passing a blanket emergency law that gives the president unilateral power to push through his agenda.  Trump has already indicated that he wants to eliminate the debt ceiling which would allow him to print and spend money like wildfire.  No oversight.  The bankruptcy proceedings of America will be left to his successor.

Americans have handed over the keys to their country to a group of kleptocrats who can’t wait to rob their country blind.  If Putin can do it, so can they.  Four more years of brawn and bluster, lies and threats.  Trump’s ego knows no boundaries and there is no shame.  Trump and his cronies lack a moral compass.  No empathy, no principles.

Although Trump in all his vanity views himself as ‘the’ supreme global leader to whom the rest of the world kneels and kowtows; his proposed policies—many of them changing on a whim—followed up by a unrelenting stream of rash and brash statements rattling friends and enemies alike, may well lead to America’s isolation on the global stage and sharply reduce America’s influence.


He wrongly interprets global reactions as strengthening his position in further dealings and negotiations, as if the world is a boardroom and everything inside is decided based upon the ‘deal’ to be made.  Trump mistakenly assumes that he is feared by other leaders.  They are simply holding their collective breaths to see what kind of chaos he will unleash this time around.  The world is faced with enough problems as it is and responsible leaders are concerned about the damage that Trump and his rhetoric can inflict on the precarious global peace and balance they try to maintain.

Deficit compounding 

America is faced with some horrendous internal problems that no amount of bluster and brawn can overcome.  America’s debt load is staggering and according to one senior Republican senator is growing by a staggering one trillion dollars every one hundred days.  In all fairness, America’s fiscal decline started decades ago, but it is coming to a head.  It kind of explains why Trump wants to eliminate the debt ceiling.  Republicans may have towed the line in electing Trump, but the majority want the spending reigned in; borrowing reduced and deficits pared down.

Spending in America is out of control.  And the culprits are not Education and Health Care.  America is following in the footsteps of the former U.S.S.R, done in by an out of control bureaucracy, inefficiencies and a military presence that has overextended itself all across the globe.  The only thing that has saved America thus far is a private sector that through sheer hard work and determination has kept its head above water.  It is the free market and through integrated economies with nations such as Canada that has kept the American colossus afloat.

America may have the world’s biggest and most lethal armed forces, it is also the most costly to maintain and it is crippling America’s economy, at home and abroad.  More than a million people in uniform are permanently stationed abroad in nearly 130 countries.  A world once more involved in an arm’s race of unprecedented proportions in a relative time of peace.  Millions of dollars wasted on COP conferences that have accomplished next to nothing, when global disarmament and peace conferences could have freed trillions of dollars towards creating more equitable and fairer societies.

What the current batch of wannabee autocrats are ignoring with their proposed policies and actions is the plight of ordinary hard-working Americans and the millions falling behind or purposely being left behind.

A nation cannot move forwards by pretending that the needs of millions of Americans falling behind can be ignored with impunity.  People are not balance sheets, they’re not numbers or commodities that can be written off.

An isolationist America will be abandoned by the rest of the world in a heartbeat.  Americans represent less than 5 percent of the total world population.  There is a huge market place out there that doesn’t need America, especially since the nation is the dubious holder of one-third of all global debt, a debt load predominantly carried by American financial institutions!  If they go under, guess what follows?

America is not alone!

The problems that America faces are not unique but are shared by the rest of the world.  The world population is bursting at the seams and their demands and needs are not sustainable and is the main reason why nearly all nations are mired in debt, debts that will never be repaid.

In the face of the problems that all nations face, the never ending arms race is only getting worse; in expenditures and lethality.  The world is still run along conflict lines as if we need enemies and evil-minded competitors.  It is a tired an old-fashioned scheme that has never worked in the past and it won’t work in the present. Trillions of dollars wasted on weaponry not used, but that are supposed to act as a deterrence.  Millions of soldiers trained to be battle ready for wars that are not happening.  But all it takes is a cupcake like Trump and his cronies to once more set out on an expansion and occupation drive.  Blinded by the fact that the consequences of armed conflict outweigh any of the benefits.

Not a single nation, not a single war, has ever given any superpower the control and dominance they are looking for.  History unequivocally shows that all nations eventually retreat back to within their own borders.  Take as an example all the bluster and threats aimed at Canada recently with Trump ignoring the salient fact that the two nations have had perfectly integrated economies for decades.  Neither Americans nor Canadians show any inclination at massive migrations from one side to the other.  Canadians are quite content with who they are and the nation they call home.

Only delusional zealots walk around with illusions of world dominance, power, glory and conquest.  This is 2025. Grow up.  The world has moved on.

In the meantime we’re wasting precious time, resources and energy to counteract a psychopath’s delusions.

Predictions:

We’re about to enter 4 years of utter chaos, at home and abroad, as America and the world try to cope with a man totally unsuited to hold the highest office in the land.  Witness the massive firing and hiring of people and the bus won’t be able to cope with the number of people thrown beneath its wheels.  Vance will be let go within the first six months and Trump and Musk will be involved in a massive dustup because you can’t have two Daffy Ducks running the White House, one elected and the other pretending.  By the end of Trump’s term America will be declared insolvent and the dollar will cease to exist as a major global currency.

America will follow in the footsteps of the former U.S.S.R; bankrupt and unable to sustain its military and bureaucracy.  The private sector may rise up in rebellion to put a stop to government ineptitude and overspending, but it will probably be too little, too late.

Globally we will be done in by our numbers, needs and entitlements, and the widening gap between haves and have-nots will only make matters worse.  People like Trump, rich and privileged, lose sight of the fact that their wealth comes courtesy of ordinary, hard-working, men and women.  Without a dedicated American workforce their wealth would evaporate like snow melting before a hot sun.  The people behind project 2025 are totally out of touch with reality and that includes Trump and his acolytes. 

America needs the rest of the world to keep trade and finance flowing freely.  China, Russia, India, Europe, Africa and South-America, all can handle themselves quite nicely without American interference and meddling.  Rather than engaging in silly protectionist, isolationist, and expansionist rhetoric, America would be better served working in tandem with the rest of the world tackling some of the worst global problems.  We’re literally drowning in people and unsustainable practices and we’re exhausting the planet in the process.

Problems we share.  Problems we ignore.  And we’re all guilty!

Urban sprawl had led to an economic model that is totally contingent on transportation and is energy intensive.  Literally everything has to be shipped in and out.  The infrastructure costs associated with maintaining urban intensification are horrendous, not only in new-built, but in replacement and repairs.  Water, sewage, utilities, roads and bridges, waste treatment plants, waste disposal, hospitals, schools, universities, community centers, parks, recreation, private and public housing, energy requirements, heating and cooling, shopping, policing, fire and safety.  The majority of all major cities are running huge deficits and are faced with constantly having to hike taxes.

It is not just America and Trump that will dictate the fate of the coming years, but how we as a people will tackle the challenges that lie ahead.  I know that the Trump approach will be a disaster and that he and his little cabal are capable of shaking the very democratic foundations upon which the nation is built.  What he will take down in its wake is what concerns me.

HELLO CHAOS, HERE I COME, PART TWO

Well, barely a day in and Trump doesn’t disappoint true to form.  Most American presidents when elected to the highest office in the land, turn over their business or business interests to a third party.  Putting their affairs into escrow or respecting the Emoluments Clause which basically prohibits a sitting president from profiting from their position.  However, the interpretation of this act and attempts to sue Trump during his first term in office, showcase that although the act is on the books, it has never been pursued.  Not successfully.  Presidents are immune from prosecution.  The White House for Trump is above all an extension of his business empire and is used as a boardroom to advance the interests of Trump, the brand, his personal finances, his public profile and yes, on occasion it will feature items of State.  Thumbing his nose at convention is a Trump hallmark.  He even launched his own crypto currency on the day of his inauguration.  He is once more using his name, fame and the office of president, to enrich himself.  Crypto needs to be purchased with real cash, cash that then disappears into crypto space, nearly untraceable and devoid of taxation and oversight.  He is banking on his name and position to have tens of thousands of Americans invest in this lucrative Ponzi scheme.  He gets in on the bottom for pennies and will end up selling at a huge profit while still holding on to a fair share. 

From day one he had on his desk a raft of so-called executive orders which makes a mockery of America’s parliamentary system, because there is none.  It is mostly a raft of unelected people that occupy the top positions in Trump’s cabinet.  It turns the legislative function of America’s institutions—Congress, the Senate and the judiciary—into an absolute farce.  No debate, no consultation, no committee reports, no investigations, no oversight, no checks and balances.  It thumbs its nose at democracy.


Once more it will be about Trump, his brawn, his ego, his money and his habit of strutting around like a peacock around the White House and his golf courses.  Constantly tweeting, texting and insulting.  Bragging about his prowess and importance and how the world bows at his feet.

Trump bragged about how this term would usher in a golden age for America, just as he referenced Manifest Destiny.  Both need some explaining.  Historically when a nation experienced a golden age it was due to either a sudden advance in technology or through the discovery of new wealth—gold, minerals, spices, land, etc.  Initially most empires enjoyed the sudden influx of wealth, status and power, but none were everlasting.  But . . . you don’t enter a golden age, or brag about it in advance, when you find yourself stuck behind the eight ball and not even a trick shot will give you a way out.

Trump’s utter lack of education comes shining through once more and he is using his predictable brand of bluster and brawn to bluff his way through a myriad of obstacles standing in America’s way.  Ignoring reality is another one of Trump’s trademarks.  Bullshit may baffle brains some of the time, but not all the time.

You can seal off the border and deport all the illegals you lay your hands on and you’re still left with the sad fact that as a nation you’re into debt up to your eyeballs, that you have an over-extended military you can ill afford and a bureaucracy that is huge, costly and unwieldy due to growing political polarization across the nation.

All nations are struggling with burgeoning populations it can’t support.  All lack growth and opportunity because we can’t sustain what is currently in place and expected.

You can’t pump gas and oil from empty or non-existing wells.  You can’t ignore the realities and limitations of what the planet has to offer and that includes climate change, the human impact on the environment and the consequences.  You don’t move forward by ripping up trade agreements and abandoning the global stage and mutual cooperation on important issues. 

Not unlike the wizard of Oz, Trump acts like the great illusionist as if he holds a magic wand that somehow miraculously opens up the gates of opportunities and that a horn of plenty will dump untold wealth into the laps of Americans.  (That is what Trump’s crypto is for, except that it won’t dropping into the pockets of the average American).

There is no hidden Eldorado out there and dropping hints of the potential conquest and occupation of foreign territories he desires—Canada, Greenland, the Panama Canal, the re-named Gulf of Mexico—will only lead to global derision and turn America into a pariah, hated and mistrusted.  When caught with his pants down he is quick to resort to things like misspeak, I was only joking, fake news and alternative facts.

Trump and his cronies will carve up America like a birthday cake and Americans will be left with the crumbs.  At the end of his term America will look like a house trashed after a wild party.  Enjoy the cleanup!

This is not about a golden age for America, but about a golden opportunity for Trump and his lackeys to fill their pockets with whatever loot they can lay their paws on.

His reference to Manifest Destiny is from the project 2025 playbook and hails from an imperial past when the great nations—Russia, France, Holland, England, Spain, Portugal and a few minor European players, were carving up the world according to spheres of influence.  Basically a colonial division of the world’s most vulnerable continents and nations.  It even inspired a board game.  Risk.  The name says it all!

It has no place within any historical context, past or present.  It is degrading, demeaning, costly and inefficient when a much more logical and profitable alternative already exists.

When you engage in fair trade agreements and practices you gain a friend and an ally without firing a single shot, without threats and a costly military buildup and presence.  Armies are costly and destroy whereas business partners deliver a profit and make each other wealthy.  It is called a win-win.

What do you prefer?  An expense or a profit?  Or go with the visions of a delusional psychopath?

When controversy is adopted as a nation’s way of moving forward, the outcome will not be golden.

A final note

A few weeks in and anti-Trump protests are erupting in every state.  Hello, what were you thinking?  What did you expect?  Trump starting to act like a responsible, intelligent human being?  Grow up!  For better or worse, he’s all yours.

 

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