A Different Vision

Submitted by Lindsay
Melbourne Australia!

"Saw the vision of the world,
and all the wonder that would be." - Tennyson, 1842

(11/2019) One of the most amazing things about Donald Trump’s presidency is his adherence to the vision he brought to the role. It has been obscured by the showers of tweets, off the cuff brags, and almost incomprehensible policy statements, but when these are ignored the real picture emerges. We see a person who came to the office with a vision, a goal, and an agenda to achieve it.

This is more than many other presidents had when they came to the oval office, because they simply followed the party or their predecessors line. But President Trump knew what was needed, (or at least what he believed was needed), and given his background it should be no surprise that this is centered on winning and dealing, and he is a past master at those sports. So good is he that he bemused enough citizens to bring him victory, and he might even do it again next year.

How many citizens are interested in foreign affairs, the plight of other nations, oligarchs running things however they want to? Not many, I’m sure. All they want, all they hope for is food on the table, a chance for the kids, and the opportunity to get on with their life. He promised them that, and although some have got it, those that haven’t know they will, given enough time. They applaud him for his trade initiatives, (the word ‘war’ is never mentioned, war being a bad word), for turning back foreign illegals (and the word refugees is equally avoided), and for the wonderful entertainment he gives them.

Things might appear wonderful back home to his supporters, but the rest of us are terrified to contemplate what America’s role in the rest of the world will be in the future, because his real but hidden agenda is to make America Great Again by turning inward. This is the about-face of all time, the undoing of almost 100 years of reputation for being policeman to the rest of the world. He doesn’t care about international reputation or strategy, because that is a different kind of ‘Great.’

It is such a limited vision – America appeared to be great in the eyes of the world, the greatness of the biggest, most powerful nation on earth, that kept the peace, threatened and cajoled trouble makers, imposed its brand of Democratic capitalism, whether it was wanted or not. Above all it spread your culture and way of life into every corner of the globe, fortuitously building the foundation of international acceptance.

It was a preeminence forged by brilliant minds, astute politicians and a belief in the primacy of democracy. And all that has been tossed in the garbage bin, shoveled into the waste dump, and destroyed by a mind that is as asinine as it is closed.

America’s allies have been made to look incompetent patsies, its enemies elevated to the status of good guys; the vision of one world united under its leadership has been turned inside out so that it is now one country united in servitude to it’s dictator.

That is the picture that we see. And yet…

And yet he is undoing one myth to replace it with a new one. America was never a policeman, never cared about the welfare of the world, but took every opportunity to interfere in the politics and economy of target nations for one purpose and one purpose only: to enrich the powerful, increase their might and influence.

A brutal strategy to be master, using the shadow of democracy to topple leaders, to deceive and lie. Remember WMD? Weapons of mass destruction that was sold to leaders of certain allies, (England and Australia among them), to replace a leader who dared stand up to them with one who would obey.

And what did that achieve? 9/11. When someone takes your stability, your way of life even it is terrible by the standards of the taker, revenge will take root, fester, and erupt in reprisal. When this results in harsher punishment by the taker, rebellions are born, ISIS style fundamentalists emerge, and more is lost than could ever be gained.

America might rail against foreign interference in its affairs, but it has been doing just that for decades. The only ones to gain from this, as it was designed to do, are the plutocrats, the top 1%, and never the people. Now, the president is trying to withdraw an American war machine and replace it with the old buy/sell/trade routine because that is all he knows. He conveniently forgets that the White house is not a resort, that staff are not apprentices, and that profit is not measured in dollars.

He ignores, or is stupidly unaware, that hatreds are boiling, that the desertion of allies will bring reprisals, and that those with their eyes on the prize of European and Middle Eastern power are salivating, laughing because their strategy worked. Put an ignorant narcissist in the White house and wait for the benefits to roll in.

The truly sad thing is that the system allows it. The powers the President of America has were predicated on the person bring honourable, sane, proud of the office and dedicated to the people. The checks and balances needed to contain aberrations were few and difficult to implement. Warning signs came with Nixon and the Bushes, but it was assumed that anyone who could succeed in getting to be President had to have the right to do so.

The terrible truth is that the power that comes with the office is too great for any one person to wield, and when capitalism had been corrupted as it has been, the worst of all possible results comes about.

So here’s the real problem. When everything is a commodity, when money rules every aspect of every life, as it now does, honour and probity are thrown out venality and immorality take their place. Charlatans like Trump are in heaven, they can get away with most things and laugh all the way to the loony bin. Offer allies such as the Kurds up to Turkey? Simple - we’re outta there. Alaskan oil? No problem. China will be good. No such thing as climate change, a desperate future, or a falling life span. He just doesn’t care. But I do, so do most of you.

Go on, stand up and fight – Greta Thunberg is, so many young people are doing so. They know there is no time to lose.