With the election of Donald Trump as US President there is a lot to say. I want to choose my words and thoughts carefully however, and that may take time.
In the interim I want to provide readers with some links into the more insightful writing and/or revealing images that I’ve encountered over the last couple of days. I will add to these as time goes on and I consolidate my argument/s on the consequences of his election.
As a starting point, a historical reflection of the mood of liberals on the night is here and here, while the list here of Donald Trump’s promises, and noting those that are quietly dropped from the political agenda, will be a valuable resource going forward. I still hold the quaint belief that words matter, with some of the consequences of considering them meaningless outlined here.
In graphical form the interactive link here shows how the votes shifted (with a comparative argument that the votes didn’t shift here), while the graphic below graph (link here) gives some idea how future votes may go if the electoral preferences of the younger generation remain unchanged.
Already reality is intruding on the dream however, with an example here (paywalled) with a self-explanatory title, with comments on his almost certain inability to address increasing inequality and the capture of the political system by well-organized interest groups outlined here.
Nevertheless, looking to the future the articles here and here are a good starting point for me sharing my own thoughts, which will expand around my fear that it is a reasonable projection that he will seek to do exactly what he said he would do. Reality will intrude somewhat, for example “the wall” has already become something of “a fence”, but the philosophical intention remains clear. As an aside, a remarkable video of where that wall/fence would be located is available here.
And in response? Well, one view, which I think on the whole offers not a lot of guidance on the way forward, is here. A more concrete example, from the esteemed Professor John Quiggin here is that “More generally, the left needs to go beyond the (justified) demand for a higher minimum wage and seek to restore the wage share of national income to the level that prevailed during the postwar era”. In particular, I highlight his conclusion that “…that can only be done with strong unions”.
To be continued…
Note: If you are interested in reading more on the Trump election from different perspectives I am running similar ongoing posts on some of my other blogs here and here.