# For those discussing the upcoming Trump administration - why? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [November 13, 2024, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-discussing-the-upcoming-trump-administration-why/1010207 "2024-11-13T18:16:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-discussing-the-upcoming-trump-administration-why/1010207/21 "2024-11-13T21:37:15Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > You are made of sterner stuff than I, to want to engage in such exchanges w/ Trumpers. I’m in Canada, so the local Trumpers will also support the Conservative party in our elections next year(ish). The one hope we have of them losing this election is if Trump shits the bed so hard, so fast, that even the CanaTrumpers notice. Canada is in a weird position. We have no actual influence over who Americans will elect, or what those elected will do, but we’re still going to be affected by it. If Trump crashes the US economy, ours will crash as well. Having someone in office here who will cater to Trump’s every whim will just make it all worse. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-discussing-the-upcoming-trump-administration-why/1010207/22 "2024-11-13T21:43:24Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > Canada is in a weird position. We have no actual influence over who Americans will elect, or what those elected will do, but we’re still going to be affected by it. And from our side of the border, I have never understood why so many Americans speak derisively about Canada, when they seem to exceed us on so many social issues. ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-discussing-the-upcoming-trump-administration-why/1010207/23 "2024-11-13T21:43:57Z")
I am maintaining a healthy distance from the details while keeping abreast of the headlines. That is all I can manage. I frequently read what people are discussing here and few other places but refuse to dive in too deep for my own sanity. That might change if things begin to impact me personally. For instance I will be buying some electronics before any impending tariffs. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-discussing-the-upcoming-trump-administration-why/1010207/24 "2024-11-13T21:51:04Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > And from our side of the border, I have never understood why so many Americans speak derisively about Canada, when they seem to exceed us on so many social issues. Well, that’s exactly why. Resentment that anyone _dare_ exceed the US in any way, and a conviction that those virtues are vices. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-discussing-the-upcoming-trump-administration-why/1010207/25 "2024-11-13T22:46:38Z")
> [@Ellecram](#): > > I am maintaining a healthy distance from the details while keeping abreast of the headlines. This. Pay attention to what _is_ happening. Don’t be speculating about what might be happening six months or six years hence. The present contains trouble enough; do not borrow more from the future. It will be there when the future does arrive and you’ll have dealt with it twice. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-discussing-the-upcoming-trump-administration-why/1010207/26 "2024-11-13T22:51:04Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > It will be there when the future does arrive and you’ll have dealt with it twice. Or not at all, because you waited too long to start. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-discussing-the-upcoming-trump-administration-why/1010207/27 "2024-11-13T22:56:12Z")
If only the Jews had followed that advice when Hitler had rose to power. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2024, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-discussing-the-upcoming-trump-administration-why/1010207/28 "2024-11-14T03:31:58Z")
There are several reasons I discuss US politics. I certainly don’t think I can change or influence them. Every election claims to be the most important ever. Is this one different, because the principle of separation of powers is under real threat? Perhaps… I don’t know much about John Thune, but the fact he was not the MAGA candidate may mean the Senate might take its job seriously. They say when America sneezes, Canada catches cold. Guess _something_ has to explain our weather. Canada is a country which trades its resources. The US imports more Canadian oil than any other nation. American companies in Houston own a lot of the Canadian oil companies, and Waltz’s wife is an executive at one of them. Trade deals and tariffs are very big deals here - with America. Amazingly, Canada does not have free trade between provinces. Most politicians here liked NAFTA. The proposed Trump nominees are not particularly positive regarding Canada, which should indeed do a better job supporting its military. Trudeau is unpopular with some American pundits and some Canadians, and will have difficulty winning the next federal election. People feel strongly about politics. So I don’t always discuss politics IRL, but I do enjoy doing so to some degree if it can be done intelligently and without rancour. I like understanding and analyzing the world. It makes a modest difference to my short and medium term investments - where I invest and in what form. I take pride in my understanding of global events and have enjoyed _The Economist_ for more than three decades. US politics might conceivably influence where I travel. Some Canadian policy is heavily influenced by American decisions - including on the environment, immigration, law, military, intelligence, social media, government spending, tourism, etc. The greenback has a big influence on the value of a Canadian loonie as well. In general Canadians know quite a bit about American happenings. Americans don’t think aboot Canada much, but tend to resort to dated stereotypes, eh? American trends often move north after a few months or years of delay. So it matters to us if America does go off the rails, although I think the US will avoid most of the worst excesses. About 20% of Canadians are Trumpers, including a significant percentage of young men and strong conservatives. The Conservatives currently seem likely to win Canada’s October 2025 election. This is more due to fatigue with current policy and incumbents rather than a vindication of Trump, whose election might give Trudeau a mild bump. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2024, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-discussing-the-upcoming-trump-administration-why/1010207/29 "2024-11-14T08:41:37Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > In my “compendium of horrors” thread, I explained why I started it, even though at least one poster found it overly depressing. In a nutshell, while it is indeed depressing, there’s one thing that’s worse – and potentially more dangerous – than enumerating some of the bad things that are likely to happen, and that is suffering a vague and nameless fear that the entire world is somehow collapsing. By being specific about things that might happen, you’re not only drawing boundaries around the limits of the badness, you’re also potentially opening up thoughts about ways that you can proactively deal with it. That would be me, partly because I foresaw plenty of people trying to _erase_ “boundaries around the limits of the badness,” which is why I feared the opposite of what you intended: a place to churn up _specific_ fear that the entire world is _definitely_ collapsing in these ways. (See **Jasmine’s** post in this very thread.) This is why I tend to agree with the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2024, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-discussing-the-upcoming-trump-administration-why/1010207/30 "2024-11-14T08:52:31Z")
Not everyone processes fear and anxiety in the same way. If your mind is whirling around the same speculative fear over and over again, even though talking it out might not change it, it does provide opportunities such as discovering that _you’re not alone in thinking this_, and also maybe offers exposure to ideas that limit the depth of the rabbit hole your brain is digging, if it does so alone. Tangible examples of that can be found in some of the threads about the election outcome - for example (quoting from memory, poorly) there was one where someone was expressing fears about how things might play out in a very extreme fashion, at the same time as there being no opposing control to stop that happening. Someone else in the discussion pointed out that there could be ways in which the situation itself would be self-limiting (ie mass deportation of every non-white person would be Bad For Business - so whilst it might not be limited by _human decency_, it would still be subject to limits). ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2024, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-discussing-the-upcoming-trump-administration-why/1010207/31 "2024-11-14T08:54:28Z")
I think a lot of people doing that probably, perhaps subconsciously, want someone to _talk them down_ from their fear of boundless badness. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2024, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-discussing-the-upcoming-trump-administration-why/1010207/32 "2024-11-14T14:05:46Z")
Yeah, I’ve had this same thought myself. It’s not good for anyone’s ongoing mental health to sit around in dread of what he might do, and then wailing and gnashing teeth when he actually does some of these things. Most of us (all of us on here?) are not in a position to actually change or influence any of it in any meaningful way for four years, so in my mind at least, it’s shifted from something that I had a vote in, to being something more… environmental. Like the risk of a tornado, hurricane, drought, or some other event that’s unable to be predicted, but that can be prepared for (both during and after) and otherwise isn’t worried about. Am I happy about his election? No. Am I frightened about what he might do to erode and break our system? Absolutely. But am I sitting around in a state of anxiety about it? No, and that’s the difference here. There’s a difference between fear and anxiety, and being fearful is perfectly acceptable and even smart here, but being anxious about it doesn’t do anyone any good. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2024, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-discussing-the-upcoming-trump-administration-why/1010207/33 "2024-11-14T14:23:18Z")
> [@bump](#): > > in my mind at least, it’s shifted from something that I had a vote in, to being something more… environmental. That strikes me as a healthy attitude. Me, I presume he will appoint/enable many really bad/incompetent people and will do A LOT of REALLY BAD stuff which will cause countless bad effects lasting well beyond his term. I do not need to try to analyze his various utterances (who knows which he will follow up on and which are just middle of the night tweets?), or anticipate policies and appointments. I can do specific things to protect myself - exercise, eat well, stimulate my brain/positive emotions, value and support friends and family - which will put me in a better position to weather WHATEVER specific shit he brings. Skimmed the paper this morning - absolutely passed over the articles regarding appointments, Sen/House leaders… Had the idea (which I DID NOT act upon! ;)) that instead of reading that, I’d be better off if I dropped to the floor and disd some push-ups! ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2024, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-discussing-the-upcoming-trump-administration-why/1010207/34 "2024-11-14T14:44:26Z")
For the same reason I watch the weather even though I already know a hurricane is about to land. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2024, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-discussing-the-upcoming-trump-administration-why/1010207/35 "2024-11-14T17:02:42Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Like the risk of a tornado, hurricane, drought, or some other event that’s unable to be predicted, but that can be prepared for (both during and after) and otherwise isn’t worried about. 'Zactly. That’s the healthy way. The unhealthy thing is emphasize the “worrying about” part regardless of whether one does the “prepare” part. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2024, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-discussing-the-upcoming-trump-administration-why/1010207/36 "2024-11-14T17:12:36Z")
We may be saying the same thing, but I think of it as the difference between fear and anxiety. I fear a tornado that’s bearing down on me, but the anxiety equivalent would be constantly being afraid/wound up about the concept that a tornado _could_ happen where I live. It’s prudent to have a go-bag and a plan for what to do if tornadoes are in your immediate area, but there’s no point in being anxious every time there’s a thunderstorm in the forecast, or worse, just being anxious that every thunderstorm could spawn a tornado. That sort of thinking is just corrosive to your psyche and isn’t actually productive in terms of getting prepared, etc. So I’m not anxious about what could happen. Concerned for sure, and more than a little dismayed that the election wasn’t closer than it was, but not anxious. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2024, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-discussing-the-upcoming-trump-administration-why/1010207/37 "2024-11-14T17:25:08Z")
Agreed. I think your taxonomy is valid and your approach is healthy. I’m reinforcing that, or at least trying to. 😉 It can be very hard for some people to let go of free-floating anxiety. But to whatever degree each of us can do that, IMO we each need to. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-discussing-the-upcoming-trump-administration-why/1010207.md?page=1)