Here I sit in Australia, dreading turning on the telly or the computer to find the ‘latest’ act in The Donald performance. And every morning (GMT + 10) the news never fails to either shock or amuse me, depending upon the scene. And I’m sure there are millions all across the world doing exactly the same.
I believe that Trump is a very real threat to western democratic states. The platform that he was voted in on, and the stunts he is managing to get away with* are eerily reminiscent of the rhetoric employed by the German nationalists prior to the rise of Hitler himself (yes, I’ve Godwinized the thread already).
But Trump is not alone in that. Here in Australia we have the One Nation Party, England has the BNP, European countries have their own home-grown ultra RW parties as well. The difference is that every word that Trump utters, every dump he takes is broadcast across the world seconds later for all to see.
And I’m hoping that for every ultra RW follower, there’s a more thoughtful RW voter now considering the consequences of their beliefs (and future voting choices). I’m hoping that every time Trump craps all over the notion of an accountable government, another person has second thoughts about what that actually MEANS for their or their kid’s futures. I’m hoping that the Trump phenomenon is a bloody good wake-up call for all of us in the world who have the privilege of living in a democracy instead of a dictatorship.
And I’m also hoping that our leaders (political and otherwise) around the world take heed of this (because at the end of the day, most of them are corrupt to one degree or another) and start renouncing the bullshit that permeates their roles.
tl/dr: Maybe Trump is catalyst that we all needed to clean up before things get TOO far out of control.
Western democracies - and America in particular - have survived bad leaders before. Nixon and Carter in America to name but two. The UK had Callaghan and Major. I’m sure Australia has had its share too. All were freely and fairly chosen by their various electorates. The countries survived. Democracy survived.
Oh, there will be (relative) good to come of this. In particular to someone that is rich, greedy, and unprincipled. Someone like that is about to have it real good.
Carter? Jimmy Carter??? He was a wonderful President. Did many good long term things for the country. E.g., he submitted a balanced budget to Congress his final year. He cut America’s energy consumption which hurt OPEC which later brought down oil prices which boosted the economy. Etc. Unfortunately, America is a want it now country so that hurt.
In addition, the conservative controlled media decided to make the horrible President Reagan a Saint (Iran-Contra? Never heard of those!) and so they just made up crap to demonize Carter. Carter was and is very widely respected worldwide. Something that angers the Republican Faithful very much. The right wing skewing of facts goes back quite a ways.
IMHO, Carter was more ineffectual than bad. But Reagan was a disaster. He destroyed the labor movement and this was part of the gigantic wealth imbalance, which Reagan also added to by his tax cuts for the wealthy, which seems to be the only thing Reps can agree on today.
The OP asks if Trump can help destroy the drift to right wing authoritarianism that seems to be ascending in various advanced countries today. Maybe, but I ask if Putin’s administration had any such effect. Remember that Trump’s love for Putin was apparent during all of his campaign and it didn’t seem to frighten his supporters at all. Still doesn’t. In the US, the main effect seems to have been the unleashing anti-Arab, anti-Semitic, anti-foreigner, anti-whatever, sentiments in the country. And in Canada too, BTW. So no, I cannot see anything positive coming of this. But come ask me again after the 2018 mid-term elections.
I don’t know how many RW voters in other countries it will wake up. Probably a few. But if someone was already inclined to support a ultra right wing and nationalist candidate or party, then I don’t know how inclined that person would be to listen to the news and listen to experts and be dissuaded from their vote.
Also, a lot of people think that their own experience is unique. They might look at Trump and think that Trump’s a buffoon but their own candidate is smart and will do things right. Or for example if Trump starts massive deportations, and the economy is affected badly and food prices go up, then they might think that it’s just because that’s how it is in America, but it would be different in Australia or wherever else because of X, Y, and Z.
The one benefit that I can think of for the world is that other countries might start taking their laughingstock candidates more seriously, and mount up a more prepared opposition. For too long a lot of people didn’t think Trump could win, but maybe now other countries will realize that their own version of Trump could.
But in any case Carter was not a terrible leader that the US had to survive. If someone is worried about what the US will be like in four years, pointing to Carter and saying that we survived him is not a great example.
I feel like one good thing coming out of Trumpism is that people who disagree with him are getting active where, for a lesser threat, they may have just sat back waiting for the next election. It’s certainly true for me - I’ve made donations to organizations I’d have never supported before and I’ll be in the DC March for Science. More may come, if only in the form of monetary support. For someone who’s been mostly politically passive, this is huge for me.
It might be good in the sense that they are trying to destroy most of the niceties of government that everyone takes for granted, or thinks are evil due to Republican propaganda – pollution regulations, financial regulations, PBS, the NFA, and now, subsidized healthcare. But in their wanton destruction they are pissing off a lot of normal, centrist folks, not to mention progressives. So when the pendulum of power swings back to the left, it’s going to swing back hard. When it’s time to rebuild, it will be pissed off progressives in power, with massive popular support.
This feels more and more like the Gilded Era, where America was run by and for corporate interests as a sort of kleptocracy. When people got pissed off enough, they ripped apart the government in no time, leading to the Progressive Era – an era of social safety nets, safer working conditions, financial regulations, the creation of public lands, breaking apart political machines, women’s suffrage, etc.
We’ll survive, but I have had moments when I’ve wondered about the future of our democracy. That is very unsettling and prompts me to write my congress people or find the nearest Indivisible group.
The effects of Trump and the Republicans are likely to be global and so negative that no positive result can make up for them. A new Great Depression, widespread wars and the likely use of nuclear weapons or even a full-on nuclear war. And an America that is fundamentally hostile to the rest of the world isn’t a good thing, either.
People have been telling me for* decades* that “sooner or later the pendulum will swing left”; instead there’s been a slow slide to the right, and now the US is sliding right off the cliff into the abyss of fascism. There’s isn’t any pendulum; there’s a ratchet.
And with the Republicans in a position to implement unrestrained voter suppression and worse it really doesn’t matter how unpopular the Republicans become; they can simply declare themselves the winners anyway. That’s what happens when you put anti-democratic people in charge of a democracy; democracy dies.
