The election of Donald Trump marks a new American governance model marked by impunity and machismo. Democracy is increasingly taking a back seat. Hubris and might ascends with the rule of authoritarians and strongmen. True democracy is in intensive care in much of the world.
Increasingly, there is fear in the world. An American Strongman surrounded by super wealthy henchmen worth hundreds of billions of dollars will rule the west for the near future. This oligarchy threatens to become all-powerful with the rule of corporations as equally as powerful as departments of state.
Blacks, gays, and minorities, will experience second-class citizenship, as White Supremacy re-ascends the slippery slope of power in both government and corporation in the USA. Klansmen are grinning from ear to ear as they hammer away at the scaffolding.
Trump is a Strongman granted immunity while in office by a US Supreme Court that has swung far right with Trump appointees. Trump will also have the Senate and Congress behind him as US President. Trump’s power will be without limit. In fact, Trump may well be the most powerful US President in living memory.
Trump is a straight talker, in spite, the bull he spews. He appears believable, and inspires his white rural working class followers. Whites see Trump as protecting their interests. Trump is no ordinary President. Trump is leader of a mass movement. Therein lies Trump’s power.
Will Trump rule as a Dictator? Time will tell. Like any dictator, he will surround himself with yes men. In Trump’s New World commentators have described his choices of cabinet as ‘’misfits.’’ A fascist will appoint a jackass to prove he is all- powerful. However, that power is an Achilles Heel.
The problem for Trump and the rest of humanity is that the last thing the world needs today is a US President advised by ‘’rookies.’’ Being a commentator, or TV personality, does not make one an expert on defense, constitutional law, or healthcare.
Billionaires are admirable characters in business. Entrepreneurs create, innovate, and employ millions of managers and workers. Business defines a country’s prosperity and economic power. However, running a nation of 360 million souls is a far different ballgame to running a multibillion-dollar corporation.
The world is moving from a single US polarity to a world order of multiple power players. Europe is growing wary of its American ally. The US is rightly concerned Europe is not pulling its weight on collective defense: NATO.
The days of western dominance driven by American power are ending. Russia, China, North Korea, Pakistan and India possess nuclear weapons in addition to the USA, UK and France. China is the workshop of the world and may equal the US in GDP by 2030. The Yuan is slowly becoming a second reserve currency to the Dollar. If the Yuan succeeds in becoming a world reserve currency, that could plunge the west into economic depression as investors buy trillions of Yuan and Chinese backed debt abandoning dollar backed securities as riskier debt.
The world today requires skillful diplomacy, and stealthy moves on the chessboard of international power, and not the hubris and emotion of a colorful dictator and his acolytes. The Mideast is at the edge of the precipice. Russia is threatening nuclear Armageddon in Europe. Africa is in economic turmoil. China is growing increasingly muscular in Asia and the Pacific.
Trump may feel he dominates events today, but if China decides to invade Taiwan, Iran blocks the Straits of Hormuz, or Russia marches into Poland, then all bets are off.
