America Deserves Trump

Probably not a popular sentiment, at least not if you read the east coast papers - Wall Street Journal or New York Times, or watch any of a raft of liberal media options.  All these outlets have something in common though - but let me come back to this, as I think there's a more fundamental point here.

Do you recall a few years ago, when we saw the rallies and camps set up around Wall Street and in other US cities protesting the 1% ?  Really they were angered that the US had allowed itself to become an elitist society where the rich got richer and the poor got dumped on.  The movement seemed to have a little momentum, and then due to lack of a defined leadership and stated mission, slowly faltered and went away.  They were protesting an increasing level of unfairness in their country if I might paraphrase the situation.

Over and over again we see this gap - between what I might call 'average America' and the elite on TV and the leadership they put in place in the country.  While jobs move elsewhere, and it's tougher than ever to make a living,  rich guys in Washington argue vehemently about the principles of providing cheap health insurance to those that can't afford it, and big companies make profit minded decisions, rather than community ones.  It's vogue as a business leader to move your headquarters or at least significant operations to Ireland or other havens for example (See: Apple, Google, Microsoft and Pfizer etc).  The net result of this is that the $600B+ in avoided US taxes gets shifted to be a burden elsewhere - onto guess who.  (The US current account deficit is running at $503B, coincidentally).  In times when spending demands are increasing, security concerns are increasing, and concurrently Wall Street needs more and more profits from listed companies, we see this gap widening and widening.  It's between those who have, and those who don't have.  Because a lack of government programs or funding doesn't hit the 1% that own and run the companies, that own the media and buy elections, it hits the bottom 50%.  And let's face it, the bottom 50% are generally powerless. They can't vote with their wallets, as all they can afford is Walmart.  They can however vote with their voices and ballots.

So what are we seeing ?  We're seeing a Presidential candidate that has tapped into that anger, that growing sense of unfairness that doesn't divide America along red and blue lines, but between the haves and the have-nots.  The media in the country seems aghast at the idea that this racist, blowhard of a chameleon seems unstoppable, and the Republican Party seems powerless to stop him too.  But they are missing the point... it's not Trump that is magnetic, he's simply the orange release valve on the pressure that's been building up ever since the banks took government handouts and gave themselves bonuses. He's the way to vent anger that factories and well paid jobs shifted to other countries, and employment now means service jobs at minimum wage.  He's the only one that while admittedly still a billionaire, seems to be understanding the blatant lack of a level playing field and saying it out loud.

Capitalism vs democracy has been brewing for a long time in the US, and it's not a popular argument to make.  Media - who themselves are part of the 1% - don't want to speak to it, as the very thought can be seen to undermine the American dream.  But this election cycle we're seeing a resurgent level of old-style democracy in the US, and they're mad, and they're out to right some wrongs.  Donald Trump with all his baggage, is their man.