Now, as much as it might irk many Britons to admit it, the United States is the most powerful, influential nation on earth right now and, barring planetary catastrophes, will probably remain so for the rest of my, and probably your lifetime, so who is in the Oval Office has a bearing on most everyone's life in some way or other, no matter how strong or oblique that influence may be.
People, groups, institutions, even whole nations look to the US to lead the way; how America does things, any things, can be hugely influential, though I do believe that level of influence has fallen somewhat since the turn of the century, particularly since 9/11. Nevertheless, America remains, for good or bad, the most powerful and influential nation on earth.
It's not just that the US has the largest economy, though that obviously helps (the US extend their reach), America's media (in all it's forms) has an enormous, almost overriding influence on current and (near) future trends, be they political, financial or something more aesthetic and obscure like fashion, music, movies, even down to what we eat, even what we say. Most of the biggest corporations in the world are American (e.g. Google, Facebook, McDonalds) and their say in what and how we live our lives is huge, albeit often unseen and unrecognised. American's are by far the best at marketing, be that an idea, a concept, a product, a TV programme, a movie, a clothes chain, a coffee house, or even an individual. Witness the outpourings of grief around the world following the sad passing of Muhammad Ali, who was undoubtedly a great boxer and a great man, but did we see similar grief and recognition when Mother Teresa died? No, nothing like. So is Muhammad Ali more, or less great than Mother Teresa? That's not for me to say, but perhaps Ali's passing has brought forth such outpourings because he was American and because of that, one way or another, his heavily marketed life touched many people indirectly in so many ways, mine included, whereas that of Mother Teresa touched only the lives of the relatively few that she directly interacted with.
Now, I'm not saying anything against Ali - heaven forbid - he was one of my great heroes (see my tribute here), but do you think he would have gained all the accolades he did during his remarkable life had he been born in...say, Ivory Coast? Or Kenya? I don't think so! Ali became great by virtue of the influence he had over so many people, an influence that was relayed to us via American TV, American news, American documentaries and American books, all of which filtered down into our own news, documentaries and books so that in the end Ali became part of our culture, be that British, French, African, whatever. He became great because he was (wittingly or not) marketed by the American media system and so his story reached the whole planet in a way that if he'd been from Kenya, it would not have done.
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| My mate, the highly attractive Donald trump! |
So, given that America has such a strong say in our lives, the man (or woman) in charge of America should be of interest to all of us, since he/she has a say either directly or indirectly in the lives of the vast majority of the people on the planet. Thus when a man like Trump, running for the Presidency of this most influential of nations says the things he does and behaves the way that he does, it should be of import to us all. The things he says, the way he does things, the way he treats people, races or religious groups becomes something that each and every one of us should be taking notice of, simply because of the influence that America holds over us. So when Trump disparages individuals because of their racial heritage, or their religious beliefs or their (lack of?) economic standing people take notice and follow his lead, particularly in America, but this filters down to all of us eventually, wherever we are via social media, TV or through simple conversation. His thoughtless, heartless bullying of anyone who rankles him, and the language he uses in doing so becomes hugely influential and for many it normalises such treatment, making it everyday and acceptable - after all, if a budding President can call women 'pigs' then it must be okay to treat women like that, right? If a budding President can call all Mexicans murderers and drug dealers then surely they are and should be treated as such, right? If a budding President can suggest that all Muslims are terrorists and should be banned from his country, then they must be and they should be regarded in that light, right?
But none of these things are okay, regardless of how true or untrue they may be. Nor is it okay to suggest that he would order US armed forces to kill every member of ISIS, including their families, despite the illegality of such. He gives no thought to the political consequences of such an action; the trampling of national sovereignties that would be needed in order to achieve such; the social consequences (in America and elsewhere) of ordering the murder of the citizens of other nations (who make up ISIS); the resultant psychological and social effects of such an order on the individuals within the US armed forces! But because a budding President says it's okay, then it must be okay, right? I can almost hear the clamour for such action amongst the gung-ho, NRA wielding sections of US society because Trump has deemed it acceptable and has made their wildest, flag waving, gun-toting fantasies a near reality.
And do know what, for the rest of us, it's bloody scary! The man himself is far from scary; he's more a parody of everything that America shouldn't stand for! He's racist, he's prejudiced, he's lewd, he's sexist and he's a bully. No, the man himself is a bit of a joke. It's what he says that's scary! And it's the possible consequences of what he says, should he win out, that are more scary still.
This is a man who speaks without thought for the consequences, who opens his mouth, throws out his wayward, often contradictory opinions before he's engaged his brain, then tries to get out of it afterwards by saying 'my comments were misconstrued!' Is this really the man we want with his finger on the button, who could just as easily start a nuclear war and then apologise after the fact saying that it wasn't what he meant, and he has no problem with Muslims, or Hispanics or whoever it is he had accidentally blown up!
This is a man who could antagonise half of the planet with his tawdry, poorly thought out opinions and make life unbearably hard for American's living or trying to do business outside of the US because, like it or not, human nature dictates that if the leader of nation holds such low-level views of non-white, non-Christian Americans, then every American, good or bad, holds the same antagonistic opinions. Far from making America great again, this is a man that could utterly destroy America's reputation and isolate the United States completely.
This is a man who doesn't believe in climate change and says that it's all scam by scientists designed to garner government funding for their little research and pet animal projects and as such would he blow the Paris accord out of the water, invest heavily in the toxic industries of oil and gas and coal, stop all funding to environmental agencies and disband all environmental research projects and yet, conversely, is building a wall to stop the ever encroaching sea as it erodes away his multi-million dollar golf course in Ireland.
This is a man within whom hypocrisy runs riot, contradictory opinions and values run hot and cold depending on where and to whom he's speaking. As Stephen Hawking says, this is a man who "appeals to the lower common denominator" and changes his tack and views as often as he changes his ties. This is a man who will say whatever he thinks the particular crowd wants to hear in order to win their vote, heedless of the facts, the truth or what he may have said before. The fact that so many of his fellow Republicans can throw their support behind this despicable man shows just how desperate the GOP is to win the November election. That Paul Ryan can be so aware of how racist and inflammatory Trump is and yet still say he backs him highlights just how desperate the GOP are for power after 8 years in the doldrums.
It stinks and the smell is pervading the whole of American politics, demonstrating just how fake, partisan and yes, political it has all become. Doing or saying the right thing no longer seems to matter. The good old American adage of 'win at all costs' is rearing its' head and it's uglier than ever. Agree with them or not, there was nothing inherently 'wrong' with traditionally held Republican values, but just as some Muslims twist and contort the meaning of the Koran in order to inspire other (weak-minded) Muslims to commit terrible atrocities so Trump is twisting Republican values until they become all but unrecognisable.
This upcoming election campaign, when it begins in earnest, I fully believe will prove to be the most vitriolic, the most personal and the ugliest in living memory. In much the same way as the EU referendum in the UK is ripping the British political scene asunder until one wonders how any of the major parties will be able to move forward, post-referendum, whatever the result, I believe that this US election could well signal the end of American politics as we know it. Whether it will all lead in the end to a reduction in America's sphere of global influence is open to debate and will perhaps only be seen fully given sufficient time, but I do predict that America's image will be tarnished beyond repair by Trump unless some way can be found to muzzle and stop this man before he can do too much damage to the reputation of the nation he professes to love.
Have a good weekend, whatever your politics!
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