Cogito Ergo Non Serviam
Trump Leaves Legacy of Failure
The Trump presidency has little to show for the last four years. From "Build the Wall" to "Drain the Swamp," it has been long on slogans and short on achievement. It reflects Mr. Trump's real estate career and character almost perfectly. He has made the economy weaker. He has ruined America's reputation in the global system. He has shredded the fabric of civil society. He has left America sicker, poorer and dumber than when he entered office. Another four years of his imbecility would have been impossible to endure. His departure is like the passing of a hurricane. One must come out of one's shelter, assess the damage and (to the extent possible) clean up and repair everything. In all likelihood, it cannot be completely done, and it will take much longer than four years to undo it.
On the economy, Mr. Trump stormed into office claiming that US economy would grow by 4%; in some speeches he promised even more. He vowed to bring back all the jobs that China stole from the American working class. He promised a fountain of gold showering the nation with wealth that would balance the budget and pay off the debt. Mr. Trump leaves office with fewer Americans working than when he took office. The national debt rose by almost $7.8 trillion to roughly $28 trillion. Only $3 trillion and change was Covid-related, meaning most of it was simply ducking out on the bills by cutting taxes.
His trade wars were a disaster. The soy bean market, for instance, was a nice money maker for US farmers. They grew the beans and sent them to China. Then, Mr. Trump decided a trade war with China would be easy to win. The Brazilians now control the Chinese soy bean import market, and it will be impossible to win it back. China remains a trade problem.
That brings the discussion to American international interests. Mr. Trump's America First policy really meant America Alone, and even the world's greatest superpower needs friends and allies to help. He took the US out of the Paris Climate Accord, the Iran nuclear deal and the Open Skies agreement. He threatened to quit NATO and gave North Korea summit meetings that enhanced Pyongyang's standing in exchange for nothing at all. Above all, he never challenged a single action that an aggressive Russia undertook. The trust in America that had been built up over the last century was damaged, in some instances beyond repair.
Under Donald Trump, the racist right found itself encouraged to take to the airwaves and the streets to oppose the inevitable. America's demography is changing, and white people will make up less than half the population by 2045. Rather than embrace the inevitable cosmopolitan nature of America's future, he and his minions expended endless energy on trying to turn the clock back to a version of 1950s America that never really existed and that wouldn't work for many Americans. It ended with racists forcing the Capitol Police aside as they occupied the nation's legislative building. Racism has been America's problem for over 400 years, and to think it will go away quickly and quietly is silly. After Mr. Trump, to think it will go away at all is perhaps needlessly optimistic.
In the end, though, the worst failing of Mr. Trump was his non-response to the Covid-19 pandemic. He misjudged the situation badly and got the wrong answer to the problem. Had he accepted that the germ was a national problem, he could have united the nation behind him in staying healthy until the vaccines were ready. Instead, he decided that the economy was his ticket to re-election, and therefore, the pandemic was a distraction. So, there was denial and bluster rather than serious action. With just over 4% of the population, America accounts for around 20% of Covid-19 deaths. With 400,000 now dead in the US from the disease, his massive failure is painfully apparent.
As Mr. Trump leaves the White House tomorrow, one can only hope America doesn't fall for a con man again. The Republic barely survived this one.
© Copyright 2021 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.
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