Donald Trump president of the United States not nearly as shocking today as Arnold Schwarzenegger for governor a few years ago. Some call this just another stunt on the part of Trump to promote his brand, his TV show and have people saying his name; others aren’t so sure. Neither are they certain he will run, nor is he apparently. What is less in doubt is his undeniable popularity both in GOP polling and among the American people. However civic minded individuals should be more concerned with his political platform not necessarily the party he aligns himself with while campaigning, category you find him under on any upcoming ballot, rather the things he says he wants to do for America, how he plans to solve our problems. Extreme thinking he seems annoyed no one has even proposed, let alone implemented, projecting the idea that leaders, persons who haven’t done all of these things are somehow stupid, putting forth the concept that he is the be all and end all of solutions for the good old US of A, but is he? Is adopting fringe ideas, unmerciful tactics the only way to save our great country?
Radical thinking is nothing new to politics, nor are all radical ideas on the level of Nazi Germany or the communist revolutions in both China and Russia. Radical ideas have abolished slavery, ended segregation, lead to medical advancement and the improvement of the human condition. Likewise radical ideas can also be detrimental on a smaller scale than global apocalypse or major ideological shifts, impacts to believed universal freedoms; enter Donald Trumps’ ideas should he become president, saying he would seize the oil fields in Iraq and Libya, the former as the spoils of war. Saying he would stop the protection of Saudi Arabia, in essence threatening OPEC into producing more oil, both actions thus lowering our gas prices. At a tea party event in New York he said we are the Saudi Arabia of natural gas we’re not using; we have oil they won’t let us drill, coal no one is consuming. Solving America’s economy problem Trump style includes billions of dollars in business deals he intends to negotiate with foreign nations; he says he plans to stop growing superpowers from ripping off America, chastising those who do business in China, a country who manipulates its currency. Pointing out that above-mentioned Saudi Arabia pays us nothing for the protection they receive. When asked in a Good Morning America interview if his hotels and business ventures are stocked with American products, he talks about trying to find TV’s for his hotels all of which were made in Korea, complaining he can’t find American made TV’s. Then we spend hundreds of millions of dollars protecting South Korea from North Korea while they again pay us nothing.
But no one is looking too deeply into the why of it; no one realizes what Mr. Trump’s actions would actually do for, and to, America. Threatening Saudi Arabia could backfire; on the extreme end it could collapse the global financial system. Here at home we aren’t “drill baby drilling,” the chant of the republican campaign in 2008, because of environmental disasters like the BP oil spill, the deplorable condition of oilrigs nation wide. Natural gas comes with its own unique set of headaches and potential consequences; from neighborhood explosions caused by poorly maintained, inspected gas lines coupled with the highly explosive tendencies of gas to begin with, to fracking possibly leading to water contamination even linked to earthquakes in one Arkansas town. Home video shot by residents showing them lighting their own tap water, due to high methane content, should raise serious questions about the safety of the procedure being used to obtain the gas. Further, continuing to depend on non-renewable energies, fossil fuels, that will run out, only pawns the problem off on our children’s children doing nothing to deal with the need for a completely different type of energy. At least president Obama is pushing us toward alternatives, has a vision beyond draining natural resources for a few years of prosperity.
Similarly, taking oil from Iraq and Libya doesn’t solve a true, more immediate problem- financial speculators manipulating our markets based on what they think might happen in the economy, in the Arab world painted as the reason food stuffs like coffee have seen a dramatic increase analysts can find no other solid backing for. Speculators who need to either be shut down entirely or greatly limited in what they can do, something that would also level out gas prices along with a stoppage on price gouging taking place at pumps across the country. Correcting these problems means a greater impact and avoids making us look like Napoleonic power mongers ripping away the one viable commodity from two struggling, impoverished counties, making us look less like the dictators and terrorists they fight to be free of. Especially in that particular region already so filled with anti American sentiment, which will only get worse should Trump become president and his “what we’re doing over there is ridiculous” attitude carry more weight. It is never ridiculous to aid others in getting their freedom, stop the wholesale slaughter of innocent people at the hands of maniacs drunk on their own power. In a related line of thinking, we don’t protect South Korea from North Korea because of what we can get out of it but for the ideas of democracy, democracy leading to stable regions, less war, less chance of nuclear disaster; to say nothing of it’s the right thing to do. And charging a fee for doing the right thing to solve our debt problem, to make a quick buck belies our dwindling reputation.
Having a business tycoon residing in the White House doesn’t automatically mean things will bode well for those on Main Street or that we will regain some kind of lost status in the international community. According to one of Trump’s pet peeves, America is regarded as a joke worldwide; however many would rather us be seen as a joke than the target we have been since 9-11. Perhaps a joke can be a good thing. On one hand he claims we are perceived as a joke, calling the head of the Club For Growth a fool for not imposing taxes, the latter says amounts to tariffs on China, fearing it will collapse the economy, then he says he wants to make billions in foreign business deals. So said countries are bad, doing bad things but I’m going to enter into a business transaction with them anyway, or maybe he wants us to manipulate our currency just like China. Having a business shark running around using the rest of America’s good name to make supposed deals, looking an awful lot like ripping them off to prosper us, only creates more nations who are angry with us, further seals our reputation as a overly rich, selfish country indifferent to the plight of the rest of the world, only makes us more of a target. Additionally, Trump has never held political office, never sat in that chair; it’s not like being CEO of a company, you can’t fire everyone you don’t like, everyone you think is stupid. The buck doesn’t stop with you, much of the final decision isn’t up to you; it must be approved by congress, a currently divided governmental body, agreeing on next to nothing.
Hypocritically Donald Trump looks like your average greedy businessman so prevalent today wanting to create foreign investment deals while saying he no longer supports the 14% net worth tax on citizens, right here, making 10 million or more; his reasoning we can no longer afford it, our economy is too fragile and weak. Saying it’s a shame because 12-14 years ago it would have paid down the deficit. Yet imposing such a tax on the super rich is far better than bleeding everyone else dry, puts us on a forward momentum to eliminating America’s cash flow problem internally not externally. He says so called “Obama-care” is a disaster, that he has friends going out of business because of it, but has no solution to the healthcare crisis in America apart from picking up our economy, vaguely talking about being for people being taken care of, nothing about how that will be achieved. Contrastingly Obama’s plan has reined in insurance companies providing care for persons with preexisting conditions, children with preexisting conditions, prevented people from being dropped the moment they get sick. He’s edging toward a system where everyone has health insurance, everyone is paying into the healthcare system, small and moderate sized businesses receive government subsidies to offset costs and that’s how it’s paid for. Incidentally the last part doesn’t go into effect until 2014 so how can companies be going out of business because of Obama-care now? An answer could be they’re not; they’re actually going out of business due to fear of what will happen not what already has. Is the Obama plan perfect, no; is it a step in the right direction, yes. Building on his initiative seems more plausible, less destructive than tearing it down and trying to form something better, snatching newly given coverage away from individuals, families who have it now, leaving them in limbo. Just an added flaw in the Donald Trump for president itinerary.
Another fringe political platform a “Joe plumber” type who said our country needed a political plan, mindset based on the down to earth comments of Bill Cosby, dubbed the Bill Cosby platform. Highlights, remove press one for English from all phone systems, force immigrants to wait beyond our borders until they can speak the language. A two year isolation of no imports or exports meant to cure our big business attitude in this country, operating on the Wal-Mart policy “if we aint got it you don’t need it;” after that a 100% import tax will be imposed. Retired military will be forced into 6-month tours manning observation posts with instructions not to shoot southbound aliens. Social security would function at, what this citizen calls its original state, meaning only those who pay in receive anything. Steroids and sports, test positive, receive lifetime ban. Criminals are now to be punished using the Turkish method; steal lose your right hand. Kill someone, prepare to be executed in the same fashion. One export allowed, wheat because the world needs to eat, but it will cost roughly the price of a barrel of oil. Foreign aid given with taxpayer dollars no more; instead it will be used to pay down the national debt ultimately lowering taxes. Natural disasters, people decide if they want to donate. Both national anthem and pledge of allegiance will be said in appropriate places. God Bless America.
12 points intended to solve America’s problems and make us great again, but will it? A tad confusing is this person’s stance on welfare checks handed out after a 40-hour school week, clean urinalysis and passing grades. For whom, the parents or the children of those on welfare? No one is for addicts receiving welfare but stringent proposals to revoke welfare allotments to persons testing positive are unfair to patients on a number of medications producing a false positive for illegal drugs, a situation which can also occur when people are put on new medications, forget a switch in pills they are taking. Like Mr. Trumps ideas for acquiring oil and wealth for America, forcing immigrants to learn English before entering the country is unfair to refugees of war in places like Bosnia, Darfur, not just ones from Mexico and other Latin American countries. Not so ironically one Bosnian immigrant just testified before a panel in the Midwest concerning driving tests given in other languages stating her parents wouldn’t have done nearly as well without the ability to drive. Why is this an issue coming before a state legislature; supporters say it makes that state’s roads safer. The real reason, dollars it takes to create tests in something other than English. It’s interesting this citizen wants to remove all the Spanish speaking immigrants, aliens with no thought to what will happen as they drop out of the economy, when they are no longer there to do the jobs American’s don’t want or refuse for the wages paid to immigrants; what happens when this population is suddenly no longer buying goods, their children no longer in schools.
No imports or exports on the part of the U.S. isn’t an assurance big business will change, but it is an assurance the global economy will be in jeopardy. Continuing, we don’t have the raw materials, the factories or other necessary tools to only “make it here and sell it here,” as this person would like; developing it would take years. Their comment on the “Wal-Mart policy” is comical, when you actually read the labels on things housed at Wal-Mart clothing from countries most people can’t pronounce; stickers on the bottom of lamps that say almost anything but made in America. Further, once imports and exports are allowed, savvy businessmen and women seeking profit, unable to function here will simply take their business to a place with cheaper labor; such was the case involving one man and his lettuce farm in 2008, unable to find workers, immigrant or otherwise, legal or otherwise, he moved his operation south of the border. And it is not the only place for said labor; poorer Asian countries, remote parts of the world are also ripe for this. To say nothing of, big business isn’t the problem; greedy, shady, unchecked business is, regardless of size, a problem better solved with proper regulation and oversight. Again comparing and contrasting proposed solutions, faced with Mr. Trump’s tariffs or Mr. Citizen’s 100% import tax China and others will simply find paying customers, market their business elsewhere and promptly stop imports from the U.S., causing us to lose a potential buying market of 1.3 billion people. Translating into we buy it here sell it here but cannot export the surplus and when Americans have purchased the washing machine they need, all the TV’s they could possibly use, we end up in a situation eerily familiar to what ended up as the great depression.
Social security, contrary to popular beliefs, is not just for those who paid into it; there are child, spousal and death benefits paid out of the same administration. Also coming out of social security is Supplemental Security Income paid to qualifying individuals physically or mentally incapable of working, persons with physical disabilities, developmental delay, mental illness. The need for said stipend has increased as jobs have become more complex aggravating some mental conditions, becoming too complicated for individuals with delays. Compounding the problem are employers no longer willing to train someone with a developmental disability, accommodate persons with physical limitations, despite the law. Stigmatization of mental illness along with a lack of part time jobs makes working impossible for some. So, to do as this citizen asks we what, force the quadriplegic to get a job no matter what, force someone with cerebral palsy and forearm crutches to wear out their body working retail on their way up the ladder, force mentally ill people to work jobs too taxing for them until they hurt themselves or others, then point and say look how violent they are? By the way, when that happens they’ll be institutionalized at the cost of taxpayers anyway. At the same time forcing retired military to man border stations creates almost identical problems, as there aren’t that many retired military capable of manning such stations. Forcing the powers that be to commandeer either national guard and reserve men or, infinitely more likely, compel soldiers suffering from PTSD and other war induced injuries and illnesses to man a the boarder with guns; friendly fire, international incident anyone?
Our citizen’s stance on crime is perhaps the most provocative; certainly people with a murdered loved one would love nothing better than to see them suffer the same; however, the person designing this political platform forgets the astonishing number of people in jail for
years cleared when DNA evidence became common place, forgets the number or errors discovered in crime labs, misinterpretations of evidence presented, rare cases where DNA was planted. We are not Turkey and that’s a good thing; we actually require proof of guilt before jailing someone, passing sentence, never mind an action as drastic as removing a hand, if that is still practiced in modern Turkey. Plus, the only people serving life sentences for petty, even felony theft are usually ones convicted under 3 strikes laws found in California among other states, a law that was originally meant to be limited to violent offenders, broadened on public outcry and those in power looking to be tough on crime. We are not Turkey, neither are we China, Singapore; we hold ourselves to a higher moral standard. When we find corruption it is met with outrage, when we find wrong doing it is met with scorn and justice; we aren’t going to start acting like them because we think it’s in our best interests.
Exporting wheat in order for the world to eat is defiantly necessary; charging the price of a barrel of oil makes us look like rich bullies stealing lunch money because we can. In that same vein, leaving foreign aid up to individuals, when we give the least foreign aid of all developed nations once more reinforces our reputation as cruel, selfish and unconcerned for the rest of the planet. Highly hypocritical taking into account should we ever have any of the disasters to befall places like Hattie, Japan incurring that much damage we would be begging for identical help. Lastly, we are a nation built on rights and freedom of choice; people have the right not to like the national anthem, have a right to opt out of saying the pledge of allegiance if they so choose. The recurring divisiveness regarding the pledge centers around the words “one nation under God;” atheists use it and the separation of church and state to mount campaigns to remove the words or the entire pledge. A minor worry seeing that no one has succeeded in doing either; enough leaders, politicians and individuals honor national traditions for them not to be in jeopardy. Sports and steroids, of all the things to worry about why is this one of them; assume all athletes are dosed on one substance or another. Admire them or don’t; life goes on.
Keep in mind the excerpt above is not a real political platform; it is only one person’s view of what should be. The alarming part is it is how many Americans currently think like this, disregarding extenuating circumstances, deeper thought and compassion. Identically Donald Trump’s ideas for running the country are based on the shark infested world of business where cutthroat deals are the norm, yet is that any way to run an country? Transfer that to leader and you have a dictator, or at least the beginnings of one, a road America does not want to go down. Never mind, will others let either ideological scheme take hold; Trump is already seen as a farce, an entity not serious about political office, forget a position as important as president of the United States. Odds are it will remain that way; still what must be closely guarded against is the mindset, the stock answers, the throw out all the brown people mentality, the take away from the people with the least to give to the majority concept. Otherwise we will wake up one day to an America that isn’t America anymore.