Characterizing Donald Trump’s political philosophy is mind-blowing.
To be sure, Trump is brash, discourteous,
and narrow minded.
He doesn’t hesitate
to hurtle personal insults at people he doesn’t like (e. g. comments about Miss
Universe’s weight).
He talks much more
about personalities than policies.
His
signature idea is to build a wall to separate
Mexico
(an idea tried by
China
three thousand years ago).
He doesn’t
know a thing about
US
foreign policy, (e. g. see Trump’s comments on
Syria
and
Aleppo) or
international law (e.g. his proposal to kill the families of terrorists ) but
he won’t hesitate to tell you how smart he is, after all he doesn’t pay any
taxes, although the rest of us do.
He’s suggested
that the voting process is rigged and if he loses the election, he might not
support the voter’s choice, unless he wins.
In fact, Trump’s belligerent attitude has effectively increased activity
in white supremacy groups within the U. S.
Despite Trump’s stinking characteristics, many Americans
support him. There is always the “Rock
Republicans” and “Devoted Democracies” who will support a ham sandwich rather
than vote for a candidate from the opposite party. But there are other, more enlightened voters,
who actually try to select the candidate who they think represents their ideals
best. However, most people make these decisions
based on their “gut feelings”, their preconceived beliefs, not on a logical
application of facts. They make their
decision based on emotion and then use facts to prove the decision is the
correct one; it is actually the backwards of what you might think (see Jonathan
Haidt, “The Righteous Mind, Why Good People are Divided by Religious and
Politics”). For example, many people are just feed up with a congress that has done nothing and their
preconceived idea is that a change would be good. Voters are sick and tired of Washington being
controlled by insiders, epitomized by Hillary Clinton. In fact, a seat in congress is the only job I
can think of where experience is a detriment.
The voters want someone from outside the beltway who can make meaningful
changes and they think Donald Trump fits the bill.
The facts however are different. Those policies which could help the
struggling middle class are being crushed by Republicans. Raising the minimum wage for example would
help increase the standard of living of many working folks, whose inflation
adjusted income has stagnated, and would also stimulate the economy creating
more and better paying jobs. Making
college education more affordable, would allow smart but poor students to gain
better jobs, higher pay and help stop the drain of American jobs to other
countries. Republicans, who control both
the House and Senate, will not support these ideas. The fact is that in 2007-2008, the House of
Representatives lead by Eric Cantor from Virginia,
started the “Young Guns” to assure that only conservative Republicans were
elected to Congress and to assure NO progressive agenda sponsored by the
Democrats would get passed. When middle
class Americans vote for Republican candidates to initiate a change, they are
voting for people who are against programs that would help the middle class. They are voting against themselves!
Because of the Tea Party, “Young Guns” and other
conservative groups, compromise and negotiation in congress is almost extinct. Republicans now operate by the mantra “my way
or the highway”. But compromise is the
key ingredient for developing legislation, without it there is no legislation
and no progress. Had Republicans been more
conciliatory toward compromise in 2007 and following years, they could have
created a more reasonable political agenda, and they would have avoided a
candidate like Donald Trump who has been disavowed by many prominent
Republicans.
Another reason why Republicans like Trump is their
preconceived idea that a smart businessman would make a good government leader. But consider this. The overriding purpose of business is to make
a profit, the bigger the profit and better.
In fact, some businesses will knowingly do harm to their customers in
order to make more profit. History is
full of examples, tobacco and asbestos businesses claimed that their product
does not harm people, medical insurance companies refused to insure people with
pre-existing diseases, Volkswagon falsified automobile emissions,
pharmaceutical companies charged exorbitant prices for life-saving drugs and
thousands of other examples. This is NOT
how a democratic government should work.
A democratic government’s purpose is to do good for the people. In fact, if a president ran the government
with the same purpose as a business, he/she would be impeached. As for Donald Trump, he is not even a good
businessman. His businesses has declared
bankruptcy six times (according to PolitiFact).
This does not make him qualified to be president. Bankrupcies do not make you a better businessman,
ask Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg.
Another preconceived idea that some people have is that
businesses are run more efficiently then government. Yes, cutting inefficiency is a maxim in
business; cutting inefficiency saves money and therefore increases profit. But, look at the US post office. The post office ships literally millions of
letters and packages each day. Yet a
person can track the delivery progress of a letter or package from it point of
origin to its final destination, for any items they wish. Or consider Social Security. Millions of Americans receive their Social
Security checks each month, delivered on time and to the right bank account,
without any errors. The same can be said
for Medicare which delivers health care to millions almost flawlessly. The government has far more customers then
any business, everybody in the US,
and by and large it is pretty efficient.
We know how efficient our government is because it is funded by the tax
payer but we really don’t know how efficient businesses are, they keep it
secret, we just assume they’re efficient.
So in a few days you will go to the polls and vote. Before you pull the level or mark an “X” on
the ballot, go to a reputable source (e.g. Politifact) and look up the facts
about the candidate’s stand on the issues.
Compare these facts with your beliefs and pick the candidate whose
political position best meets you beliefs.
Even if you chose the same candidate, you’ll make a better and wiser
choice.
Terry A. AmRhein
Terry AmRhein is author of the acclaimed book, “Democracy on
the Edge, A Discussion of Political Issues in America”, voted Best Political Book
of 2016 by Pacific Book Review
