You don’t mess with people’s money. Social issues are one thing, cash is another. That’s how we got into this mess, people left behind by globalization and the crash of 2008. Or did we? Did Trump supporters want their piece of the pie, or were they just racist whites railing against change?
We may never know.
But one thing we do know is Trump is single-handedly putting the market in the dumper. And the market affects everyone. Not only their job, but their savings. How many people are so ignorant as to think otherwise? Maybe these same people who survive on government safety net programs and vote Republican.
Trump is a man for the internet/social media era. The only problem is he’s President. Trump understands that in an attention based economy, you’ve got to make news every day. Only he’s no longer just the host of “The Apprentice,” but running the country. How long until the outrage spreads?
Maybe never. Maybe his acolytes are like those of Taylor Swift, dug in deep, supporting everything she does. Ever criticize a social media/entertainment star? Be ready for your inbox to explode, everywhere online you’ll be excoriated, to the point where most people retreat. That’s their game, getting you to shut up. Opponents are working the refs every day, to cause a chilling effect. That’s what the Supreme Court decides, whether a law inhibits free speech, not only literally but whether it inhibits people from speaking. Then again, the Supreme Court is now stacked, because people with little power don’t see that courts are their last resort, and the more they’re in the hands of corporations, they’re screwed.
But corporations and banks used to be the enemy. Wall Street broke the economy. GM and Chrysler were not prepared for change. Now it’s the government. The government used to fix the problem, now it causes it? Lincoln spoke of a “government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish.” Then again, the Gettysburg Address was uttered when the country was tearing itself apart, south versus north, and that division is happening again today. There’s a faction of America that wants to keep the status quo, that refuses to move forward, and if you don’t think suppression of the ACA is such, then you don’t understand how health is the bedrock of humanity. In Canada, you can change your job and keep your health insurance, in America, you’re tied to your gig, which may be expiring due to no effort of your own.
So they say that Trump got elected because of a backlash against 2008, that no one went to jail. So what happens now?
When the Oscars take place, there’s no doubt that the best movie of the year was Trump and his shenanigans. If it wasn’t true, we wouldn’t believe it. Untold twists and turns. Riveting. It dominated, everything else was a sideshow. It was the only thing we could watch.
Because our lives and livelihoods hang in the balance.
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