Thoughts on the Trump presidency

[DarloRich]

Is this the start? Is this bye bye to free speech in the U.S.A.?
Trump has threatened colleges’ federal funding for allowing “illegal protests” and said American students will be expelled.

This is very similar to a scenario we workshopped at a CPD session I attended recently. It went something like

Protests begin in a city/Institution against some policy the leader brings in > Leader ramps up criticism > Protests increase > Leader orders law enforcement to end protests > They fail/refuse > Leader ramps up rhetoric ( woke mind virus infected revolutionary Marxists, traitors seeking to bring down democracy, limiting free speech etc etc) Protest expands but start to lose control bordering on disorder > Leader send in the Army citing the insurgency act to evade the Posse Comitatus Act> Protestors are killed

in fairness the name "Trump" or "USA" wasn't used in the materials but it was clear who and where it was. The ultimate question was seeking to generate views on what happens after that final step with a secondary question of the impact of each ratcheting up on world relations/trade/order and what could be done to mitigate the situation

It was quite an interesting session and ALMOST as prescient as the one I attended on pandemics (based on Spanish Flu) about 6 weeks before COVID!

I think we are in for quite a ride in the next few weeks let alone years!

 

[najaB]

You missing word is woke, before educated.

Define 'woke' for me, please.

 

[Gloster]

Could it be that Trump has been very smart in bringing in Musk. Most of the domestic criticism, which seems to be beginning to move towards civil disobedience, is aimed at Musk and his actions. Meanwhile Trump gets on with his bits of individual revenge, money-making moves and carrying out Putin’s wishes…and hardly anybody in the country notices. Foreign policy is of no interest to most Trump voters and many of those who do vaguely show an interest either swallow the full MAGA line, or they are ignored and are not likely to take to the barricades. So he gets away with it, but whether it is him being clever, chance or steering from a certain (former) superpower, we may never know.

 

[JonasB]

Thing is Europe will do one and stop buying American goods, thing is the reverse won't happen as rich Americans have gotten used to better quality products from Europe and won't want to give them up, could be a win-win situation for European manufacturers, we buy more from them and export orders to the US don't change all that much.

At least in northern Europe there is movement. A Swedish "Boycott USA"-group on Facebook has gotten 60 000 members in a few days with a lot of tips on how to avoid US goods and services and instead buy European, Mexican and Canadian products. (And yes, the group is well aware that Facebook is a US service.)

 

[Giugiaro]

Just in case anyone wants to jump into the boycott: https://www.buy-european-made.eu/ and https://european-alternatives.eu/

Energy independence should also be hard-pushed in Europe. We need more nuclear and renewables. The less oil and gas we use, the less we depend on Paria states... and the US.

But I believe our biggest challenge will be hardware and software. We've become much too reliant on US tech, and decoupling will be difficult, painful and, more often than not, more expensive.

 

[Annetts key]

European countries need to discuss oil and gas with Canada... That may help in the short to medium term.

But yes, longer term renewables and storage systems are a big part of the solution.

 

[ainsworth74]

My feeling is that with the rate Trump is going, he will reduce his support enough that he will decisively lose both houses in the mid-terms, which reduces the threat to democracy. But it's not a view I have a lot of confidence in, and maybe that would be a reason to go to something more drastic.

Bold of you to assume that they will be free and fair elections! I'm sure Americans will go to the polls and there will be elections. I don't think they'll be free or fair anymore. At least outside of the Bluest of Blue States and even there I'm sure there'll be some attempt to suggest massive fraud and therefore the Senators and Representatives from those states shouldn't be seated.

It seems clear to me that the end game here is Russian like. There will be elections. Votes will be cast. None of it will actually effect the result.

This is the same reason they're trying to crash the economy, to allow oligarchs to buy up everything in a fire sale as happened in Russia in the 90s.

As far as I can see the US is toast and the sooner everyone accepts that this isn't going to resolve itself in 2026 or 2028 via the ballot box the better prepared we'll (as in Europe and the wider democratic world) be for an increasingly hostile US and better able to stand on our own.

 

[edwin_m]

Bold of you to assume that they will be free and fair elections! I'm sure Americans will go to the polls and there will be elections. I don't think they'll be free or fair anymore. At least outside of the Bluest of Blue States and even there I'm sure there'll be some attempt to suggest massive fraud and therefore the Senators and Representatives from those states shouldn't be seated.

It seems clear to me that the end game here is Russian like. There will be elections. Votes will be cast. None of it will actually effect the result.

This is the same reason they're trying to crash the economy, to allow oligarchs to buy up everything in a fire sale as happened in Russia in the 90s.

As far as I can see the US is toast and the sooner everyone accepts that this isn't going to resolve itself in 2026 or 2028 via the ballot box the better prepared we'll (as in Europe and the wider democratic world) be for an increasingly hostile US and better able to stand on our own.

You may well be right - I may be clinging to a hope here that democracy will prevail as it just about did last time. I sort of think the mid-terms are critical here, as they are that much sooner and losing the Senate or the House or both makes it that much harder to pursue voter suppression.

I do agree that we have to assume and prepare for the worst here, even if we are hoping for the best.

 

[AndrewE]

You may well be right - I may be clinging to a hope here that democracy will prevail as it just about did last time. I sort of think the mid-terms are critical here, as they are that much sooner and losing the Senate or the House or both makes it that much harder to pursue voter suppression.

I do agree that we have to assume and prepare for the worst here, even if we are hoping for the best.

Didn't Trump say "If I get back in we won't need any more elections?"
If I have remembered that correctly it sends a shiver down the spine...

 

[jon0844]

I wonder if this will be reposted on Truth Social.

Video is an AI generated spoof around Russia and Ukraine in the style of the recently shared AI video of Trump Gaza.

 

[The Ham]

Define 'woke' for me, please.

Woke - something which the person saying it doesn't like but doesn't want to give a reason as to why, the word is viewed as negative and so often people take the side so they don't also get labelled as woke.

(It may have previously had another meaning, but that appears to be the general definition now)

See also "fake news" where the individual don't have to define why it's fake and if anyone disagrees with them they can be belittled.

 

[Cdd89]

Define 'woke' for me, please.

Do we really need to do this again?
This question is generally asked in bad faith, but on the offchance that it is genuine, it's been amply covered in the thread below:

Help - what does ‘woke’ mean.

Can any of you clever people explain, in words of one syllable, what ‘woke’ means. Another word I keep hearing is ‘snowflake’. Feel like a right old fuddy duddy!!

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[Cowley]

No we’re not doing it again!

 

[nlogax]

I wonder if this will be reposted on Truth Social.

Video is an AI generated spoof around Russia and Ukraine in the style of the recently shared AI video of Trump Gaza.

What an absolutely terrible day to have eyes.

 

[jon0844]

There's almost four more years of this.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

There's almost four more years of this.

There's a countdown timer been set up for it...!!

Accessibility statement: Link goes to a timer literally counting down to the exact second when Trump's term ends, displaying in digital clock style.

Trump’s Final Term Ends in: - Countdown Timer

Trump’s Final Term Ends in: Countdown Timer

logwork.com

 

[najaB]

This question is generally asked in bad faith, but on the offchance that it is genuine, it's been amply covered in the thread below

It wasn't asked in bad faith. My post was quoted with the word 'woke' added, and it wasn't obvious from context if it was meant to be a serious correction or not, so it seemed reasonable to ask what the poster meant.

 

[Masbroughlad]

I cannot understand why the Leaders of the World don't call out all of his craziness. Ordinary folk can see it.

The State Visit to the UK should not be allowed. I'll be lodging my objection against it beforehand and protesting on the day, if it does.

 

[Giugiaro]

The State Visit to the UK should not be allowed. I'll be lodging my objection against it beforehand and protesting on the day, if it does.

He can come if he so wishes, under the condition that we can round him up in The Mall and get the chance to throw rotten tomatoes at him and his administration.

 

[brad465]

I cannot understand why the Leaders of the World don't call out all of his craziness. Ordinary folk can see it.

The State Visit to the UK should not be allowed. I'll be lodging my objection against it beforehand and protesting on the day, if it does.

Trudeau has called it out, but he does have some unique circumstances that may have helped: firstly because Canada already being hit by tariffs and on the receiving end of invasion rhetoric cannot be ignored (especially as Canadians clearly see Trump is to blame), and second, given this weekend he's handing over to his successor, he can speak his mind more knowing for the past 2 months he'd be out of office anyway.

If Trump starts putting more tariffs and threatening other countries further, expect more leaders to publicly condemn him.

 

[Ostrich]

The State Visit to the UK should not be allowed. I'll be lodging my objection against it beforehand and protesting on the day, if it does.

I suspect that it will be quietly "deferred" until such time as we can absolutely guarantee his safety. That may be some way off at present .......

 

[Cloud Strife]

But I believe our biggest challenge will be hardware and software. We've become much too reliant on US tech, and decoupling will be difficult, painful and, more often than not, more expensive.

Honestly, it's not expensive at all. There are open source alternatives to almost everything out there, and for instance, Russia made the switch to Astra Linux without very much difficulty. Even with hardware, Arm and RISC-V pretty much get the job done.

 

[edwin_m]

I cannot understand why the Leaders of the World don't call out all of his craziness. Ordinary folk can see it.

Most leaders are staying under the radar for fear of attracting his ire and the very real risk of damaging consequences. It's good to stand up to a bully, but when the bully has charge of the world's largest economy and military then, frustrating as it seems, it's best to pick your battles.

 

[dangie]

He can come if he so wishes, under the condition that we can round him up in The Mall and get the chance to throw rotten tomatoes at him and his administration.

My guess is that his visit won’t come anywhere near London.

 

[dgl]

I'm sure Charles would happily take Trump out shooting...

 

[Gloster]

The whole thing is making George Orwell’s 1984 seem increasingly and worryingly prescient. The whole world is dividing into Trump’s Oceania, Putin’s Eurasia and Xi’s Eastasia. Meanwhile Big Brother Musk/Zuckerberg/Bezos is keeping an eye on what we say, do and think.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

I cannot understand why the Leaders of the World don't call out all of his craziness. Ordinary folk can see it.

The State Visit to the UK should not be allowed. I'll be lodging my objection against it beforehand and protesting on the day, if it does.

Currently UK hasn't decided whether its sticking with Trump or going all in with the EU so we are sitting on the fence. In the short term without US there is no way Europe can protect Ukraine so its right that we keep on trying to get the US back onside.

 

[Annetts key]

MAGA - Moscows American Government Agency (nicked from a YouTuber's comment)

 

[GusB]

The whole thing is making George Orwell’s 1984 seem increasingly and worryingly prescient. The whole world is dividing into Trump’s Oceania, Putin’s Eurasia and Xi’s Eastasia. Meanwhile Big Brother Musk/Zuckerberg/Bezos is keeping an eye on what we say, do and think.

I'm glad that I'm not the only one who had that thought. The only question is, where does Airstrip One fit in?

 

[Magdalia]

The whole thing is making George Orwell’s 1984 seem increasingly and worryingly prescient. The whole world is dividing into Trump’s Oceania, Putin’s Eurasia and Xi’s Eastasia. Meanwhile Big Brother Musk/Zuckerberg/Bezos is keeping an eye on what we say, do and think.

There is a lot of classic literature that I have never read, so I always think of it as a bit of an indulgence to read a book that I've already read before.

One of the few exceptions is 1984.