The Day After
And why NZ is not immune to what swept the USA
This morning, there will be plenty of reflections on why and how Donald J. Trump won the US election for a second time.
There will be pithy lines, astute observations, and anger and disbelief from some.
And for others, celebration - or simple ass-kissing.
Kevin O’Leary, the Canadian who is a regular on NBC’s ‘Shark Tank’, told Fox News::
"[Trump] saved entrepreneurship. He saved the entire model of the S&P 500…This is why I'm getting on a plane tour, and I intentionally didn't leave until tomorrow night, so I could go to Geneva, go to Abu Dhabi… and say it's 21% corporate taxes, [that's] 100% not going to change.”
Ah yes, the world of business and money where nothing else matters.
And Abu Dhabi, the Middle East: where oil runs and the levels of wealth are close to unimaginable.
[ Our own Prime Minister was similarly excited about Middle Eastern money, telling Newstalk radio the other week that Qatar was eager to invest in New Zealand, and it was his government’s job to present them with a “deal sheet” so they could and pick choice from our assets and ‘opportunities’ too. ]
I always thought the Democrats should have heeded Obama’s advice about choosing the nominee with an open selection process - only because America has never chosen a female President, let alone a female President of colour.
It was quite a gamble for them to do so, I believed.
Some on the left might have been excited about the prospect, but whether that was enough was always in doubt to me.
Although I hoped.
Still - I don’t begrudge Kamala Harris. She did her damned best and put her heart and soul into the campaign.
So did her supporters.
No-one in her position - except perhaps Michelle Obama - could have defeated this society’s level of misinformation, misogyny, sexism, racism, and in some cases, lack of education as to what makes an economy strong and a society and people harmonious and happier.
What I personally begrudge is the power and influence that machinated Trump’s win.
That normalised a rapist and felon at every turn. That gave him unlimited publicity from the start. That told us he would be good for anyone except himself and those he set up shop with.
A world where the boss of a conglomerate of media networks, including CNN, told folks it didn’t matter who won - as long as they are “friendly to business”.
"We just need an opportunity for deregulation, so companies can consolidate and do what we need to to be even better,"
i.e. unambiguous code for Donald Trump.
A world where the world’s richest man on paper could use his machinery and wealth to steer the masses towards Trump (although I’ve now learned part of that, the supposed $1mn lottery Elon musk engineered was a scam and ploy - the money was not random at all - and "won" by his own employees)
Still - Twitter, publicity and over US$120 million isn’t chump change, is it? It buys you the world’s best publicists, lobbyists, media placers, writers, commentators, influencers, myths…
Years of Rupert Murdoch and the Koch brothers’ cultivation of hate, anger, division has worked a real treat.
Yesterday our PM and Deputy PM congratulated President-Elect Donald Trump.
I can’t begrudge the tradition, but I am aware that some of the largest backers behind Donald Trump are evangelical Christians combining forces with other parts of right wing conservatism (big business interests, gun lobbyists, oil and gas lobbyists, evangelicals and the like) - they achieved what they claimed was ‘God’s will’.
Please take time to take care of yourself today and every day. Stay within your sphere of control and reach for joy, even when it’s hard.
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