I have this friend who I’ll call “Dean”. He’s been . . . positively enthralled by the idea of Donald Trump as president for quite some time now, and recently gave me his book The America We Deserve to read. Now, granted, this book was written in 2000, but it got me quite interested in Trump’s positions.
I have to admit that I “lolled” at some of Trump’s positions he stated in the book.
In an effort to save Dean from the dark side, here is this entry. Please, Dean, do not pray for the triumph of Trump.
What I like about Trump:
Before I begin, I want to say what I like about Trump as a potential candidate.
*He is a very clear communicator. He explains quite concisely what his positions are.
*From an economic point of view, Trump’s assertions that the country needs to be run by someone with a business background (rather than a law background) makes sense. He states that only people who have run corporations know how to get the country into the black again. On one level, this is true.
This mentality can also backfire, because a CEO of a corporation is always looking at the bottom-line. While this brings the corporation to profitability, it can also mean certain things get cut. If we were to view the USA as a corporation, the first programs to get cut would be such “unprofitable” things like welfare, low-income assistance, Medicaid, and other “bloated, inefficient” government programs. But I don’t know, people tend to do certain things when they can’t get food or medicine. Like riot. Or die. And I know there are some people who don’t give a rat’s ass if “poor people” die or suffer or whatnot, but really, think about this for a second. You’re willing to let thousands of people potentially starve to death because you don’t want a few dollars cut from your monthly paycheck.
*I also agree with him, in principle, that America needs a president who can make deals, who is results-driven, and who works to reduce the national debt. (This mentality can also backfire, which I’ll get to later.)
Positions I partially agree with:
*Trump believes we need to drill for oil in our territory. I partially agree with this, because oil is the life-blood of a modern nation, BUT just because we drill for oil in our territory does not mean that this oil necessarily benefits us. The oil-drilling rights are put up for auction in a capitalist state, which means European countries may win the rights. I suppose we could close the auctions to non-American corporations, but that would border on (gasp) SOCIALISM.
*School choice, stop “dumbing down” education, and breaking teacher unions. In theory, this should make schools more efficient. Teacher unions are also powerful things, and something like the bottom GPA-percentile of a university graduate class go on to become 75% of the public-school teachers, which is quite unacceptable. If we force schools to be more competitive, this may spur on higher-quality education.
The danger of “privatizing” schools or turning them into “for-profit” institutions is this: the school may focus on what is popular, and not necessarily educational, in order to attract a larger number of students. Specifically, I’m worried about the danger of fundamentalist schools popping up and replacing public education.
Trump’s Positions Which I find Retarded, And So Should You, Dean.:
*He advocates BOMBING Saudi Arabia and invading, in retaliation for 9/11. The geopolitical absurdity of this statement alone invalidates him as a candidate in my opinion. Saudi Arabia has a shitload of oil. The stability of that kingdom is of utmost, unrivalled importance to the United States. Anybody who says otherwise has the mentality of a child. We do not want to see Saudi Arabia bombed, and we certainly should not be the ones bombing them.
*He claims he will unilaterally and forcefully tell China to (1) make the trade fairer NOW and (2) stop manipulating their and our currencies. This is the “this mentality can potentially backfire” sentence at work here. If Bush was criticized for “cowboy diplomacy”, Trump can potentially make it worse. You do not tell a sovereign nation what to do. It is unlikely they will listen. It is likely they will retaliate.
*One-time 14.25% tax on the wealthy to pay off the national debt. This will only encourage how-to-hide-assets. It could also scare wealthy Americans and corporations out of the country. It also borders on thievery and communist-style “state confiscations” of personal property. Highly unrealistic.
* “Re-negotiate tougher and fairer free-trade laws” with other nations. How exactly does Trump propose to achieve this? We cannot simply renege on signed trade agreements. We can raise tariffs, other nations will raise tariffs, the issue will go to the WTO, and if the body passes a judgment unfavorable for us, does Trump propose ignoring the body? What kind of precedent will that set?
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