A World Without Trump

My computer, which is a real workhorse and about 6, years old is starting to get a little over-heated.

So I took a ride down to the Mac store to talk to them about it. It was cloudy but there was no wind to speak of and it was delightfully cool. So I rode at the leisurely pace I use for thinking.

Today, a thought popped up that I found interesting. I was imagining a world where Donald Trump never existed. I thought about what the United States, and indeed the world, would be like if nobody had ever heard of that sick mofo.

I think the thought was inspired by having seen the movie, “Yesterday” that revolves around the idea of what if nobody ever knew who the Beatles were, except this one guy.

Imagining a world where Trump never existed was quite a mind boggle at first, mainly because this guy is responsible for so much of the hatred and division that now fills the United States. That’s not to say that this hate and division wasn’t there before Trump got handed this huge megaphone, but it was relatively contained and wasn’t something you were forced to think about every day.

The general consensus of opinion is that America is one of the greatest, if not the greatest country in the world. There are a lot of people who would take issue with that, myself included, sitting comfortably in one of the most beautiful areas of Canada.

But what the hell. Let’s concede that for the sake of argument.

But what I don’t understand at all, is how a country that is admittedly pretty great to the greatest, could ever make a huge brain fart like this and elect a slimy real estate developer with a reputation for screwing his suppliers and a reality show host where he gets to be supreme lord and master.

This does not make any sense to me. But I digress.

A world without Trump.

Even if you concede that the Republicans won the election, and let’s say, also for the sake of argument, it was someone like Jeb Bush who became president. Jeb Bush is a smart guy. He’s been a governor and he comes from a political family that’s very much a part of the military industrial complex. So you can assume that the military would still be well funded.

But after that there are a number of things that definitely would not have happened.

1. There would have been a whole different cabinet, and though it may have been decidedly more right wing, it would not have been anti-democratic. The people advising him would not have been chosen on how adept they were at kissing his ass. But how well they understood what their job was supposed to be. And they would likely have had some related experience. Because somebody like Jeb Bush would have already known that’s how you do it.

2. There would have been nothing in his background that would have made him anywhere near as susceptible to coercion by people like Vladimir Puntin, or that dipshit Saudi Prince. So the US’ foreign policy would never have gotten close to the level of ridiculousness that it is now. Jeb Bush would have paid attention to his Generals, and probably would have defeated Isis with the help of the Kurds, only a lot more Kurds would be alive today, and not worried about a Turkish Russian alliance threatening their total existence.

3. The relationships that the US has with its allies and the various accords the US was part of would have remained unchanged, and the US would still have the respect and trust of all its allies, which is sadly not the case at the moment.

4. The Immigration situation would never have been allowed to become a crisis, because Jeb would have appointed a Secretary of Immigration who know what he/she was doing, and that person would have organized the department properly. Jeb would also have looked into the root causes of the spike in asylum seekers and with his military advisors (not just taking his own counsel LOL), started working to clean up the situation in the countries concerned.

5. The question of whether the massive tax cuts that the rich have received is something that can’t be answered. Because Republicans are still Republicans after all.

Those are the main points…the disposition of the rest, such as the environment, infrastructure, alternative energy, the LGBTQ movement and a host of other social issues would depend on the make up of both houses. But I honestly believe there would have been much more cooperation between the Republicans and Democrats, simply because the commander in chief was not a completely incompetent and totally inexperienced boob who has no concept of working with people.

Net net, I believe the United States: would be part of many solid trade alliances, that their economy would expand to accommodate alternative energy solutions; that their farmers would have great markets to sell to instead of going bankrupt in droves thanks to idiots tariffs; that the rise of hate groups would have been severely crippled instead of being given tacit approval; that the level of political discourse would be much more civilized instead of what it has degenerated into; that the cult of personality would not overpower loyalty to the law and the constitution; that all the growth and business expansion would create a much greater level of opportunity for everyone with ambition; and that a culture of true innovation would grow and hopefully even provide some big idea solutions for the climate crisis we are all facing.

All this would happen, I sincerely believe, in a world where Donald Trump did not exist.

Now to quote John Lennon: “You might say I’m a dreamer…but I’m not the only one”. I imagine there are thousands, if not millions of Americans would there who would be overjoyed at the prospect of a world with no Donald Trump.

Sadly, the technology does not exist to make this the case. But you can have the next best thing next November when you can vote him out of office and vote in a bunch of human beings.

This is your salvation we’re talking about. So you really have to ask yourself some hard questions about the advantages of having a leader like Trump. Looking at it from the outside, I haven’t anything really beneficial to America. But I have seen a lot of stuff that is highly toxic and destructive, and I’m not the only one.

Good luck my friends. Hope you enjoyed my little fantasy.

jim out