The Trump Factor

The Trump Factor

I suspect Trump is smart enough to realize that if he tones down his persona, gentles his rhetoric, or otherwise acts more presidential, he will alienate his base constituency. They support him precisely because he doesn’t act in the politically correct manner they have come to believe means fake and not to be trusted.

A Business Person in the White House

Why anyone believes a CEO is the best bet to run the country escapes me. A corporation’s bottom line is to put the company and its owners first—rarely its employees, and never its customers, though they spend billions in advertising to convince us otherwise. How does that mindset translate to bettering life for the American people?

Trump occasionally mentions Americans but primarily talks about making America strong, rich, great—whatever. I can’t help the feeling that when he says America he means the government or at least some amorphous entity that he and he alone will define and work for—America and, by extension, the President will be respected and honored, even feared for its military might. Whether these accolades would have any trickle-down value for the average, individual American would be hard to measure.

Trump dreams of being the first politician to broker a final peace between Israel and Palestine. A lofty goal, but I wonder if the impetus to accomplish this is concern for the embattled men, women, and children living in the region or the stroking of his ego.

The Modern Economy and College

Fact is, the job market will never go back to the days when a high-school graduate could land a job that allowed (him for the most part, it was so long ago) to buy a house and support a family. Free college tuition is a misleading promise. That doesn’t cover the numerous other fees, the exorbitant cost of books, room and board or travel costs for commuters, etc. And it leaves a large segment of the population behind. Their IQ, creativity, and ambition are no less than the good students’. They simply learn in untraditional ways, and education is an area where America does not reward individual thinking and ability.

Our current educational system was built to enhance an industrialized, learn-by-rote society, which is disappearing, and we lag behind in preparing for the out-of-the-box, technological future. Politicians admit this, cry out for change, but have nothing better to offer than to make the current system more affordable. It won’t solve unemployment and income discrepancies.

Trump’s Government

I’d be happy to be wrong, but I fear a government under Trump would be one of insulated cronyism and intimidation of those not in his favor. Money does talk and government is nothing if not wheeling and dealing around obstacles to get the job done. Nevertheless, doesn’t leading, especially in a world where global economies are intertwined and dependent on one another, also require at least a degree of finesse? Trump is a blunt instrument.