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| 7-December-2024 |
Much of the reporting has, understandably, focused on the individual and his idiosyncratic, even eccentric behaviour. How did such an unconventional character manage to persuade a majority of Americans to vote him into such a powerful office, many ask.
The answer lies not so much in an analysis of his personality or that of his supporters but rather in a combination of factors: some global, some occurring within the USA itself. These are factors that will ultimately impact far beyond the shores of North America, possibly with devastating consequences.
Let’s look at the US today. As is so often the case, economic conditions underpin much of what happens. That much has been evident over the past four decades in the United States, as capitalism has turned ever more aggressive. On taking office in 1980, Ronald Reagan orchestrated a campaign to break trade unions. In the process encouraging investment to be transferred to so called “right to work states”. In effect, these were anti-union states where a recent AFL-CIO report[1] found wages to be on average US$8,500 less per annum than in other, more labour-tolerant, states.
Moving in tandem with union-busting was the inevitable disinvestment in previously industrialised regions leading to what is now known as the “Rust Belt”. In time the process of deindustrialisation was exacerbated as the powerful financial sector increased the export of capital in pursuit of still cheaper labour overseas.
Taking free-marketism to its extreme resulted in the gap between the country’s working people and the super-rich increasing enormously. Americans now pay more than any other nation for prescription drugs, while 60% of people live paycheque to paycheque[2]. Worse, an astonishing 12.6% of the population received state provided food assistance[3] last year. All in all, this has created a situation where for many there has emerged the realisation that their prospects are for a less prosperous way of life than that enjoyed by their parents’ generation. This has undermined the so-called “American dream”.
For the many seeking an answer to their depressing situation, the political establishment offered no answer. For years the Democratic Party posed as the friend of ordinary people, a claim that has been exposed as frankly untrue. Indeed, Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders has admitted that his party has abandoned working class people.
Therefore, it is little surprise that a populist would emerge offering a number of simplistic, mendacious and potentially destructive “solutions” that nevertheless appeal to an angry, alienated section of the population.
It is important to be clear about something. The rise of Donald Trump to a position of power did not bring about this manifestation of capitalism in America. Instead, it is American capitalism that brought about the Trump style of presidency. In other words, it is not just a matter of keeping our fingers crossed for the next four years and hoping for the best. The US problem is endemic and systemic.
Nor is it a problem that may be cured by deporting migrants, cutting corporation tax, or imposing punitive tariffs on imports. Even free-market economists are convinced this MAGA package will only deliver stagflation at best if not outright recession, the impact of which will be felt globally. Locally, the ramifications of Trump’s policy is very likely to include the Republic of Ireland with its fiscal over-dependence on taxation of US multinationals.
One country in particular that will be targeted economically by the Trump administration is China. On the surface, the supposed rationale for doing so is the claim that the Chinese government is creating unfair trading practices via state subsidy. This, however, is a deliberate misinterpretation of the actual situation which also conveniently ignores the fact that the current US government is grant aiding[4], among others, its flagging tech sector.
Unlike the United States, the People’s Republic of China has a booming manufacturing economy delivering increased prosperity across the board to all its citizens. Moreover, it boasts an economy that has an impact felt across the Western capitalist world. Take just one example that underlines the strength and dynamism of China’s economy in contrast to its competitors. As the Chinese car industry constantly increases output, its equivalent in Europe is faltering. Ford, Volkswagen and Vauxhall have all recently announced major layoffs in their factories in Britain and Germany[5].
In reality, the competitive advantage enjoyed by China is not due to unfair trading practices but is the result of its economic system. In other words, a planned socialist economy under the guidance of the Communist Party of China. And therein lies the real dilemma for Trump’s America.
The solution to US economic woes lies not in tariffs nor deportations but instead, it is to follow Beijing’s example, plan the economy and distribute wealth more evenly. Such a policy is unlikely, though, to sit well with America’s ruling class. Especially alarming for them is the realisation that a growing number of people globally, see merit in socialism with Chinese characteristics.
There is a real danger that faced with such a situation, Trump, backed by his angry, alienated supporters and egged on by the wealthy and its Deep State may opt for a military confrontation with China.
The clock is getting dangerously close to the midnight hour.
[1]“Right to Work is Wrong”. AFL-CIO website.
[2] Gray, R. (2024) “The Democrats Have A Problem. And It’s Not Just Trump“, Shadow Magazine website:
[3] “Food Security and Nutrition Assistance”, US Dept of Agriculture website:
[4] “Biden-Harris Administration Announces CHIPS Incentives Award with Intel to Advance U.S. Leading-Edge Chip Capacity and Create Tens of Thousands of Jobs”. US Dept of Commerce website.
[5] Jolly, J (2024) “Vauxhall owner plans to shut Luton van factory, putting 1,100 jobs at risk”, The Guardian website.
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Tommy McKearney is a left wing and trade union activist. He is author of The Provisional IRA: From Insurrection to Parliament. Follow on Twitter @Tommymckearney |
Tommy, you are looking at China through rose tinted glasses. It is the most surveilled society in the world, led by a President for life and which ruthlessly cracks on dissent. And that's before we discuss the plight of the Uighurs and Tibetans and China's designs on the democracy of Taiwan.
ReplyDeleteEspecially alarming for them is the realisation that a growing number of people globally, see merit in socialism with Chinese characteristics.
ReplyDeleteChina is the 'blueprint' of what the Zionist oil and banking cartels have in store for the world...It's well-documented.
There is a real danger that faced with such a situation, Trump, backed by his angry, alienated supporters and egged on by the wealthy and its Deep State may opt for a military confrontation with China.
The Donald won't allow a 'hot war' with China to happen on his watch. He isn't a politician, he is a businessman.
Frankie, when you talk about Zionist oil and banking cartels where and what are their connections to and with Israel?
DeleteWhat else do you want me to call the real cartels who control this rock we all live on?
ReplyDeleteWhy do you always equate Zionism to Israel?
You can call them just oil and banking cartels or use descriptors like global or trans national cartels, Frankie. Zionism is the founding ideology of Israel.
ReplyDeleteBut what if these cartels being referred to have serious links to the Zionist state? I think there would be more of a problem if they are not linked to the Zionist state or if they were referred too as Jewish cartels.
DeleteThe issue becomes a bit more complicated when the Zionist state of Israel is described as a Jewish state. If it is to exist it should be the state of Israelis and not the state of Jews.
Frankie has given no evidence that these cartels are Zionist or linked to Israel. So he is reheating the old nonsense that Jews in the form of the Rothschilds control the world's money supply.
ReplyDeleteJewish people might control the world's money supply but hardly because they are Jewish. I doubt that they do control it. But I do recall Kevin Myers being leapt upon for praising the financial acumen of Jewish culture. He was accused of antisemitism when he was anything but. I have no problem with Myers saying what he did but I do have a problem with the Jews and their money slur
DeleteConstitutionally the State of Israel behind the Green Line is supposed to grant equal citizenship to all of its citizens.
ReplyDeleteit is supposed to but it seemingly does not. The apartheid character of the state is rooted in it being a Jewish state. I see no reason for there being a Jewish state, a Muslim state, a Hindu state, a Muslim state, an atheist state. The Zionists were considering stealing some African land before deciding to steal the Palestinian land. Jews like everybody else need to feel safe and to be safe. But to create a state that endangers the safety of so many others does not seem to have been the best way to do it.
DeleteAs for antisemites, if a quick read of Germany's Willing Executioners or Ordinary Men : Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland doesn't cure them, nothing will.
There are failings in the Goldhagen one but it is a very detailed account of what happened to the Jews if not as solid on the motives.
Zionism was a reaction to anti semitism in Europe in the 19th century and so Zionists sought to purchase land in Africa before deciding on Palestine. The Holocaust made a Jewish homeland in Palestine a necessity for many Jews
ReplyDeleteZionist colonialism was always about land theft. Of Ben Gurion it has been noted that he had no known connection to Palestine other than religious belief. The Palestinians lived on the land he stole for centuries before he ever set foot in it as a settler, no different from today's thugs who steal land in the West Bank. By the time he arrived there were only 30,000 Jews there, a small minority of who had lived there alongside the Palestinians for centuries. Moshe Sharett wrote at the time: We are not coming to a desolate land to inherit it; rather we are coming to conquer the land from the nation that resides here.
DeleteAnd as ever the hand of the Brits was at play, promising native land to the colonial settlers who in the words of Ben Gurion wanted more than Palestine.
It was a racist state from the outset and continues to this day as one. A Jewish state for a Jewish people cannot be anything but racist.
The Apartheid charge has validity in the Occupied Territories but much less so behind the Green Line. The State of Israel was not conceived as a theocracy or confessional state.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of the day and matter how remote the possibility there has to be a two state arrangement. Victory and territorial conquest from the River to the Sea should be on nobody's agenda, Israeli or Palestinian
ReplyDeleteThe end-of-the-day solution will go much further than you're prepared to contemplate now, Barry.
DeleteOnce we sow the seeds of justice (rules-based order), we will eventually reap the fruits of peace. And until the world brings that about, we can only expect variations on a theme. B, D, & S are the genesis of change.
Tommy, you are looking at China through rose tinted glasses. It is the most surveilled society in the world,
ReplyDeleteAs opposed to the UK/London? When the numbers are broken down its means everytime you step outside in the UK/London you will be seen by watched at least 70times daily ....Anyone who didnt open the links, simply the UK/London are always in the top 5/10 spied on countries/cities on this rock...
led by a President for life and which ruthlessly cracks on dissent.
Again whats the difference between a President for life and a head of state for life who controls a parasitic family who all live in palaces? As for cracking down on dissent....Burntollet, Miners Strike.....Bat flu...