USA's Lost
Initially I was going to concentrate on the loss of "Soft Power". But Americans are lost, and have lost. They are beginning to find their way, but will lose more before Trump is ousted.
When it was clear that Trump supports Russia over Ukraine, I vowed never to work with, or help the USA. I now consider the USA as an enemy. I assume most governments are do too.
I used to make a half-hearted effort not to buy goods from China (or other authoritarian regimes). However, my price threshold is small enough that I do buy Chinese goods.
If Trump had been neutral in the Russia/Ukraine war, and if he hadn't threatened to invade sovereign nations, and if he hadn't started the insane trade war, I may have continued to pay little attention to the USA.
But now, the USA is enemy #1, and I'm not half-hearted. Zero tolerance.
That means I will do my very best to avoid goods and services from the USA. I still use gmail and YouTube, but with Google, I am the product, not the customer. I assume I am a net drain to Google, because I haven't seen an advert on the internet for many years. I just (ab)use their resources.
I feel sorry for the minority of Americans that voted against Trump, but I'm not sorry in the slightest for those who voted for him. They knowingly voted for a criminal, a liar, a vile amoral man. His character flaws weren't a secret. Project 2025 wasn't a secret. They got what they asked for.
Trump voters : Admit your mistake (to yourself), and vote Democrat until the Republican party is sane again. Please note that no Republican representatives are standing up for you or your country. They do as they are told. They are more concerned about their career than their constituents needs/rights.
- Long Lasting
The damage Trump has inflicted may outlive him. As a wise man US president once said, "Fool me once, shame on you..." The world has seen how Americans voted, and I hope we are smart enough not to be fooled into thinking the USA can be counted on as an ally.
- Protests
The pillars of democracy are being dismantled.
Give me freedom, or give me death. Give me a break. The protests aren't nearly sufficient or proportional.
Take inspiration from the French. When they protest (and historically they have quite frequently), they bring the country to a standstill. Literally. Every major road blocked by cars and lorries. Meanwhile, Americans are politely waving flags from the side-walk. Heck, even British protestors have glued themselves to roads to fight climate change.
Americans, you claim to value your freedom, but not enough to jaywalk? Pathetic.
PS. As I child, on holiday in France, I remember being stuck in a huge traffic jam cause by protests. Very soon my dad was guided by the protestors into the opposite lane, to overtake the queue. They didn't want foreigners being inconvenienced. That was enlightening for my young mind. Fight your enemy, while making new friends. Meanwhile, Trump is doing exactly the opposite. I was 8, he's nearly 80. Maturity of the mind isn't measured in years. If memory serves, the French protest was about farm subsidies - a far cry from the demolition of justice and democracy we are now witnessing.
- Free?
Do you consider your country to be free?
I was curious to know why Americans harp on about being "free". Even before project 2025, from this side of the pond, we see you as :
- Free to die due to lack of universal health care
- Free live in perpetual fear of losing your job due to lack of social security
- Free to die from gun wielding criminals
- Free to die from gun wielding cops (because they are scared of the gun wielding criminals)
- Free to eat and drink insufficiently regulated products
- Free to have your data harvested and used against you by large corporations
- Free to bribe political candidates (if you are mega rich)
- Free to choose only Red or Blue (with no other political parties allowed to join the fight).
- Free be own a car in car infested cities and suburbs without suitable mass-transit, walking or cycling infrastructure.
- Free to build/buy/rent any house you want (as long as it is a "MacMansion" which meets really detrimental zoning laws).
We can now add :
- Free to be sent to a foreign prison without due process
- Free to stay in prison, even when you are there for no reason
- Free to be released from jail if you do/did something nice for Trump.
- Free to lose money from your pension fund due to a single misguided idiot
- Free to profit from the erratic stock market (if you have inside information from Trump).
- Free to be sacked by your government without cause
- Free to have your private information processed insecurely by untrained doge employees
- Free to pay to correct all the mistakes made by doge (in the name of efficiency).
Watching Trump this year, his became clear :
- He's stupid, and forever claims he's clever
- He's a bad businessman and claims he knows the "art of the deal"
- His rallies weren't well attended, and claimed they were the largest ever
- Brags about how well he gets on with dictators, when in reality, they outmanoeuvre him.
Deep down, he knows his failings, and shouts the opposite to drown out the truth.
I suspect the same is true for many "Land of the Free" shouting American's too. I'm still curious how many truly believe the lie, and how many are drowning out the truth.
- The Turning Point
I suspect the turning point in the election was "They are eating the dogs".Up until then the spotlight was on Kamala Harris. There was hope in the air.Afterwards, everybody (and I mean everybody) was talking about Trump and the dogs.
I've got to admit, in this regard, the guy's a genius. He derailed the Democrat's entire political campaign with one sentence.
Nobody was immune to it. Nobody could help themselves. They just HAD to talk about the dogs being eaten. Hope, justice, freedom, fairness, prosperity : all downed out by dogs being eaten.