Donald Trump Is Elected President(nytimes.com)
nytimes.com
Donald Trump Is Elected President
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/09/us/politics/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-president.html
1,708 comments
Now that the voices of the disenfranchised blue collar workers have been heard, what actually can be done to help them? I'm less worried about the accusations of racism, etc. because it appears to me a majority are voting because their livelihoods have been lost and, despite economics saying globalization will bring new jobs, they aren't showing up in the critical areas where they are needed.
So, what policies can be put in place specifically to help this demographic? I genuinely don't know.
So, what policies can be put in place specifically to help this demographic? I genuinely don't know.
My takeaway from this is that our strategy of "shaming" people into voting a certain way doesn't work. Exit polls seem to suggest that plenty of people understated their support for Trump because they were embarrassed to admit they voted for him. But they still did.
In effect, you don't stop people from supporting racism, homophobia, or misogyny by calling attention to it. That only makes them support it quietly. You have to counter it with something. We failed to adequately counter his arguments, content to simply point at them and say that they were racist, sexist, or Islamophobic, because we (naively) assumed that drawing attention to it would be enough.
In effect, you don't stop people from supporting racism, homophobia, or misogyny by calling attention to it. That only makes them support it quietly. You have to counter it with something. We failed to adequately counter his arguments, content to simply point at them and say that they were racist, sexist, or Islamophobic, because we (naively) assumed that drawing attention to it would be enough.
I think we learned that fake news (used to pump up fake issues) is now a legitimate campaign strategy that works even on people who should know better.
Trump won on a mountain of fake issues:
Immigration: both conservative and liberal economists agree that immigration (illegal or otherwise) does not suppress wages and does not suppress job growth.
https://www.cato.org/research/immigration http://business.time.com/2013/01/30/the-economics-of-immigra...
Terrorism: more toddlers killed Americans than terrorists in 2015. For every terrorist killing someone on US soil, more than 4000 Americans killed each other.
http://www.snopes.com/toddlers-killed-americans-terrorists/ http://tinyurl.com/q3fqk69
Gay marriage: All it does is extend the same legal protections to people of the same sex that was already available to people of opposite sex. It doesn't take away any rights from anybody.
Who is using the bathroom: Historically virtually no jurisdictions have had laws in place to prevent men from entering ladies rooms or vice versa. There have been male registered sex offenders entering the bathroom with yours sons since time immemorial. Transgendered people are no more likely to be sex offenders than the general population.
Obamacare: While the program has its problems, the Trump administration will do nothing to address them and has said it will double-down on aspects that will make our health care system worse.
I could go on but this is plenty. Welcome to the post-factual political America.
Trump won on a mountain of fake issues:
Immigration: both conservative and liberal economists agree that immigration (illegal or otherwise) does not suppress wages and does not suppress job growth.
https://www.cato.org/research/immigration http://business.time.com/2013/01/30/the-economics-of-immigra...
Terrorism: more toddlers killed Americans than terrorists in 2015. For every terrorist killing someone on US soil, more than 4000 Americans killed each other.
http://www.snopes.com/toddlers-killed-americans-terrorists/ http://tinyurl.com/q3fqk69
Gay marriage: All it does is extend the same legal protections to people of the same sex that was already available to people of opposite sex. It doesn't take away any rights from anybody.
Who is using the bathroom: Historically virtually no jurisdictions have had laws in place to prevent men from entering ladies rooms or vice versa. There have been male registered sex offenders entering the bathroom with yours sons since time immemorial. Transgendered people are no more likely to be sex offenders than the general population.
Obamacare: While the program has its problems, the Trump administration will do nothing to address them and has said it will double-down on aspects that will make our health care system worse.
I could go on but this is plenty. Welcome to the post-factual political America.
He got elected on all these promises.
1- Build the wall and make Mexico pay for it
2- Deportation Force on day one
3- Repeal obamacare
4- Renegotiate NAFTA
5- Bring back coal
6- Reduce taxes for the rich
7- Ban muslims
8- Prosecuting Hillary Clinton
9- Bring back American companies to the USA
10- Etc.
The Senate and the House are Republicans and the Supreme court will lean republican after his appointment.
What do you guys think he is going to follow through on and the effects if he does or doesn't?
And please note that lots of people thought he could not become president and now he is. So any of these things are possible now. Do not just dismiss any of these things. They are all possible.
1- Build the wall and make Mexico pay for it
2- Deportation Force on day one
3- Repeal obamacare
4- Renegotiate NAFTA
5- Bring back coal
6- Reduce taxes for the rich
7- Ban muslims
8- Prosecuting Hillary Clinton
9- Bring back American companies to the USA
10- Etc.
The Senate and the House are Republicans and the Supreme court will lean republican after his appointment.
What do you guys think he is going to follow through on and the effects if he does or doesn't?
And please note that lots of people thought he could not become president and now he is. So any of these things are possible now. Do not just dismiss any of these things. They are all possible.
As someone who's actively vocalized his support for Trump in the past, both here[1] and in my meat space life, I'm ecstatic with the results of this election.
Not just the POTUS, but the trifecta of the house and senate as well. That's as loud of a mandate as can be expected from a strongly divided country. On top of all that, with the SCOTUS picks that are expected in the next few years, this election is going to be felt for many years to come.
I just hope that as we move forward with the transition to the new government, both sides can leave behind the incessant name calling and hate that's plagued this election. It's done, it's over, and the people have spoken. Now let's move forward on the direction that's been chosen and go about discussing it constructively.
[1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12728645
Not just the POTUS, but the trifecta of the house and senate as well. That's as loud of a mandate as can be expected from a strongly divided country. On top of all that, with the SCOTUS picks that are expected in the next few years, this election is going to be felt for many years to come.
I just hope that as we move forward with the transition to the new government, both sides can leave behind the incessant name calling and hate that's plagued this election. It's done, it's over, and the people have spoken. Now let's move forward on the direction that's been chosen and go about discussing it constructively.
[1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12728645
I think the election of Trump is also a backslash against the PC, SJW, safe-space, trigger-warning, micro aggression tendencies that have been spreading in the U.S. for the last couple of years. This has become too much and millions of Americans are fed up with it, they have now spoken out.
The valley need to get over themselves and learn to appreciate the lessons from the unlikely Trump victory.
Trump is the quintessential startup success story. Jump in the ring, breaks shit (always easier to ask for forgiveness than permission) then somehow makes his way to a hit product. He disrupted the business of politics much in the same way that uber disrupted the business of transportation.
Guess Peter Thiel really is the smartest guy in the valley after all.
Per Mark Cuban tweet (not a sv guy per se but still a voice representative of the community):
We all need to give President-Elect Trump a chance. Support the good. Lobby against what we disagree on. No one is bigger than us all
Trump is the quintessential startup success story. Jump in the ring, breaks shit (always easier to ask for forgiveness than permission) then somehow makes his way to a hit product. He disrupted the business of politics much in the same way that uber disrupted the business of transportation.
Guess Peter Thiel really is the smartest guy in the valley after all.
Per Mark Cuban tweet (not a sv guy per se but still a voice representative of the community):
We all need to give President-Elect Trump a chance. Support the good. Lobby against what we disagree on. No one is bigger than us all
My entire family feels a terrible sadness today. We immigrated here to the United States from Russia almost 20 years ago (to the day) and after all the immigration bullshit we were finally eligible for citizenship this year. My dad took his oath and got his US passport literally weeks before the election and this is what he gets for his first vote: a divisive demagogue beat a corrupt career politician. There are no words to describe our disappointment, both at the choices and the result.
For those that are unhappy with the results of this election, there is something you can do! I implore you to write, call, and otherwise pester your state legislators and your governors to pressure them to support the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact [1]. This is an interstate agreement approved by the Justice Department that activates when states with 270 or more electoral college votes sign it (by passing state legislation that implements the compact). When it activates, all of the states that signed it will, from that point on, allocate their votes for the presidential candidate that won the national popular vote, essentially destroying the electoral college. Already, the states that signed the compact have a total of 160 electoral college votes and legislation is in the works for Michigan and Pennsylvania, which would bring the total to over 180. Already a third of all electoral votes are part of this compact!
Take it from someone who has spent two decades on the sideline: you are not powerless. So few people make their voices heard that every voice counts when you're one of 50 or 100 state senators representing a state of a few million. With Trump's divisiveness front and center this is it. For the first time since the Voting Rights Act we have a chance to fundamentally change American democracy and we can do so in a way that cannot be obstructed by conservative states or dismantled by conservative Supreme Court justices.
Even if you are happy with the results of this election, I beg you to support the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. It's time we started to reform our electoral system and restore some of the legitimacy it has lost in the last few decades.
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Popular_Vote_Inters...
For those that are unhappy with the results of this election, there is something you can do! I implore you to write, call, and otherwise pester your state legislators and your governors to pressure them to support the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact [1]. This is an interstate agreement approved by the Justice Department that activates when states with 270 or more electoral college votes sign it (by passing state legislation that implements the compact). When it activates, all of the states that signed it will, from that point on, allocate their votes for the presidential candidate that won the national popular vote, essentially destroying the electoral college. Already, the states that signed the compact have a total of 160 electoral college votes and legislation is in the works for Michigan and Pennsylvania, which would bring the total to over 180. Already a third of all electoral votes are part of this compact!
Take it from someone who has spent two decades on the sideline: you are not powerless. So few people make their voices heard that every voice counts when you're one of 50 or 100 state senators representing a state of a few million. With Trump's divisiveness front and center this is it. For the first time since the Voting Rights Act we have a chance to fundamentally change American democracy and we can do so in a way that cannot be obstructed by conservative states or dismantled by conservative Supreme Court justices.
Even if you are happy with the results of this election, I beg you to support the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. It's time we started to reform our electoral system and restore some of the legitimacy it has lost in the last few decades.
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Popular_Vote_Inters...
My optimistic take: he's probably going to be a Berlusconi. Generally bad for the economy, bad for freedom, but probably won't carry through on the worst of his bad ideas. I think there's a small chance he'll be more of a Mussolini. The obvious thing to look for there is if he starts trying to carry out the threat to deport illegal immigrants, which would require door to door searches, "papers please" and that kind of thing.
There are also some serious geopolitical things that could go real wrong real quick: if I were in one of the Baltic states this morning, I would be doing some serious thinking about defense.
There are also some serious geopolitical things that could go real wrong real quick: if I were in one of the Baltic states this morning, I would be doing some serious thinking about defense.
Ctrl - F Sanders
0 results. Hadn't Hilary been dishonest and, as much as I hate the word, crooked enough to not allow Bernie to face Trump, this wouldn't have happened.
0 results. Hadn't Hilary been dishonest and, as much as I hate the word, crooked enough to not allow Bernie to face Trump, this wouldn't have happened.
Four years ago, I wrote a sort-of tongue-in-cheek story for Kuro5hin.org (RIP) titled "Humanity's Second-Best Hope" [1]. I pointed out that the Democratic president had failed to deliver on the Change he had promised, and shared my faint hope that maybe Mitt Romney was a "political gladiator" who'd flip on the plutocracy once he was elected.
[1] http://www.TaxiWars.org/humanitys-second-best-hope/
Alas, Mitt Romney was no gladiator.
At some point in this election cycle, I noticed dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams' blog. On August 13, 2015 Scott had a post about Donald Trump titled "Clown Genius" [2]:
For the entire election cycle, the political media promoted Hillary Clinton as the presidential heir-apparent, as if she was The Chosen One. Usually the plutocracy runs a Chosen candidate against a backup - someone who, even if fickle voters decided to not select the Chosen candidate, would still be useful to them.
Donald Trump was not a backup candidate. He was give free coverage during the primaries because he was considered a clown-candidate that wouldn't be taken seriously, it was an easy story, and because it was thought that The Chosen One could beat him. This was covered in one of the Wikileaks emails...
Donald Trump is the Gladiator that Mitt Romney was not. I'm optimistic.
[1] http://www.TaxiWars.org/humanitys-second-best-hope/
Alas, Mitt Romney was no gladiator.
At some point in this election cycle, I noticed dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams' blog. On August 13, 2015 Scott had a post about Donald Trump titled "Clown Genius" [2]:
Like many of you, I have been entertained by the
unstoppable clown car that is Donald Trump. On the
surface, and several layers deep as well, Trump appears
to be a narcissistic blow-hard with inadequate
credentials to lead a country.
The only problem with my analysis is that there is an
eerie consistency to his success so far. Is there a
method to it? Is there some sort of system at work under
the hood?
Probably yes. Allow me to describe some of the hypnosis
and persuasion methods Mr. Trump has employed on you. ...
For the entire election cycle, the political media promoted Hillary Clinton as the presidential heir-apparent, as if she was The Chosen One. Usually the plutocracy runs a Chosen candidate against a backup - someone who, even if fickle voters decided to not select the Chosen candidate, would still be useful to them.
Donald Trump was not a backup candidate. He was give free coverage during the primaries because he was considered a clown-candidate that wouldn't be taken seriously, it was an easy story, and because it was thought that The Chosen One could beat him. This was covered in one of the Wikileaks emails...
Donald Trump is the Gladiator that Mitt Romney was not. I'm optimistic.
Disclaimer: I'm a Brazilian living in Brazil, so merely a watcher in the US Election.
On times like these, I try very hard to be optimistic, and for this specific historical moment I'd say the US is in a better place than Brazil - relatively speaking.
While Brazil has just gone through a major soft-coup, that has the majority of the nation, guided by media attention, agreeing with it.
For the US election, however, there's a bright side: the actual majority of the American people (even if for a thing margin) has voted for Hillary Clinton, or at least voted against Trump.
It really does not matter if you support one or the other, the sad fact is that, once again, the US will have a president who was not chosen by the majority of its people. This has significant social and philosophical implications. Maybe, just maybe, this election will be the one that drives change, encouraging states to change their laws and provide a better representative system.
I'm not saying that direct representation is better - I'm not entitled to say that - but there's a very obvious dissatisfaction among the younger American people, which are now in position, and willing, to demand changes and come up with creative solutions for the representative democracy.
On times like these, I try very hard to be optimistic, and for this specific historical moment I'd say the US is in a better place than Brazil - relatively speaking.
While Brazil has just gone through a major soft-coup, that has the majority of the nation, guided by media attention, agreeing with it.
For the US election, however, there's a bright side: the actual majority of the American people (even if for a thing margin) has voted for Hillary Clinton, or at least voted against Trump.
It really does not matter if you support one or the other, the sad fact is that, once again, the US will have a president who was not chosen by the majority of its people. This has significant social and philosophical implications. Maybe, just maybe, this election will be the one that drives change, encouraging states to change their laws and provide a better representative system.
I'm not saying that direct representation is better - I'm not entitled to say that - but there's a very obvious dissatisfaction among the younger American people, which are now in position, and willing, to demand changes and come up with creative solutions for the representative democracy.
Terrifying, but the dems kind of brought it on themselves. A nominee who was actually likeable probably would've wiped the floor with Trump.
I bet Peter Theil is going to have a full schedule holding court over the next several months as all the Silicon Valley power players are going to want to know how they can get in the good graces of the Trump administration.
I have a lot of thoughts, but here's one: Hillary focused her entire campaign on why people should stop Trump, at the expense of talking about why she should be president. In general, making the case against someone else rather than the affirmative case for yourself doesn't work. It's reaction versus action.
It's undoubtably true now that there was a very real populist anger towards the existing political order, and as a corollary, the political and economic elites. Instead of harnessing that energy and attempting to create a movement (see: Sanders, Bernie), the Democratic party anointed a candidate who is the definition of establishment.
The results are showing that Hillary lost, at least in large part, due to lower voter turnout, especially among liberal-leaning populations. With all else equal, Podesta, DWS, Neera Tanden, and the rest of the DNC cutup squad ignored the people and ran on the "man, Dangerous Donald, obviously you're not gonna vote for him!" platform. That, and shaming Bernie/Stein supporters about their support for a candidate who can't win - rather than explaining how Clinton's policies would be good. Well, the Democrats and 'moderates' didn't vote for Trump, but they sure didn't have a reason to vote for Clinton either.
It's undoubtably true now that there was a very real populist anger towards the existing political order, and as a corollary, the political and economic elites. Instead of harnessing that energy and attempting to create a movement (see: Sanders, Bernie), the Democratic party anointed a candidate who is the definition of establishment.
The results are showing that Hillary lost, at least in large part, due to lower voter turnout, especially among liberal-leaning populations. With all else equal, Podesta, DWS, Neera Tanden, and the rest of the DNC cutup squad ignored the people and ran on the "man, Dangerous Donald, obviously you're not gonna vote for him!" platform. That, and shaming Bernie/Stein supporters about their support for a candidate who can't win - rather than explaining how Clinton's policies would be good. Well, the Democrats and 'moderates' didn't vote for Trump, but they sure didn't have a reason to vote for Clinton either.
I'm not a conspiracy theorist at all. But HN has story after story about how vulnerable voting machines are: https://hn.algolia.com/?utm_source=opensearch&utm_medium=sea... The more I look into the issue the more horrified I am. One place had voting machines that ran windows XP and sent votes over wifi, and were hacked with a default administrator password. This computerphile video goes into a number of problems with the concept: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3_0x6oaDmI
The fact that the polls were off by such a huge amount is concerning to me. States that weren't supposed to be even close somehow ended up going for Trump. It's known that Russia supported Donald Trump's campaign and had targeted voting systems, which is terrifying. Overall the election seems to be very close in terms of popular vote, and many swing states were won by very small margins or just a few counties. A small amount of fraud targeted in just the right places could perhaps have changed the outcome.
How concerned should I be about this? The fact that the election wasn't close in terms of electoral votes is comforting (if you are rigging an election, it's best to try not to overdo it and draw suspicion.) It would be nice to know that results are consistent across states and counties that use different kinds of voting machines or paper ballots. I don't know if that has been tested yet.
The fact that the polls were off by such a huge amount is concerning to me. States that weren't supposed to be even close somehow ended up going for Trump. It's known that Russia supported Donald Trump's campaign and had targeted voting systems, which is terrifying. Overall the election seems to be very close in terms of popular vote, and many swing states were won by very small margins or just a few counties. A small amount of fraud targeted in just the right places could perhaps have changed the outcome.
How concerned should I be about this? The fact that the election wasn't close in terms of electoral votes is comforting (if you are rigging an election, it's best to try not to overdo it and draw suspicion.) It would be nice to know that results are consistent across states and counties that use different kinds of voting machines or paper ballots. I don't know if that has been tested yet.
For better or worse, Trump's probably the next president... The weird part about this election, is the electoral college could still pull a fast one on us and elect someone else.
There are quite a few of electors and governors who REALLY hate Trump.
If anyone's curious, the elector college votes in December[1].
Edit: I don't think this will happen, but in a world where Trump won, anything is possible.
[1] https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/...
There are quite a few of electors and governors who REALLY hate Trump.
If anyone's curious, the elector college votes in December[1].
Edit: I don't think this will happen, but in a world where Trump won, anything is possible.
[1] https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/...
Trump's likely cabinet selections are in the press.[1]
Treasury - probably Steven Mnuchin, another Goldman Sachs guy. Trump may not be as anti Wall Street as he said he was.
State - Bob Corker (Senate foreign relations chair) or Newt Gingrich. Both are long-time Washington insiders.
Defense - about four candidates, mostly long-time Washington insiders.
Attorney General - Rudy Guilani, probably. As a prosecutor, he took down the New York Mafia, so he's qualified for the job.
Old, white, Republican insiders, all of them. Mnuchin is the only one below retirement age.
[1] http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/who-is-in-president-tr...
Treasury - probably Steven Mnuchin, another Goldman Sachs guy. Trump may not be as anti Wall Street as he said he was.
State - Bob Corker (Senate foreign relations chair) or Newt Gingrich. Both are long-time Washington insiders.
Defense - about four candidates, mostly long-time Washington insiders.
Attorney General - Rudy Guilani, probably. As a prosecutor, he took down the New York Mafia, so he's qualified for the job.
Old, white, Republican insiders, all of them. Mnuchin is the only one below retirement age.
[1] http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/who-is-in-president-tr...
Sigh, the only think positive I can imagine coming out of this is that now, I get four years I can make fun of how stupid American's are.
As the country descends into chaos and non of Trump's promises comes truth I can sit in my couch and keep repeating: "I told you so!"
Good thing Republican's get all the power. Now they fully own all the shit that is to come. They wont be able to blame that on anybody else.
I think Brexit and the Trump victory has hammered home that democracy in its current form doesn't work. It has no mechanism to protect itself against stupidity and ignorance.
Or perhaps it is a warning to every country about what happens when economic inequality gets too bad. Before you know it the crazies will grab power.
I hope the rich elites are horrified today. Because they have created this monster, by consistently funding efforts working against the interests of the middle class and eroding it. Now it has blown up in their face.
I almost feel a slight schadenfreude over the trade wars which will follow with China and Mexico and all the businesses which will lose money over this.
As the country descends into chaos and non of Trump's promises comes truth I can sit in my couch and keep repeating: "I told you so!"
Good thing Republican's get all the power. Now they fully own all the shit that is to come. They wont be able to blame that on anybody else.
I think Brexit and the Trump victory has hammered home that democracy in its current form doesn't work. It has no mechanism to protect itself against stupidity and ignorance.
Or perhaps it is a warning to every country about what happens when economic inequality gets too bad. Before you know it the crazies will grab power.
I hope the rich elites are horrified today. Because they have created this monster, by consistently funding efforts working against the interests of the middle class and eroding it. Now it has blown up in their face.
I almost feel a slight schadenfreude over the trade wars which will follow with China and Mexico and all the businesses which will lose money over this.
Those factory jobs are not coming back. The wall will not get built and it would not even work. What we will have is some NYC cronyism and wealth inequality increases. We may even have a recession if they decided to touch any trade agreement or increase tariffs ( based on debt load private and public institutions have). Whomever inherited the white house was going to have a bad time, this will just have to go on Trumps shoulders. :) 2018 you'll see a democrat majority in Congress.
The sun will rise in the east and set in the west. We will keep moving forward. We have systemic issues we need to address in the country and if they don't get addressed in this cycle it'll get worse in the next. We have major income inequality. We have an issue with tax avoidance and we have a problem with US Companies dumping workers for foreign labor. We also have a healthcare issue that needs to be solved. I doubt this Republican majority will be able to touch any of it but these are still problems and will remain so until we find a solution.
Trump is going to erase the entire Obama administration, a decent amount of Obama's impact was felt through executive order, all it takes is a signature to erase that.
(I'm in the UK, but I think the discussion is broad enough to be applicable)
Given Trump's win, looming Brexit etc., what's the way forward for a moderately-progressive-mostly-centrist like myself?
I can completely understand where a big chunk of Trump's support has come from. For a large number of people, globalisation is shit. Employment has become less stable; the gap between rich and poor appears to be growing; there is a sense of disenfranchisement with politics, and there is rampant corruption. Generally, people have every right to be totally pissed off with this situation; they essentially feel ignored by a distant 'elite' or whatever, and it seems pretty obvious that there will eventually be a reaction against that.
I certainly don't feel that Trump-ism and Brexiteer-ism is an actual solution to these problems; they do seem like relatively opportunistic populist movements that have capitalised on popular resentment. I have basically zero confidence that these movements will solve any of the problems they claim they will, and think that they will likely cause lots of damage along the way.
But the big question is – where is the credible centrist or even leftist alternative to this approach? Was it actually Sanders in the US? (I'm a little unclear on the extent of his support). In the UK, there's a leftward swing in the Labour Party, but that's complicated by a lacklustre leader. But is it actually the same sort of populist rebellion, just expressed in a different way?
I don't subscribe to old-fashioned Socialist views of the economy – but still, I'd like to see a world in which corruption is tackled; in which all people have a fair chance to succeed; in which education and healthcare are widely available regardless of wealth; in which companies are free to trade but are responsibly regulated… but I'm now deeply unsure of what the next steps are.
Given Trump's win, looming Brexit etc., what's the way forward for a moderately-progressive-mostly-centrist like myself?
I can completely understand where a big chunk of Trump's support has come from. For a large number of people, globalisation is shit. Employment has become less stable; the gap between rich and poor appears to be growing; there is a sense of disenfranchisement with politics, and there is rampant corruption. Generally, people have every right to be totally pissed off with this situation; they essentially feel ignored by a distant 'elite' or whatever, and it seems pretty obvious that there will eventually be a reaction against that.
I certainly don't feel that Trump-ism and Brexiteer-ism is an actual solution to these problems; they do seem like relatively opportunistic populist movements that have capitalised on popular resentment. I have basically zero confidence that these movements will solve any of the problems they claim they will, and think that they will likely cause lots of damage along the way.
But the big question is – where is the credible centrist or even leftist alternative to this approach? Was it actually Sanders in the US? (I'm a little unclear on the extent of his support). In the UK, there's a leftward swing in the Labour Party, but that's complicated by a lacklustre leader. But is it actually the same sort of populist rebellion, just expressed in a different way?
I don't subscribe to old-fashioned Socialist views of the economy – but still, I'd like to see a world in which corruption is tackled; in which all people have a fair chance to succeed; in which education and healthcare are widely available regardless of wealth; in which companies are free to trade but are responsibly regulated… but I'm now deeply unsure of what the next steps are.
Just in case anyone is wondering the same thing as I last night:
The USCIS administrative act for the International Entrepreneur Rule (Startup Visa) won't be affected. First, because it's being passed as an administrative action, meaning that it doesn't have to be voted in congress in order for it to start taking an effect. Second, because it's actually aligned with Donald Trump's 3rd immigration policy driver (the first two have nothing to do with foreign-born entrepreneurs):
3. A nation that does not serve its own citizens is not a nation. Any immigration plan must improve jobs, wages and security for all Americans.
What Trump does believe is that the H1B1 is depressing salaries thus decreasing job opportunities for american citizens.
Therefore, if you have a startup and want to move it to the US you will have a better pathway. However, if you want to work as an employee in America, you'll have an even harder time.
The USCIS administrative act for the International Entrepreneur Rule (Startup Visa) won't be affected. First, because it's being passed as an administrative action, meaning that it doesn't have to be voted in congress in order for it to start taking an effect. Second, because it's actually aligned with Donald Trump's 3rd immigration policy driver (the first two have nothing to do with foreign-born entrepreneurs):
3. A nation that does not serve its own citizens is not a nation. Any immigration plan must improve jobs, wages and security for all Americans.
What Trump does believe is that the H1B1 is depressing salaries thus decreasing job opportunities for american citizens.
Therefore, if you have a startup and want to move it to the US you will have a better pathway. However, if you want to work as an employee in America, you'll have an even harder time.
People are saying this is about race and while I do think that's a big part of it, making it the whole story is dangerously counterproductive.
The Clinton camp basically offered nothing to working class people. Working class people of color turned out to vote for her because at least she wasn't spouting racist rhetoric but for working class whites who aren't concerned with race issues, if they're going to be equally neglected under either candidate, they may as well vote for the one who will be a brick through the window of the political establishment that has failed them. These are the voters who cost Clinton the election.
The Clinton camp basically offered nothing to working class people. Working class people of color turned out to vote for her because at least she wasn't spouting racist rhetoric but for working class whites who aren't concerned with race issues, if they're going to be equally neglected under either candidate, they may as well vote for the one who will be a brick through the window of the political establishment that has failed them. These are the voters who cost Clinton the election.
On the bright side, does this mean the election wasn't rigged? What will Alex Jones think now that Trump is in power? Will there be no more school shootings because Obama/Hillary and the federal government are no longer trying to take our guns away? Will ISIS no longer attack the US because Trump is being "tough" on them and the president is no longer refusing to say the words "radical islamic terrorism"?
So many intriguing questions posed by the victory of someone who, by many appearences, was happy to lose but rile up a big audience along the way.
So many intriguing questions posed by the victory of someone who, by many appearences, was happy to lose but rile up a big audience along the way.
The impeccable insight of Peter Thiel.
http://gizmodo.com/peter-thiel-goes-all-in-for-donald-trump-...
I didn't realize how "simplified" his convention speech was until I saw this. In hindsight (of about a week), now he sounds text book.
http://gizmodo.com/peter-thiel-goes-all-in-for-donald-trump-...
I didn't realize how "simplified" his convention speech was until I saw this. In hindsight (of about a week), now he sounds text book.
The stat that explains the election for me is 92% for Hillary in Washington DC.
Bear in mind that most US law is made by regulators, not Congress, and regulators live in Washington DC. Angry Republicans who feel it's "us vs the elite" and "nothing ever changes" are completely correct. If Trump wants to address the anger his voters feel for real, there's going to have to be a truly epic bonfire of regulators and regulation.
Bear in mind that most US law is made by regulators, not Congress, and regulators live in Washington DC. Angry Republicans who feel it's "us vs the elite" and "nothing ever changes" are completely correct. If Trump wants to address the anger his voters feel for real, there's going to have to be a truly epic bonfire of regulators and regulation.
So, I voted for DJT (I like calling him that, for some reason). I didn't vote for him because I agreed with any of his policies (as best I can tell he never actually presented any during the course of his campaign) or because I thought he was the best representative for the people of this country. I did so for a couple of reasons:
1. I like a good underdog story. The people that support him, for a multitude of reasons, feel neglected by the ruling class in this country. Now I don't know who started all the name calling, but I personally dislike the way they're demeaned and patronized by the Democrats/Liberals as racists and deplorable. There is absolutely no respect from the left given to these people and their opinions. Yeah, there are some loud one saying some ridiculous things, but I refuse to believe that close to half the country hates people of color and wants to completely isolate us from the rest of the world by closing our borders. It just can't be true. I lived in Germany for the last year and was just stunned at how quickly the word Xenophobia was used to label anyone that disagreed with Merkel's policy regarding the refugees. If your opinions were so immediately dismissed with such a strong word, you're going to start harboring some pretty strong feelings of animosity towards those who so quickly judge.
2. I believed he was the candidate with the biggest chance of winning that would bring about the biggest amount of disruption and change. (By this account, I should have voted for Obama in 2007 instead of writing in Ron Paul. But goddamn if Ron Paul didn't seem to have the most reasonable, compassionate and "real" voice I've ever heard in politics.) This, I believe, is inline largely with why Peter Thiel was backing him. I don't know if any of that change or disruption is going to be good or bad for me or the rest of America, but things are certainly going to be interesting for the next four years. Both the Republican and Democratic parties are going to be in complete turmoil as they scramble to figure out what the hell just happened. I think we were all ready to talk about the, sort of, civil war that was about to erupt in the Republican party after this election, but we might end up talking more, initially, about the same thing happening in the Democratic party. Obviously things aren't rosy with the Republicans just because they won everything, but the Democrats really have nothing to do but try and figure out what went wrong and fix it. I, also, don't believe he can really do anything too awful that we can't recover from; I have some faith in the checks and balances laid out by the constitution that will prevent DJT, himself, from doing too much harm. Unlike the Brexit vote, a DJT presidency isn't permanent. We'll be back in four years to do it all over again.
1. I like a good underdog story. The people that support him, for a multitude of reasons, feel neglected by the ruling class in this country. Now I don't know who started all the name calling, but I personally dislike the way they're demeaned and patronized by the Democrats/Liberals as racists and deplorable. There is absolutely no respect from the left given to these people and their opinions. Yeah, there are some loud one saying some ridiculous things, but I refuse to believe that close to half the country hates people of color and wants to completely isolate us from the rest of the world by closing our borders. It just can't be true. I lived in Germany for the last year and was just stunned at how quickly the word Xenophobia was used to label anyone that disagreed with Merkel's policy regarding the refugees. If your opinions were so immediately dismissed with such a strong word, you're going to start harboring some pretty strong feelings of animosity towards those who so quickly judge.
2. I believed he was the candidate with the biggest chance of winning that would bring about the biggest amount of disruption and change. (By this account, I should have voted for Obama in 2007 instead of writing in Ron Paul. But goddamn if Ron Paul didn't seem to have the most reasonable, compassionate and "real" voice I've ever heard in politics.) This, I believe, is inline largely with why Peter Thiel was backing him. I don't know if any of that change or disruption is going to be good or bad for me or the rest of America, but things are certainly going to be interesting for the next four years. Both the Republican and Democratic parties are going to be in complete turmoil as they scramble to figure out what the hell just happened. I think we were all ready to talk about the, sort of, civil war that was about to erupt in the Republican party after this election, but we might end up talking more, initially, about the same thing happening in the Democratic party. Obviously things aren't rosy with the Republicans just because they won everything, but the Democrats really have nothing to do but try and figure out what went wrong and fix it. I, also, don't believe he can really do anything too awful that we can't recover from; I have some faith in the checks and balances laid out by the constitution that will prevent DJT, himself, from doing too much harm. Unlike the Brexit vote, a DJT presidency isn't permanent. We'll be back in four years to do it all over again.
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