The liberal and the conservative establishment had merged into one, says, Tariq Ali, and voting for Hilary was for voting for more of the same. Bernie Sanders stood a good chance to have beaten Trump, but if you watch the Abby Martin video I just posted you will see that this would never have suited the Democratic Party's hierarchy who are corrupt to the core. Tariq Ali is mildly hopeful about Trump although the old establishment will have him surrounded. Let's hope Trump is big enough to take them on.
Published on 16 Nov 2016
1 comment:
Looking back in history there are parallels with today. We could pick and choose which parallel to focus on, yet it seems wealth inequality looms largest.
If we focus on wealth inequality, 1929 is the latest parallel and it seems to have been resolved through WWII. There are some hopeful differences between these times; the EU, the Euro, lack of a gold standard, broad adoption of fiat money, more democratic governments, birth control, and the near certainty of mutual destruction through a global conflict. It seems these differences buy time. The level of violence is increasing but at a slower pace allowing for an increased number of election cycles.
From a chart of wealth inequality, that metric is still moving in the wrong direction and with it violence. The Great Depression and FDR policies were able to shift the direction of wealth inequality but not resolve it sufficiently to negate conflict. Are the social institutions we have today sufficient to shift the course of violence and wealth inequality? Trump's election provides some hope but still seems doubtful. Given his position in the wealthy class he will likely try to grow the pie rather than redistribute the existing pie minimizing conflict. Will he be successful in growing the pie sufficiently given real environmental constraints? Probably not without future trade offs in regards to global warming and pollution.
At best Trump can push off conflict for another 80 years allowing time for declining birth rates to make the thought of using war as population control unthinkable.
Automation and increasing lifespans will makie the adjustment more challenging.
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