Tag: world

  • How Donald Trump Becoming President Changed My World

    How Donald Trump Becoming President Changed My World

    Months ago, I wrote a short piece rationalizing why Trump will not be president of the USA (unless the Republican party wants to commit political suicide). I was quite sure it will be the last time I’d mention his name on this website. During the following months, I was given a stark reminder that “nothing’s certain”. Not only did Trump get the presidency, but the Republican party is doing quite well.

    I’m not ruling out political suicide just yet, but this doesn’t change the fact I’ve made a serious estimation error regarding Donald’s chances. It has been one of my most disappointing prognoses, so I chastised myself over it more than a few times. However, I spent far more energy into learning from this mistake. There are many teachings indeed.

    First of all, it seems like some countries are failing to adapt democracy to the Internet age. Starting with the spread of lies about candidates through social media and ending with cyber warfare, I think that the democratic process is in serious need of renovation.

    I wouldn’t really call it a teaching – since I was always aware of this – but the fury of the people should never be underestimated. Trump and similar candidates across the world are riding on this wave of anger. I just hope that Americans won’t regret installing Trump as their president like other nations regretted their choice dearly in the past. I can’t help drawing some parallels with a certain leader that got elected in Europe about 85 years ago. We’re still recovering from the emotional scars he left behind.

    But the most important change in my life since Donnie Tea became president is that the event miraculously stopped me from reading the news three times a day (I’ve been trying to cut down for years). I’m now at about twice a week, having gained about 2-3 extra hours per week. As I said in the title of this posting, this is about how my world has changed. It’s one of the more subjective posts I’ve written, which is why I filed it under the new category “Life Fragments”.

    I’m fed up seeing news feeds clogged with “Donald said that” or “Donald did that”. I’m done being coaxed into reading these venomous sensationalist stories. I can’t help sharing a comparison I made recently: “democracy without education is like capitalism without capital”. Unfortunately, many voters lack the education to properly detect fake and/or manipulative press.

    I’m going to pass this season of the “all-you-can-consume information age”. Sure, I’ll keep an eye out on the news, but I’m done letting these companies infect my mind and therefore my life.

    Before, during and after the election, many media cartels made tons of money writing about Trump. Most of the published stories consist of the endless repetition of a single event, or are of little relevance. Even in countries that had nothing to do with the circus of an election that occurred in the USA, his name was mentioned more often than the most important local politicians. For example in Sweden, Donnie’s name was mentioned in the press many more times than the country’s most important political figure, the Prime Minister.

    For a while, I will stop writing much about politics. Even when I will, my approach will be very cautious. I’ll close this short entry with a few of the more relevant links written in the past few days about the beginning of Donnie Tea’s illustrious career as threat to human rights and civilization.

    However, I know that I know nothing. Perhaps some of his and his party’s decisions will turn out quite beneficial for our civilization. So take my comments below as perhaps totally wrong. Let’s see how things look ten years from now.

    Denying human-caused climate change and therefore setting back efforts to clean up our ecosystem:

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/20/us/politics/trump-white-house-website.html^

    Setting back the only recent attempt – however feeble – to improve healthcare in the USA:

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-signs-executive-order-that-could-lift-affordable-care-acts-individual-mandate/2017/01/20/8c99e35e-df70-11e6-b2cf-b67fe3285cbc_story.html?utm_term=.7a657c600a5a^

    Turning government into a discount shop for selling the tax payer’s hard-earned rights to a clean, safe and fair country (and accelerating the destruction of the ecosystem – also setting a bad example for governments across the world):

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/01/23/trump-to-ceos-ill-wipe-out-75-percent-of-regulations-fast-track-u-s-factories/?utm_term=.89318c36c008^

    Jeopardizing an already fragile geopolitical climate:

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/world-reacts-to-trumps-america-first-inaugural-speech/2017/01/20/5452f9ca-df95-11e6-8902-610fe486791c_story.html?utm_term=.aabf5ad12666^

    Using American influence to restrict women’s rights across the world (I’m not completely pro-choice, but I do believe that pro-life is a severe restriction of a woman’s rights, especially in special circumstances such as rape or very risk family environments):

    http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/abortion/315652-trump-signs-executive-order-reinstating-global-gag-rule-on^

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  • World Teeters on the Brink Of…

    World Teeters on the Brink Of…

    Welcome to mid-2016. Science and technology have progressed immensely. We’re continuously maximizing our agricultural output and we’re getting better at renewable energy^. We’ll soon have self-driving vehicles^ and our computers are getting better at understand our speech. We can escape to virtual worlds^ and we’re more connected than ever. At least in the developed world, even the poor have the luxury of running water and electricity. Are we on the brink of a new golden age, or is it all just clever brain-washing^?

    Welcome to mid-2016. A scary politician and a clever manipulator are tied^ for ruling one of the world’s superpowers (and owner of the largest nuclear arsenal). In Turkey, a failed coup^ provided an excuse for strongman Erdogan to purge his adversaries and head the country towards Islamic dictatorship^. We’re talking here about the country with the 2nd largest standing army in NATO. This is probably the single scariest event in 2016, at least until the elections in the USA. Topping things off, the UK decided to leave the EU. It also decided to prolong and upgrade its nuclear weapons-bearing submarine program^. And then there’s China^ and Australia^. Are we on the brink of war, or is it just the same old game of measuring who has the bigger gun?

    Erdogan - the Lucky Caliph
    Erdogan – the Lucky Caliph

    Welcome to mid-2016. The idealistic peace-loving project called the European Union seems to slowly unfold under the pressure of fear and terror. The USA and Russia are slowly squeezing the life out of Syria and Iraq, but it’s the EU that has to deal with most of the resulting fallout (sheltering refugees and dealing with a spate of terrorist^ attacks^). Are we going to vote in the next Hitler and give up our privacy, praying for protection from Big Brother? Or are we going to sit down at the same table with our worst enemies and enact sweeping social and political changes?

    Disclaimer: yes, both the USA and Russia are to blame for the crisis in Syria. Even though historically the USA has attacked the region most heavily, the superpowers never agreed on how to tackle the social disaster there. This is probably because they both stand to profit (enormously) from the economic and social failure of the EU. Divide et impera is the name of the game.

    Disclaimer: if it’s unclear who’s the “scary politician” and who’s the “clever manipulator” I’m referring to in the second paragraph, that’s as it should be. Welcome to 2016 ;).

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