Yesterday evening, I suddenly realised that TRUMP is also an interesting abbreviation for Turkey Russia USA Mugabe Philippines. The recent election of the new President of the Philippines tells me that we are experiencing the end of democracy as we have known it thus far. I am convinced that Donald Trump will beat Hillary Clinton on 8 November 2016. I am even convinced that Donald Trump will be re elected as US President in 2020.
Why do we do things of which we know deep down that they are not good – or even wrong – for us? Example: Many people prefer eating snacks over exercising although we know that exercising improves our body while eating snacks does the opposite. The answer may be that the short term impact of eating snacks is higher than the long term impact of daily exercise.
Could it be that we fail to see the long term consequences of the choices that we are about to make? Or – even worse – that we do know the long term consequences but that we prefer the immediate and short term joy? It’s almost the same as an extramarital affair: short term joy versus long-term regret and remorse. Perhaps politics is not very different, ultimately.
It’s possible that we have come to view Politics as another kind of consumption and/or entertainment. Politics used to be something that we believed in with a clear division between left and right. The statements of Donald Trump show that his view does not have a clear left or clear right agenda. He is cherry picking on ideas that suit him most. My blogs of 17 June 2015 and 13 July 2015 already suggested that such an approach would be successful.
I have outlined the long term consequences of a Trump decade in my blogs of 22 april (Tipping points – USA) and 10 May 2016 (Tipping points – China). Somehow I am convinced that he will make his domestic agenda into a success at the expense of American companies that offshored jobs and also at the expense of Wall Street. Also see my 24 March blog: Main Street vs Wall Street. I am still trying to envisage what companies like Apple, Facebook and Google would do in case of a Trump presidency. Seasteading is still a popular thought in Silicon Valley.
In many of my blogs, I have mentioned that the Western style democracy is at the end of its economic lifecycle. It’s not only the development in the TRUMP countries that pointed out to this. We also see a disintegration in Europe and a simultaneous rise of populist politicians who make politics look like entertainment and consumption.
We have a Dutch saying: “Verandering van spijs doet eten” which officially translates as: “Variety is the spice of life”. A more literal translation is this: “Change of food makes one eat” (source). Perhaps Politics is not only entertainment but also like consumption. The differences between the mainstream political parties have become that small that these parties have become like “eenheidsworst” (NL) or humdrum. People now want to spice up their lives with some spicy food.
I suppose that many of us prefer short term joy despite long-term regret and remorse. In friendship as well as love, ignorance very often contributes more to our happiness than knowledge. Francois de la Rochefoucauld (1613-1680).
Joy Division – Love Will Tear Us Apart (1980) – artists, lyrics, video, Wiki-1, Wiki-2
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