I am, by nature, an optimist. I always have been. Even as a wee bairn (English - small child) I believed that whatever happened would be for the best. Sometimes I was right and sometimes I was wrong. However my optimistic faith in the outcome was rarely shaken.
I have always ensured that this blog avoids serious controversy or political issues of any sort. I am a believer that we all have a right to our own views provided we afford the same right to others.
I hate to say it but I truly believe that this week the world that you and I have known until now has changed for ever.
The US has suddenly declared that it has become completely US oriented with little or no interest as the guarantor of the 'Free World' as we like to call it.
Only two powers in the world can really challenge the US and Europe: The USSR and China. China has little of no military interest in conquering its biggest customers. Why would it whilst we are fuelling its economy to our mutual benefits?
The USSR on the other hand......
Israel's current Prime Minister now potentially continues to have carte blanche to commit genocide and cause total chaos in the Middle East to the economic detriment of The Middle East and Europe and much more of the world.
President Putin can extend his empire by annexing the occupied territories of Ukraine with impunity. The Baltic countries which he covets are genuinely worried. Europe does not have the military might successfully to fight Russia on the ground. The UK has a nuclear deterrent, the use of which would be self-defeating and that's about it.
I'm 80 and will probably pop my clogs before a major conflagration involving the UK occurs.
I hope that I am completely wrong in that which I have said.
You will be happy to know that his will be the only post of its sort that I will write.
Now I shall have nightmares tonight!
ReplyDeleteSorry about that, JayCee.
DeleteIt was a stupefying outcome. Not only was he victorious, he won the popular vote, and every segment of US society voted for him, even those groups he had bashed, trashed and denigrated. It is sobering to think that JFK had an uphill struggle to be elected merely because he was a Catholic, but in 2024 a convicted felon, admirer of dictators with ambitions to be one himself, misogynist, serial liar, twice impeached, bumbling old man who can barely compose a cogent sentence can win so convincingly. And he has surrounded himself with sycophants ready to do his bidding. As someone living north of the border there is great concern, and we have our own right-wing, populist ideologue waiting in the wings. Troubling times, indeed.
ReplyDeleteDavid, you are obviously as perplexed and I am.
DeleteI agree with you. The world is in turmoil.
DeleteWe've been here before and will be again. It all looks and sounds dreadful, but there will be brakes on the wilder ideas. At least, I hope so. I'm too optimistic.
ReplyDeleteJanice, I can only hope that you are correct.
DeleteI have been glum all week about Trump's victory. It will have serious repercussions beyond America's shores. It's funny how in this blogosphere I have "met" many Americans but not one of them has been a Trump supporter. Right now I am sure they feel as glum as me.
ReplyDeleteLike you, Neil, I'm not aware of any Americans whom I have met who support Trump. It probably says a lot about us though.
DeleteWe have to acknowledge what this is. This is a bigger change than we have ever seen. It's unpredictable. We do not have much control. I think your optimism will end up being correct.
ReplyDeleteRed, you are, of course, correct and we have no choice but to acknowledge it.
DeleteAccording to what I read online, the new theory is he won by breaking the "code" for voting machines. That is fueled by his own statements before election day that he didn't need votes because he has all the votes he needed. There are people that want an investigation. I have no doubt if the election was rigged, then the truth to prove it will be found.
ReplyDeleteI also doubt that there will be any investigation.
Believing he won, sad, but I get that. Won the popular vote doesn't feel real to me.
Whatever is or is not, I support Americans uniting for the good of our country to support our president elect.
Maywyn, isolationism has rarely, if ever, been in the interest of any country in the long run.
DeleteThis was discussed before the election. As I understand it, it couldn't happen because the voting machines have nothing to do with the internet. Have you heard something else?
DeleteYour analysis sums it up pretty well. The world is in a self-imposed mess, and we 'ordinary' folk can do nothing to halt it. It's all in the hands of a few megalomaniacs.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, Cro. I am simply glad that I am 80 and not 8.
DeleteOn the occassions I have expressed my concern about the President elect, people have hushed me and I already feel unqualified to really comment.
ReplyDeleteI hope it all works out a lot better than we think
Really Kylie? Perhaps that is in person rather than on your blog.
DeleteKylie, it sounds as though the people who have hushed you have little idea of the consequences for the world of what has just happened.
DeleteGraham, I would welcome more posts from you on this subject - you are articulate, erudite and I always enjoy your musing. As for "47" . . . my concern is that he did not accomplish as much as people feared during his first term because he and his people did not really know what they were doing. This time around he already understands how Washington works and therfore, how to curcumvent it. Having packed the Supreme Court will help too.
ReplyDeleteI had not heard the theory from Salty Pumpkin Studio, which sounds bizarre, but, after this unexpected result is anything really off the table? I listened to BBC Newscast earlier and they said the only State in which he did not increase his vote shre was Washington . . . really?
Jayne, the world of politics and the world order has now changed once more. My belief is that it has, unfortunately, changed for the worse. American isolationism and protectionism will mean that American influence in the world will diminish or cease and that may appear to have short term advantages until the economic reality hits people. It stands to reason that if you buy something from a low cost country like China you will pay little for it compared with the cost of buying the same thing made in a high cost economy like the USA. I think I am correct in saying that historically protectionism has never been economically beneficial to a country's economy in the long term.
DeleteThinking back at the past 10 years or more, I would say the change has begun a lot earlier. Think of how many times a crook like Berlusconi managed to be at the head of his country. Think of Brexit. Think of Trump's first presidency. Think of the ongoing civil war in Syria, and the almost European war in the Ukraine. Think of the refugee crisis and what its huge impact on Germany (and other countries, of course) in connection with those wars. Think of climate change, e-mobility, The Pandemic... None of it I would have imagined before it happened. These latest developments (Germany's government crashing at the same time as Trump won the elections) are just speeding up the weird downward spiral we seem to be on.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet... I can't help but looking at my happy bubble of the world, being grateful for all that is good I have in my life, and hoping for it to stay that way, quite egoistically.
Meike, like you I live in a happy bubble and have lived a fortunate and happy life. I even missed conscription by a year or two. I hate to think what life will be like for my grandson.
DeleteThe reason that you 'meet' so few tRUMP supporters is that because a lot of them would have no interest in the world around them, no interest in cultivating friendships outside their own culture. It sounds very simplistic and stereotypical, but I find it to be true. They are concerned only with their lives and pretty unconcerned about the world around them. Just as their dear leader is, really.
ReplyDeleteI am afraid too, and it was the very first thing that I thought. tRUMP's previous attempted dealings with Ukraine involved, as you might remember, a request. Quid pro Quo. He and Elon had a long talk with Zelensky yesterday. I'm very concerned.
Debby, listening to those of his supporters interviewed for television I can understand exactly what you are saying.
DeleteI usually avoid politics on my blog too, but I feel much as you do about the outcome of this election, and found it too big an event to not comment on it at all. I think one aspect to keep in mind though is that it is obvious that even the US is still very divided when it comes to feeling optimistic vs worried about the consequences...
ReplyDeleteIndeed, Monica, but for the foreseeable future Trumpism will rule and who knows what the world will be like when his rule comes to an end.
DeleteI do share that worry, Graham. And in that we're certainly not alone...
DeleteHiya Graham, sorry you and all your correspondents are sad............I'm dancing on air, well hopping, as my broken back doesn't allow for dancing. It's my turn to be happy, a pity it takes the Donald to achieve this but I'll take the win wherever or whoever it comes from.
ReplyDeleteAdrian I have known you for many many years. The trouble is I still don't always know when the shite you talk is meant and simply misguided or just a load of b******ks to irritate everyone.
DeleteI can assure you that I'm serious.
DeleteOne man's shite is anothers truth.
Skimming the comments here all I see are victims............It's sad.
Actually the majority of eligible voters did not vote. Trump got about the same number of votes as he did in 2020, but a larger number decided not to vote at all. So the majority of Americans did not want Trump but didn't want Harris either so now what will happen. It's scary here. I cannot "Keep Calm" but I will "Carry on".
ReplyDeleteEllen, I do not envy you.
DeleteDear Graham, I’ve been lurking about here reading your interesting observations on life in this world we live in. Now I have thoughts to contribute to the conversation. As an American, I can tell you no good will come from trump and cronies taking over our country. If all of his threats and promises come true we will not continue to be a free and relatively healthy country with choices and the right to vote. All women’s rights are under the knife. These people attempted to exclude us from this election! It’s already horrible for women of childbearing age. Some migrants live in terror as they are already being removed from the country, many here working on our food farms. They will take full credit for the recovery President Biden accomplished from trump’s last four years. We are (were) doing so much better, heading in the right direction and it will appear in some ways that it continues for a time but only because of the healthy economy and investment in infrastructure that has been set in place now. Dictatorship is a terrifying idea as we’ve learned from Putin’s example. Project 2025 is a plan straight out of the novel, Handmaids Tale. Their plan is to defund our government next month to prepare their takeover. Some may dance on air now but they’ll be sunk right along with the rest of us. I’m hanging on by a thread emotionally as we spend our last two months living in a free country. I’m hearing from friends at the border that they too fear this change as it affects them as well and they too are witnessing changes and near misses in their elections there that are alarming. The world will be forever changed and I doubt that is an exaggeration on my part. Little more than half the voters (many did not vote) of this country allowed themselves to be brainwashed, conned and led like sheep toward their own slaughter because they see themselves separated out somehow. I’m sad to spend my final years on this earth facing and fighting this crisis and I fear for my family, especially my grandchildren who will not enjoy as good a life as my husband and I enjoyed over the past 70 years. Be well and think of us liberals (and some republicans) here who worked and voted to hold this outcome back.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous (I can understand why) you have given a reasoned insight into what I understand many are going through. Thank you.
DeleteGraham, that sounds logical and makes sense, and I too am unlikely to be here long enough to see how it plays itself out, but it is unpredictable in both the short and longer terms. The world is becoming more unstable, although I wonder whether Trump's election is a symptom of this more than a cause; maybe like Brexit. Trump won't find it easy to do all he wants, so I do have some optimism, but the protectionism is probably one of the easiest things to do. It shows the dangers of assuming we can buy whatever we need from elsewhere, which perhaps has gone too far here, privatising everything and selling it off so that the profits go overseas, leaving us with little of our own, and not making things ourselves, not even strategically important things. It's a wake up call.
ReplyDeleteTasker, I believe that what you say is also what I believe. Consumerism and materialism have got to the stage when they rule everything. After all the migrants coming into our country don't come here for the welcome they come here for material reasons and, of course, the hope that this country is safer that the places from whence they fled.
DeleteIt seems the state of the world now is worrying a lot of people, for one reason or another. One can only hope there is a better world waiting in the wings :)
ReplyDeleteMargaret, that is capable of different interpretations. As an 80 year old I suspect any options are likely to be better than the potential options available to our grand-children.
DeleteI hear you and I agree, I don't often post anything political either as not everyone agrees with our views.
ReplyDeleteThank you Aimz. Generally I just try and avoid confrontation. Occasionally I believe things have to be said.
DeleteI'm no fan of Trump, and I suspect that his election success is comparable to Starmer in the UK, more a reaction to the issues with an obviously senile Biden, (his Inflation Reduction act must surely be one of the least accurate bill descriptions ever), hopelessly incompetent Harris, and a declining "feel good" factor across much of the US, like Starmer benefitted from the hopelessly incompetent Conservatives. As to US isolation, this sounds like a throwback to 1930s when the US disengaged from much of the world, and it took Pearl Harbour and other events to bring them back onside.
ReplyDeleteWill, I understand your points. As for another Pearl Harbour it remains to be seen whether the US decides to relinquish or abandon all it's many interests in the Far East.
DeleteI agree with everything you have said and am glad that you did post on this.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, a lot of people vote with the heart and don’t really do their research. Someone tells you they are going to solve x,y and z and you want them solved, so you vote for them, without asking “how?”.
To me it is similar to the Brexit vote. Those who voted to leave did not know what they were voting for, they had no idea what the implications of an exit would be. No one knew, because there wasn’t a plan.
Absolutely, Boris,.
DeleteI kept telling my friends that they shouldn't be surprised if Trump were to win the election. I could see the signs. Still, many people were in shock and disbelief at Trump"s victory. Bernie Sanders, you should look him up and see what he had to say about the election. He's right, the Republicans pushed all the right buttons to win, mostly emphasizing the high cost of groceries and crime committed by immigrants. I did not vote for him. Never have. I've read that the last time Trump was in, he had more moderate people around him. This time, it looks like that might not happen. That does scare me. Billionaires with nothing but dollar signs guiding them scare me. Stubbornly, I remain optimistic. That's the only way to be!
ReplyDeleteKay, like you, I'm naturally an optimist by nature but that optimism is being sorely tested at the moment. I wish you well.
DeleteWow all those comments. I agree with you. The world is in turmoil.
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed, Diane.
Delete