A Billionaire President for the People?

Welcome to my latest blog or post

I have noticed that my blog does not get read by many people, and maybe that is the way it will stay, but I do find writing down my thoughts and ideas and viewpoints to be something that I want to do. So, for now I will just keep writing.

Low readership may mean my blog is boring, maybe people don’t like what I have to say, maybe what I say is too intense or idealistic, maybe I haven’t figured out an effective way to reach more people, but for now I think business as usual, of at least putting my thoughts into a blog or similar, is a good decision.

Tomorrow will be the inauguration of the new US President Donald Trump. Many people are very concerned with what his presidency may lead to.

Because I embrace law of attraction thinking and other new age ideas as well as fairly traditional left-wing democratic socialist ideas, I am a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to looking at different situations.

There is some truth that the more we can get into alignment with the things that please us, we can attract better circumstances, and if nothing else, we are tuned in to the positive things around us and the things that we do like rather than the opposite. Every day when we awaken, with mental focus and decision we can focus on the things that we appreciate rather than the opposite. So today for me, the sun is shining, the leaves are a beautiful green, I had a good lunch, I drank some nice coffee this morning, I had time to check emails and do other tasks as well as meditate. I also got hot on the walk back to my apartment, the food was too salty and the taps in the kitchen need repairing. So, in other words, no matter what is going on, we can always choose to focus on the things that please us or focus on the things that do not please us. It could be in our chemistry or genetics or upbringing, or training, but some of us find it easier to keep focused on the things we like while others get more focused on that which they do not like. And also, the truth of the matter is that we swing between the two. Some of us feel more negative more of the time, while others maintain positive states more of the time. The people that we hang around and the situations and things that we choose to give our attention to, often are our choosing. We may feel like we do not have much choice, but we usually do. We can choose to be around people who have a more positive focus or people who tend towards being the opposite. In Scientology, the word used to relate to emotional states is tone and there is much insight Scientologists have in this area about choosing the tone or state that we choose to be in and that we present to others. Abraham and Esther Hicks would refer to it as vibration or how you feel. If you are focused on a thought or situation that makes you feel negative, then that is what you are going to attract more of into your life. But if you can shift your focus to something that makes you feel good or pleases you, then you are going to bring more positive things into your life.

With regards to the election of Donald Trump, there are many things about him as a person and a leader which concern me. But like every human, there will also be redeeming features as well. In some ways, he is a renegade, a risk taker. He can also be seen as potentially dangerous, erratic and seems to carry a demeanour like a spoilt child who wants a lollipop but can’t have it.

The best thing about Donald Trump’s election was that he questioned the US involvement in Syria and also questioned why the United States would be against Russia. Early on in the election, I suspected that he may be open to Russia for one ridiculous but significant reason: his current wife, Melania, & a previous wife come from Eastern Europe. Now as I learn more about him, I learn that he has also spent time in Eastern European countries. Between those experiences and ideas coming from his partnerships, there will be some degree of understanding and respect for Russia and its allies. And I am guessing Russian mafia elites.

Many progressive friends have been extremely concerned about his election. He has a hardness in his attitude to many minorities. He occurs to me as a person who has not received much education about history or the resulting discords between different countries and sections of the population. And that topic in itself, can be a complicated one. Much of the left has become pickled with politically correct ideas where people and leaders are accepted or refuted or rejected based on the opinions and viewpoints towards different groups in the world.

For example, I had dislike towards Putin because of his homophobic comments. At the time of the Winter Olympics in Russia, he said gay people will be welcome but that he asked them to stay away from children. This shows someone who has little understanding of what gay people are really like. It perpetuates the stereotype that gay people abuse children. Reality from research shows that most sexual abuse of boys is done by family members and usually men who are heterosexual. By making such a statement, Putin showed his ignorance but he also reinforced this damaging stereotype and by doing so encouraged intolerance. For the last few years I had seen him as another dictator or autocrat. What I hear from Russia is that many journalists and people seeking free speech get silenced or murdered in his regime. I see him as another powerful leader or dictator and it seems that Russians have some need for powerful leaders. I suppose when you have had a certain style of leadership for a long time, it is difficult to change, but also people become adapted to it and it becomes familiar to them. The Tsar was mean and tyrannical, then there was Stalin, now there is Putin.

However, what I did not know was that Putin and Russia would come to the aid of Syria. Regardless of the economic style that country may be in now, alliances of the past continue. Cuba, Syria, Russia and many other nations are all evolving, but because they share a historical commonality of being ostracised and attacked by the United States and its allies, these countries came to rely upon each other in the past, and so today continue to have connections.

On Syria, there is so much confusion. I don’t know if there has ever been a country at war, where there have been so many different ideas in the media about understanding the situation. Probably the situation is magnified by changing technology. In the past, people got the newspaper. Maybe they subscribed to a magazine or newspaper that shared their view of different issues, but for a lot of people there was no choice. Now going online, we can tap into all kinds of different groups and media that argue and explain the situation in many different ways.

With Trump, during the election debate, he questioned who the United States was supporting in Syria and basically saw that working with Russia to keep Assad in power, was a better decision than creating another rogue state. Clinton on the other hand was all for ramping up the US involvement in Syria, supporting various rebel groups, and standing up to Russia. Her comments in relation to Russia were extremely concerning, and she seemed very intent on escalating the situation in Syria. It seems like a lot of my progressive friends were choosing to ignore that topic because they saw Trump as unstable and the greedy thug as well as racist sexist and harsh in his temperament.

As Trump gets ready to take the reins he has appointed his son-in-law to manage peace in the Middle East. If this was a joke it would be laughable but unfortunately it is not. His son-in-law is Jewish, a Zionist, and has shares in building developments for Jewish settlements on Palestinian land. Enough said. Whether peace or any significant redress will occur for the Palestinians under Trumps leadership, well I consider that would be a miracle. On the other hand, talks to move the capital of Israel to Jerusalem, I suspect will soon turn into destroying the mosque above the Wailing Wall through one means or another and rebuilding a Jewish Temple, because that’s what the fundamentalist Christians believe necessary to bring about the return of Jesus. Again, very little conversation is heard about this topic, but anyone who knows a thing or two about born-again rapture based Christians will know that is the agenda and has a lot to do with why the United States assists Israel so much. It is not just the Jewish lobby. Of course money made from perpetuating war is significant with Israel too.

My love of wolves and bears and many other things to do with natural ecosystems will be under threat with Trump. Despite being a billionaire, Trump likes to promote himself as the successful working class white man. He likes his woman to be young and pretty, he likes the idea of having influence and power over others. Hunting animals is part of that culture. Culturally and environmentally he is a step back into the dark ages.

But what did Obama achieve and what was Clinton going to do? That is when politics shows itself to be a messy affair.

The legacy of Obama is one of dignity and friendliness and respect. But that is just the cover. Reality is that the war machine continued over the last eight years, it was just quietly done. Is that any better? Hillary presented herself as more keen on confrontation. In the last eight years, some things changed. Acceptance of gay people grew; gay marriage became accepted. More African Americans studied further and moved into more government positions many achieving better salaries and standards of living. Many environmental policies were more protective but not all. While all that was coming on, the debt continued to climb and most people became poorer.

So where are things heading?

We are seeing more extreme weather events happening. Global temperatures are breaking records. And yet we are about to bring into the White House a man who denies climate change.

Many other countries are moving ahead with their programs to improve things environmentally, so the work that has been done to date will not be wasted. But Trump represents a message that people are denying climate change and that they can do whatever they want. His election has legitimised the power of the deniers and there is a connection between those who deny climate change, those who have business interests in oil etc, religious fanatics who believe it essential to have dominion over other life even if it requires destruction and armageddon.

So, are these dangerous times or great times? You get to decide that. There have always been challenges and there will also always be great things, and as I said at the beginning of this writing, we all get to decide what we focus on. And despite many leaders allying themselves with the corporations & rich elites, or more commonly being members of that small 1%, the most extreme poverty in the world is reducing due to various aid charities & UN programs.

Trump represented a vote by many experiencing economic crisis. I hear some people suggest that all people who voted for Trump were like Nazis/ KKK. That they were racist homophobic etc. But I don’t really believe that. To vote for Trump, there were many different reasons for people taking that action. Yes, there will be some who are threatened by equality and respect for black or gay people, but I don’t think they represent the majority. I think the truth is Hillary became seen as the friend of the corporations and not a friend of the working class. Her rigging of the Democratic Party candidacy selection was noticed by many people. Trump paraded himself as the one who would assist working people who are struggling. Time will tell whether he has any success in that regard. He promised to penalise businesses that move and set up shop in other countries. He may be able to bring back high level work ventures, but many of those projects do not make huge numbers of jobs. Increasing mechanisation leads to unemployment and the move to poorer countries to run businesses was done to increase profits. Even with a 30% penalty tax, operating businesses in poor countries probably would still be cheaper. The cost of ownership of property, and connected to that necessary rental levels for mortgage repayments, means that average workers in the United States must earn much higher wages than in poorer nations. That is not an opinion; that is a fact.

The issue that many of my progressive friends have got confused by is that whether Trump or Clinton had been President, the rich and their associates are in power with either choice. If we want to see real change that is going to be good for everyone, we need leaders who are connected to the normal people, not the elites. Yes, we saw leadership with Obama & Clinton that advanced the status of various minorities, but corporate superprofits continued as with Republicans. We have to stop selling out & compromising. For me, it is easier to stay connected to the big issue of the rich elite exploiting the wealth of the majority, while I stay in the developing world. That’s where you get to see the real disgusting motive of capitalism- where people die because they cannot afford medicine. We can go on supporting the ethical charities to try & alleviate some of this extreme, but I say enough is enough. It is time to talk about wealth distribution across the world. It is time to establish new international laws where health, medicine & medical, education, food, water & shelter are guaranteed to all & where we have systems to make it a reality, no exceptions.

I am not from the US, but this election and situation in the United States in general, is extremely important for people all over the world. What happens in the United States gets to have great broadcast and influence on many other countries. So, having good programs and strategies operating in the United States is not just important for people of that country, but people all over the world.

Having a plan to move things forward for the world is essential and that will be the topic of my next blog or essay. We need to see the world as it operates today, based on racism- colonialism- imperialism- the acquisition of profit for some while the majority are denied, where environments are destroyed, where big sections of the population miss out on decent living situations- food, water, housing, work, education, medical.

It can be resolved, and I believe in peaceful transition, with steps of progress, where all of humanity is taken care of and of course nature. We need to see how we all fit in to advancing knowledge and understanding of the current challenges, and how to build great alliances where everyone gets a sense of inclusion and a good understanding of how humans came to be so divided with each other & nature & how we can move forward together for the benefit of all.

As I finish writing this today, I read that several states in US want to pass bills making it ok to kill demonstrators. Funny how we always said the US was the land of the free!