Trump Mindset- American Empire

Trump’s Mindset- American Empire

            Robert A. Levine  12-30-24

Instead of Trump convincing Vladmir Putin to stop thinking like a 19^th century imperialist trying to extend the Russian empire, it appears that Putin has transformed Trump’s mindset. It is Trump who is now thinking like an imperialist, wanting America to obtain new territories. Some of Trump’s pronouncements are truly bizarre. He has spoken of America needing to take over Greenland for its own and America’s protection. Greenland is a self-governing, autonomous territory of Denmark, considered part of North America. It is the world’s largest island covered mainly by glaciers, tundra and permafrost with a population of under 60,000. The Greenland ice sheet covers more than four/fifths of the territory. The ice sheet is about one to two miles in thickness, with climate change causing a good deal of melting. Greenland is known to be rich in many minerals including rare earths, but the ice sheet makes mining difficult. During World War II when the Germans occupied Denmark, the U.S. took over Greenland, then returned it to Denmark after the war. An air base was built at Thule in Greenland in the 1950s and 60s with early warning systems for missiles which have been upgraded continuously. Trump has suggested that Denmark sell Greenland to America which the Danes have rejected. The Greenland population has shown no interest in becoming part of the U.S.

Trump has also suggested that the U.S. take back the Panama Canal from the government of Panama. In the early part of the 20^th century, the United States paid the government of Panama $10 million for permission to build the canal which took about 10 years. It opened in 2014 connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and cutting travel time for ships to get from Europe to America’s West Coast and the islands in the Pacific. It is one of the most strategic waterways in the world. In 1977, Jimmy Carter arranged for the canal to be gradually transferred back to the government of Panama. This was finalized in 1999. Expansion of the canal for larger ships was started in 2007 and completed in 2016. Trump is concerned that the Chinese will negotiate with the Panamanians to take over the canal the way they have taken over ports all over the Third World when loans could not be paid back. Having the Chinese in control of the canal would be a threat to our national security. However, arrangements could be made with Panama’s government to keep the Chinese out without our taking control of the canal which would outrage the world and especially Latin America.

The third land grab Trump is speaking about is making Canada part of the United States. In fact, he has been calling Canada the 51^st state. Neither the Canadian government nor the population of Canada want to be part of the U.S. Surveys taken of Canadians have a bit more than 10 percent wanting to join the United States. Obviously, Trump could not accomplish this by military means and it’s not even clear whether he might be joking about the idea.

Trump has said that he wants to keep America out of foreign wars but said nothing about foreign debacles. How did Trump get this imperialistic mindset?

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Trump's Contradictory Goals

Trump’s Contradictory Goals

                        Robert A. Levine  12-12-24

Trump probably doesn’t realize it or understand it, but the goals of some of his policies conflict with each other. In fact, if some of his policies are put into effect, others will not be possible. Important parts of Trumps ideology include tariffs and deporting immigrants. Yet at the same time, he wants to cut inflation and spur economic growth. The first two policy goals are antithetical to the last two. Trump also does not take into account that the American population is aging and many of the elderly need fulltime help. We are not replacing our population with our birth rates declining. To maintain our economy and production ability, we need immigrants. Skilled, H1B immigrants are particularly important. Asylum for immigrants from totalitarian states is also part of our tradition.

Raising tariffs on imported goods will raise prices for consumers and be inflationary. Trump thinks that the exporting countries will absorb the costs, but they will actually be borne by American consumers. As the prices increase, so will inflation. Trump also believes that the funds collected from tariffs will allow tax cuts (mainly for the wealthy). But there will not be adequate amounts of money generated with tariffs to significantly reduce taxes without increasing the national debt, which is already higher than it should be related to our GDP.

Deporting immigrants will also spur inflation and will not provide jobs for Americans which is another of Trump’s goals. Immigrants tend to have low-paying jobs in the agriculture sector, landscaping, construction and meat preparation and packing. They also work as home health aides. Aside from construction, Americans will not take the jobs that become available. However, the prices of agricultural products and meat will rise, landscaping and construction will become more expensive, adding to inflation and there will not be enough home health aides.

Tariffs as a means of raising revenue go back to the 18^th century, which is probably where Trump would like to see America. Not only should Trump not cut taxes when our national debt is so high, he should raise taxes on his billionaire friends and plug tax loopholes. There should be no increase for the average taxpayer. Closing the border aside from legal immigrants is a reasonable idea and some deportation of immigrants with no skills may be worthwhile. But we need immigrants to make up for our population losses. Tariffs should also be restricted to specific cheaper items that will compete with American goods.

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Destroying America’s Scientific Ascendency

President Trump doesn’t like facts, doesn’t like science, and doesn’t like experts. He trusts his “gut” to tell what to do when faced with difficult decisions. That includes picking people to run the agencies of the government, including those that deal with the health of American citizens and various scientific disciplines. He doesn’t seem to understand that the strength of the economy and our military, in addition to the nation’s health, depends on an unfettered scientific establishment. Scientists must be free to do the research they feel is worthwhile, rather than being ruled by politicians who compose their agenda.

Trump’s cabinet and subcabinet picks appear determined to cut the number of scientific researchers working for the federal government, and to curb research that does not align with Trump’s or his cabinet’s scientific and medical beliefs. The continued growth of our economy requires scientific freedom to experiment in promising fields, and sometimes they will be wrong. But when they develop new technology and come up with new discoveries, the whole nation and sometimes the whole world benefits.

His choice of Robert Kennedy Jr to run the Department of Health and Human Services is an example of Trump choosing a person who has a profusion of ideas that have been proven to be scientifically invalid. Kennedy believes that vaccines are dangerous and cause autism among other adverse effects. Kennedy called the Covid-19 vaccine one of the most dangerous ever. He wants to stop fluoridation of the water supply which reduces tooth decay and believes that ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine and good treatments for Covid. All of these beliefs have been proven by the scientific establishment to be false. The NIH, the crown jewel of America’s health system is under threat from Kennedy and Trump. Some of Kennedy’s ideas on foods appear valid but his anti-scientific stances make him a dangerous candidate to take over all the health agencies.

There has also been talk about Trump getting rid of NOAA which is responsible for weather forecasting in North America and the surrounding oceans. In this era of heightened climate change and global warming, America and the rest of the world have faced multiple weather emergencies, including massive hurricanes, torrential rainstorms, flooding in some areas and droughts in others. The nation needs accurate weather forecasting to help its population prepare for these disasters before they hit. Trump has also called climate change a hoax and is in thrall to the fossil fuel companies whose products are the main driver of global warming. He does not want further research done that might prove him wrong and hurt his allies in the oil and gas business. But adoption of renewable energy is a must if we are to control global warming, with the concurrent elimination of fossil fuels. Biden’s Infrastructure Act was a move in the right direction, but we don’t know how Trump will deal with that. He doesn’t like to be proven wrong or shown up in any way and strikes out at those people willing to tell him when he is wrong. This is evident by the way he handled his appointees during his first term in office.

www.robertlevinebooks.com

Buy The Uninformed Voter on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or at your local bookstore