The Grand Illusion
Although Donald Trump is often correct in pointing out problems facing the nation, all too many of his “solutions” make the problem even worse. Part of the reason for this is that Trump has several operating patterns that can’t help but make matters worse, which is why many of his solutions may come to haunt him.
His first generally unhelpful pattern is to look for an apparently simple solution to a problem and immediately attempt to implement that solution, without looking carefully at the situation, especially for longstanding problems, such as the foreign trade balance, immigration, excessive federal spending, education, and, of course, Iran.
The second pattern that magnifies the first is to find a person or people to blame when matters don’t go the way he thinks they should. It doesn’t matter whether the people blamed have any real connection to the problem, just that they’re somewhere near the problem… or that they’re someone Trump dislikes.
The reflecting pool mess is a good illustration. Trump identifies a real problem, that the reflecting pool has become unsightly and needs cleaning up. But does Trump bring in anyone who knows anything about the problems of fixing a stone structure unwisely built on what had originally been swampy ground? Hardly. He promises a fix, quotes an unrealistically low price, then contracts for repairs with an open budget and a 20% profit margin (i.e., cost plus budget) and gives the contract to a company with no track record in dealing with such problem facilities on a large scale, and which attempted to kill off the algae with hydrogen peroxide, not the best idea since hydrogen peroxide can, in certain conditions, act as a paint remover. Then, when matters go poorly, and sections of the coating come loose, Trump blames apparently non-existent vandals, berates the press for pointing out the lack of evidence for vandalism, and then says that it’s really the fault of previous administrations.
The questions facing Trump – and the US – are, first, if and when Trump will run out of plausible, but overly simplistic solutions and, second, when or if the American people will ever tire of the blame game and decide they want real and workable solutions.
I am not sure the American people have a say anymore. The Supreme Court doesn’t seem reliable. Congress isn’t working. The military leaders are being replaced left and right. It feels like as long as the oligarchs are making money, this will continue at the federal level. Some cities and states will be life rafts for the sinking ship.
I hope this will change but if it doesn’t soon the American experiment will be over.
How very true. Its pretty much all about money, period. We are not surviving much longer with that mindset. And the trend is accelerating. I’m not well off, but at least I have a place to live. A great many people have to feel like there’s little hope.
… and I’m still betting on the mid-terms being canceleld because of ‘the emergency’
Well, 49.6% of us asked for this. But 100% of us are going to pay for it. Pay and pay and pay and pay…
KevinJ, weirdly, it gives me solace to remember it was 49.6% of the roughly 60% of people who were eligible and bothered to vote.
Back of napkin, it’s less than 30% of all eligible voters and remember roughly 21% of the population is under 18.
Perhaps it’s wishful thinking but I get the sense a good portion of those were not that enamored to begin with…
Aside from that, having been a reader of this blog for manu years nkw … was always curious, you wouldn’t happen to be the author Kevin J Anderson?
I wish I found that more comforting.
And I should say, 100% of us aren’t going to pay and pay. Only 99%. I don’t see the 1% being harmed. Not when they can just hop in their superyachts and sail away.
As to who I am, I’m nobody. Nobody famous, nobody you ever heard of, nobody significant.
I can’t hear your response without borrowing from Dr. Who “Nobody important? Blimey, that’s amazing! You know, in nine hundred years of time and space, I’ve never met anybody who wasn’t important before.” You may not be universally famous but you have contributed enough that people wonder.
You’re very kind. And love the Doctor Who ref. Ninth Doctor, right? Although Eleven said something similar.
In case I come across as hating myself or something, it’s more this feeling that the heroic age, if you can call it that, of industrial creation seems over.
No more Edisons or Teslas or Westinghouses single-handedly revolutionizing industries. No solo inventions that lengthen people’s lives, that enrich their material circumstances.
No, everything is produced by corporations and anonymous teams, and they rarely make that kind of difference to people’s lives. (Yes, I just threw the entire IT industry into the shade. But their inventions are typically of things massively convenient, not vitally necessary.)
(Which is not to put down convenience. But for just one example, electricity > smartphone.)
No, one person can still accomplish a lot in this world. But only to destroy. A lone individual can wreck a lot, but not build.
Everybody’s nobody.
You have a blind spot that a semi could drive through. Take a look at biomedical research.
Of course I do. I’m only human. I only wish I could keep an eye on everything.
But how many biomedical advances are the result of one ~genius~ individual? I just don’t think that happens anymore.
Then again, as you noted, blind spot.