Pieter -
It is very useful to me to have the geopolitical parallax you offer. If
in fact many folks outside the USA see Trump as an effective negotiator,
up to and including "bullying as negotiation by other means" then this
is significant and interesting to me.
As I've referenced a few times, I'm interested in the NATO+/BRICS+
polarization that has emerged. Do you identify as a SA (Dutch descent
vs English?) with BRICS or is it a fiction that you and/or SA don't buy
into? A significant correlation (IMO) among BRICS+ nations is a strong
authoritarianism or at least democratic backsliding. Trump has already
undermined NATO's stability and will likely do it again, some more up to
withdrawal/abandonment. Will that lead to "joining" BRICS+? It seems
unlikely Trump's style suggests he will set himself (with US
economic/military might) up as a third faction in a multipolar world.
I'm sympathetic with those who cringe at a Unipolar or even Bipolar
world which has been forming and reforming since WWI it seems? Yet I
also think we are inevitably becoming a global superorganism? It does
seem likely that multiple super-organisms will form a dynamic balance
before they eventually lose their independent identities. Perhaps that
can only occur fully as humanity (and Terran life in general?) go
extra-planetary?
I recently listened to an interview with Kimball Musk which expanded my
appreciation for how complex social dynamics are or have been in SA, and
how the violence of their childhood was formative for both he and Elon
(in complementary ways?).
More parallax is good.
FWIW I don't think Trump's negotiating style is entirely ineffective,
obviously he has obtained the power he has through some kinds of
effectuality. My issue is whether "bullying is negotiation by other
means" and whether I want to support or profit from it or be associated
with it. I rode Elno's coat-tails financially (TSLA stock) for a while
but finally felt I absolutely had to wipe his cooties off of me... his
most recent behaviour (starting with Twitter takeover, ramping up with
dancing giddily on stage with Trump and setting up $1M lotteries to
motivate support) is beyond *my* pale (what a convoluted idiom that one
is!).
- Steve
There seems to be a strong consensus in this group that Trump does not
have a track record of being an effective negotiator, and his
perceived bullying only reinforces this view. So, contrary to what I
previously suggested, it’s not a separate issue.
This topic has come up in various threads, and I may have overlooked
some of those discussions, which could mean I’ve been asserting things
that differ from what’s already been broadly accepted here.
For now, I’ll step back from this thread and acknowledge that my
perspective on Trump as an effective negotiator isn’t widely shared.
Let's agree to disagree.
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