[Just to keep in mind that the author is no left-liberal commentator.] http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ruminations/divided-states-of-america-donald-trump-has-a-toxic-agenda-and-will-stop-at-nothing-on-his-road-to-power/
Divided states of America: Donald Trump has a toxic agenda and will stop at nothing on his road to power June 15, 2016, 2:00 AM IST Chidanand Rajghatta in Ruminations | Edit Page, US Election 2016, World The road to power is paved with hypocrisy – and casualties, says Frank Underwood, the protagonist in the acclaimed television drama House of Cards. Cynical, manipulative and conniving, he is the lowlife politician who will stop at nothing, not even murder, in his march to the White House. Americans have watched his progress over three seasons more in thrall than in horror because they have seen presidential capers before, on celluloid, in movies such as Absolute Power, Murder at 1600, and The Pelican Brief. Not as egregious as the machinations of Kevin Spacey (who plays Frank Underwood), but bad enough. However, in an idealised, real-life America, presidents are heroes to be celebrated, even when they commit the country to dubious wars (Bush) and engage in personal shenanigans (Kennedy, Clinton). The worst that has happened to a US president – aside from the four assassinated, which is a whole other story – is being forced out of office before the end of his term (Richard Nixon) or being put through a torrid impeachment process (Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton). Despite Clinton’s description of the White House as the finest public housing in America or the crown jewel of the American penal system, there is still some panache and prestige attached to the Oval Office. With Donald Trump getting within sniffing distance of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue – literally, since the Trump International Hotel is coming up at 1100 – all bets are off. A crude, coarse, corrosive businessman of shallow learning and dodgy principles, his hijacking of the feckless Republican Party and the toxic agenda he has infused it with, signals that the era of genteel domestic politics – even as Washington rode roughshod over much of the world – is over. It will take a long time for American politics to recover from candidate Trump, much less a President Trump. His proposals on immigration and terrorism – ill-defined as they are – will spell an end not just to American primacy, but the idea of America itself. The US is built on the blood of its Native American inhabitants and the sweat and toil and enterprise of immigrants, including that of Trump’s own forbears who fled Germany. With nearly 44 million immigrants – the population of Ukraine or Argentina – it remains by far the greatest magnet for international migrants, adding a million legal immigrants to its population every year. They supply the country with labour and skills, bring investment and innovation, and have filled its coffers with revenues and taxes that support America’s own ageing population with pensions and social security. The percentage of non-Hispanic white people in the US population has reached an all-time low of 63% and is dropping rapidly. But they still constitute approximately 200 million (white) people out of 320 million Americans, in what is sometimes described as the Browning of America. This is the constituency Trump is now firing up. It is estimated that by 2043 whites, who were 80% of the population in 1980 and 69% in 2000, will be in a minority. By appealing to the base instincts of this constituency Trump will only delay the inevitable, but he hopes the gambit will carry him to the White House. Without immigration and fresh blood, the key drivers of economic growth, America will be dead in the water. No one knows this better than Trump himself, his empire constructed on the backs of an immigrant work force. Already, immigration is shrinking as a contributor to American growth with a slowdown in legal ingress. There is no way Trump can evict or deport 11 million illegal immigrants, much less three or four times of that who are legal. Not even if he begins with the demonisation of Muslims by tying terrorism to immigration, as he has done in the case of the Orlando carnage (while glossing over the homophobic nature of the assault, which is supported by some of his Christian conservative clergy). But if firing up the white nativist base can propel him to the Oval Office, that is what a wanton Donald Trump will do, a la Frank Underwood. To be sure, such blinkered mindsets are seen in other countries too, including in India. Mongering fear and paranoia to a distrustful constituency without the skills or the tools to compete in a free world, they want to foreclose a fair contest that will test their constituents’ patronage-filled lives. So they disparage and demonise specific communities or ethnicities, extrapolating immigration with terrorism on the road to power – from Orlando to Washington DC in this case – that is paved with blood and gore. The trouble is such roads lead down to a slippery slope. Keeping out terrorists of all stripes and types, which is a fair goal, is not the same as a blanket ban on immigration or movement of people that will render America insular and enfeebled. As of now there are already four states that are “minority-majority” (where minorities are in a majority), including California and Texas, two of the bigger states. In nine other states, including New York, New Jersey and Florida, non-Hispanic white residents have fallen below 60%. Thirteen of the 40 largest metropolitan areas in the US are minority-majority, an additional seven have a non-Hispanic white population below 60%. Trump thinks he is building a Fortress America to protect his mostly-white constituency. But the road to that fortress will take him through the Divided States of America. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
