I certainly think that depends on your perspective. How must it feel as a Mexican citizen to have its near neighbour want to 'wall them in' and then threaten a trade tariff (or other blunt instrument) to force payment. Reminds me of some ugly protection racket.The likely economic consequences are muddled at best and will burn both sides in all sorts of unpredictable ways. The symbolism is positively authoritarian!I am trying to figure out what is going on with Mexico.
Whilst America is gazing at its own navel, China amd Russia will be the global beneficiaries.
...That narrative is lost to them forever, no matter how many changes to the Google algorithm they mandate. Look at what founder of Alibaba, Jack Ma, said on CNBC: Over the last 35 years, the US has embarked on a neocon strategy of war in an effort to build a global empire. The result of that strategy has left American infrastructure second rate, its school system in shambles, and its healthcare system a complete and utter joke.
"It's not that other countries steal jobs from you guys," Ma said. "It's your strategy. Distribute the money and things in a proper way." He said the U.S. has wasted over $14 trillion in fighting wars over the past 30 years rather than investing in infrastructure at home.
He said the U.S. is not distributing, or investing, its money properly, and that's why many people in the country feel wracked with economic anxiety. He said too much money flows to Wall Street and Silicon Valley. Instead, the country should be helping the Midwest, and Americans "not good in schooling," too.
"You're supposed to spend money on your own people," Ma said. "Not everybody can pass Harvard, like me." In a previous interview, Ma said he had been rejected by Harvard 10 times. Along those lines, Ma stressed that globalisation is a good thing, but it, too, "should be inclusive," with the spoils not just going to the wealthy few...
I certainly think that depends on your perspective. How must it feel as a Mexican citizen to have its near neighbour want to 'wall them in' and then threaten a trade tariff (or other blunt instrument) to force payment. Reminds me of some ugly protection racket.The likely economic consequences are muddled at best and will burn both sides in all sorts of unpredictable ways. The symbolism is positively authoritarian!
Welcome to the first salvo in the new trade war, where winners become losers before our eyes.
Ideally I would like a mixture of both systems - there needs to be a way to enable people to initiate a vote (as opposed to being given the opportunity by parliament - as happened with Brexit) - but I don't think people would want to vote on absolutely everything. UKIP had/has just such a policy, and Switzerland has something of that sort too.I would rather eliminate the legislative branch of government and let the people vote directly on legislation by phone or internet. Elected representatives could still be involved in drafting legislation, but in modern times, there is no reason why we need elected representatives to vote on legislation, they were needed when transportation and communication was slower but are obsolete today.
There's nothing easy about this at all.The problem of "don't know enough to have an informed opinion" can easily be overcome by the ability to delegate one's vote - either (perhaps by default) to one's nominal "representative" (appointed as in the current system) or to one's partner, or a public voice one trusts. One could even elect to delegate one's vote to different people on different policies/issues/categories.
Watch what China does.
There's nothing easy about this at all.
On one end of the spectrum you end up right back where we are today.
On another you end up with Kanye West casting 4.5 million votes he's been delegated by fans.
My point is that people are too damn busy with their every day lives to be this involved in the legislative process. Plus, the myriad of decision makers you allude to under the delegation process would have no viable forum to discuss the issues prior to voting.
I just don't see how this would work as a replacement to our current legislature.
Ideally I would like a mixture of both systems - there needs to be a way to enable people to initiate a vote (as opposed to being given the opportunity by parliament - as happened with Brexit) - but I don't think people would want to vote on absolutely everything. UKIP had/has just such a policy, and Switzerland has something of that sort too.
I think such an approach might damp down the surges of enthusiasm for wild policies - open borders, foreign wars, climate change, identity politics, etc etc. I suppose the American people took the next best option and voted in a non-politician as president.
David
Regarding voter fraud, I am guessing that things in the US are somewhat as they are in Britain - everyone is uneasy that postal votes can be abused, and the system feels loose. I would say that voting is at the heart of our democracy, and real effort should be made to seek out fraud and to make fraud as difficult as possible.
Regarding torture, I would rather the President had not said what he said about water-boarding, but to put it into context, the Bush administration collaborated with our country to send people to be tortured in other countries - the process was called "Special Rendition".
David
Borders need to be enforcible IMHO.Other examples of wild policies would be things like building a huge wall in a desert to stop immigration
Hopefully the pipeline can be somehow negotiated with the Native people, but the alternative is to carry the fuel by train, and every now and again there are terrible accidents., building huge pipelines on sacred Native American lands,
I don't believe in CO2 induced global warming - at least not at remotely dangerous levels, so I consider this harmless.continuing with the heavy use of fossil fuels,
I am not sure what this refers to - but remember I am not American.blaming a union your country is a part of for the actions of your own government - the list is endless!
President Trump has signed an executive order that bans citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East from entering the United States for 90 days, according to the White House. His proposed list doesn’t include Muslim-majority countries where his Trump Organization has done business or pursued potential deals. Properties include golf courses in the United Arab Emirates and two luxury towers operating in Turkey.
Roberta,
I think Trump is backing down on the idea of using torture, but please note that the UK Labour government arranged with the Bush administration to send certain prisoners to Libya to be tortured! I don't mean that as a justification for performing torture, but as a reminder that people can be pretty hypocritical.
Borders need to be enforcible IMHO.
Hopefully the pipeline can be somehow negotiated with the Native people, but the alternative is to carry the fuel by train, and every now and again there are terrible accidents.
I don't believe in CO2 induced global warming - at least not at remotely dangerous levels, so I consider this harmless.
I am not sure what this refers to - but remember I am not American.
President Trump is shaping up pretty good as far as I can see. I hope his conversation with President Putin was productive.
David