Report Card for Donald Trump

[David Horn]

(01-14-2017, 12:12 PM)SomeGuy Wrote:

(01-14-2017, 11:42 AM)David Horn Wrote: Not a bad survey of the issues, but pretending that nothing can be known so nothing can be done is not a solution either.  Getting to mid-century will involve taking risks, but risks should address reality.  My concern about Trump: he may actually believe his own blather.  Among the many issues of importance, ignoring AGW and growing economic inequality are unacceptable behaviors from any risk perspective.  Failing is never as bad as not even trying.

I am not saying that nothing should be done, just that we should work within a shorter time-frame.  I have outlined some of the things that Trump ran on that I would like to see done.  This is not to say that there aren't other (more "left"-y) things that I would also like to see done, but that will have to wait for a future administration.  And, as I pointed out in the other thread (Donald Trump: America's Berlusconi), the victory of Donald Trump is an excellent opportunity for the Dems or whoever on the left to clear away the Clinton/DNC legacy and come up with something better.

I agree that this is the most likely way to motivate the Dems to make real changes to their structure and focus, but it may be too much to do in too short a time frame. The GOP is still living in a mythical past, with pluperfect factories manned by happy workers and bosses free to be what they want to be.  Their social model isn't any newer, so they can't be the change agent unless they change first.  Dems aren't any better with their teams of cats leading in 100 (indicative, not normative) directions.  Starting from weakness helps focus the mind, but many supporters still demand an unachievable 'perfect' and shun 'good' no matter how close to ideal.

For the Dems, I don't see this as a Presidential cycle project.  For the GOP, I don't see it in the cards.

SomeGuy Wrote:

David Horn Wrote:The first indication of discontinuity was the unlinking of productivity and median income gains.  That happened ~1973 and the new trend lines continued up to the present.

It is an issue, and a serious one at that.  One I don't think was linked to automation (not that I am accusing you of saying that it is).

No, that was linked to massive disruption in the oil markets and, more to the point, a collapsing union movement.  We can argue the union collapse in a separate thread, if you wish.