by Rab Bruce’s Spider

Mastodon: @RabBrucesSpider1@Mastodon.Scot

X / Twitter: @RabBrucesSpider

So the voters of the USA are quite happy to elect a convicted felon who has openly declared that he intends to act as a dictator. Not that we in the UK can condemn this too much since our electorate decided to leave the EU, a decision which was equally daft, and which has seriously damaged our economy and freedoms. It seems that voters in the USA were happy to overlook pretty much anything as long as their own financial situation improved because they felt they were better off under Trump first time around. Now, the neo-liberal economic model is certainly damaging many economies, but I doubt very much that Trump will be able to resolve this. In fact, the policies outlined in project 2025 suggest that he’ll take things even further in search of increasing the wealth of the richest. As ever, the mantra, "Be careful what you wish for" remains true.

As I posted on social media, there are always winners and losers from any situation, and it is fairly clear that if a US citizen is white, male, rich, Christian and in good health, then they’ll do well out of Trump. Anyone who doesn’t match these criteria is likely to regret their vote eventually.

Other winners are all the autocrats around the world who are hailing Trump’s victory. If you judge a man by his friends, then I think it is safe to say that Trump is not the person who will bring about a more democratic, socially just USA.

There is a serious lesson for our politicians to learn. In fact, Scottish politicians should have learned it back in 2014. People do not care if politicians tell lies. All the majority care about is their own financial situation. Any threat of being poorer will drive their decision, even if that threat is unfounded. I do hope the Scottish Government are paying attention to that, although whether they will actually launch any sort of pro-Indy campaign seems unlikely at the moment. If they ever do get off their backsides and seriously push for independence, then they will need to convince Scottish voters that we would be financially better off outside the UK. With all the power of the media opposing them, that won’t be easy.

Speaking of the UK media in Scotland, they are having a go at First Minister, John Swinney. Like many others, he declared his support for Kamela Harris before the election, but after the result was known, he did send congratulations to Donald Trump. Naturally, he is now being lambasted for hypocrisy, rather than acknowledged as doing the polite thing. But that’s the UK media in Scotland for you. And, as Trump has amply demonstrated, being polite gets you nowhere in today’s politics.