Ricardo Villarreal

Think, Therefore Think Again

Our Doom in the Hands of Morons

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DoomsDayWhat do you do the day your invention, the atom bomb, is finally dropped on a city killing millions of people? Do you watch the event on TV with a feeling of total regret by the horrific atrocity your creation caused humanity? No, not at all. Instead, you find yourself at ease playing a string game of cat’s cradle.

In his hilarious satire Cat’s Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut masterfully created a novel about the risks of technological advancements, the ridiculousness of political ambitions, the absurdities of religions, and how the entire human race could come to a destructive end in the hands of irresponsible, foolish, ignorant, and selfish people in positions of power. Sounds familiar?

Yes, it does. Cat’s Cradle was first published in 1963, but it’s relevance today fits perfectly with the current political environment we see around the world.

Today, the two political figures that pose the highest risk on humanity are Trump and Kim Jung Un; two childish, egocentric, authoritarian, easily irritable, and mentally unstable individuals who have access to nuclear weapons capable of destroying the planet where 7.8 billion people live.

And the threat is real. To convey its seriousness, the scientists behind the Doomsday Clock have set its time at two minutes before midnight, representing the highest risk we’ve ever been since 1953 of being close to a global nuclear catastrophe.

The main reason for this alarming display? Trump’s decision to leave the Paris Agreement ignoring the threats of climate change, and his reckless, unpredictable, violent, and provocative nuclear rhetoric against North Korea and Iran.

And all it takes is a moment of rage (which commonly happens in humans like Trump) to commit an atrocity.

The man who is supposed to be the “leader” of the free world, who should guide all nations into achieving world peace, and who should reaffirm unity and collaboration, is actually the biggest threat to the planet.

How quickly we have arrived at this vulnerable place! This just shows we cannot take anything for granted and we need to be more politically active. We have no choice if we want to protect our future and secure world peace.

But if we can’t do anything to prevent Doomsday… well, there’s always reading Cat’s Cradle and enjoying its brutal dark humor. What better way to face the end of the world than laughing your pants off.

 

It’s (kind of) Happening Here

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Barbed WireSinclair Lewis’ dystopian political novel It Can’t Happen Here was written in 1935, but it regained popularity and relevance lately due to the unavoidable parallels of the story with the current state of political affairs in the United States under a Trump presidency.

Lewis, the first American to win a Nobel Prize in Literature, wrote this masterpiece warning us about the rise of totalitarian regimes in free nations, and how they can destroy the foundations of freedom and democracy when they exert obstructions of checks and balances, when there is suppression of the press, and when government focuses more on military power than in the advancement of science and education.

Not only that, but there are also warnings about having an ignorant population of political zealots who easily fall prey to the false rhetoric conducted by the antagonist character in the novel, Buzz Windrip, a populist candidate who wins the presidential election in the United States.

Similar to Trump, Buzz Windrip’s political strategies to escalate his agenda involve inciting fear among his followers, shutting down opponents, and fabricating conspiracies for personal gain and power, while dividing the country.

The author describes Windrip in a way that sounds like a description of Trump: “(Windrip) was vulgar, almost illiterate, a public liar easily detected, and his ‘ideas’ almost idiotic…” Early in the story, there is even a mention on how Windrip, the presidential candidate, wants to “make America prosperous again.”

And while the parallel between Trump and Windrip is quite unequivocal, let me remind you again Sinclair Lewis wrote this novel in 1935, eleven years before Trump was born.

But the magnificence of this cautionary tale is universally applicable to even moderate politicians who have utilized totalitarian practices against their population.

Surely, the novel It Can’t Happen Here reminds us of Trump today. However, the George W. Bush administration also comes to mind when we discover a reference in the story on how Americans in the 1930’s, during the war hysteria against Germany, started calling sauerkraut “Liberty Cabbage.” Pretty much the same level of stupidity as when many Americans in 2003 started calling French fries “Freedom Fries” after France voted against the Iraq War at the UN Security Council.

Just like Buzz Windrip in the novel, Trump publicly mentioned he would fight the banks and the powers of Wall Street. But once he got into power, he has given banks power and influence in his cabinet, hired Steve Mnuchin (a former bank executive) as his Secretary of the Treasury, and, among other things, repealed consumer arbitration rule in favor of banks.

As far as other key people, I believe an obvious comparison in the story is that of character Lee Sarason and Steve Bannon. Sarason was the right-hand man of President Windrip, and was also invited to work with him having been the managing editor of a popular newspaper, where he was “building up” Buzz Windrip for years before his nomination as President.

It’s also inevitable thinking about Melania Trump when the author mentions that “no potential dictator ought ever to have a visible wife.” Buzz Windrip did have a wife, but she was not noticeable. In fact, she didn’t even live in Washington. Compared to previous First Ladies, Melania Trump’s lack of involvement is quite notorious.

The political philosophy of Buzz Windrip is described in his “Fifteen Points of Victory for the Forgotten Men” and incorporates fascist and confederate ideas, prevalent in today’s Alt-Right movement. Just to list five examples of this platform created to please his base, we have the following:

  • All persons are guaranteed absolute freedom of religious worship, provided, however, that no atheist, agnostic, nor any Jew who shall refuse allegiance to the New Testament, nor any person who refuses to take the Pledge of the Flag, shall be permitted to hold any public office or to practice as a teacher, professor, lawyer, judge, or as a physician.
  • The Government will decide which Labor Unions will stay and they will have the power of decision in all labor disputes.
  • The size of the military, armaments, and naval establishments shall be consistently increased.
  • African-Americans shall be prohibited from voting, holding public office, practicing law, medicine, or teaching in any class above the grade of grammar school.
  • All women employed shall be assisted to return to their incomparably sacred duties as home-makers and as mothers of strong citizens.

The above points sound horrific indeed, but the scary thing is many in the far-right today will have no problem with any of those concepts.

Another resemblance of Windrip with Trump is shown on Buzz Windrip’s eagerness of having business dealings with… Russia! And similar to Trump’s “America First” catch phrase, Buzz Windrip is anti-trade and wants every single thing the country needs to be produced at home.

The exertion of a Corporate State in the novel dramatically impacts education as well, where the authoritarian government does its part to get rid of any intellectualism, “dangerous thinkers,” literature, and science .

Funny thing is, one of the Corpo universities in the novel was named Windrip University after the president. Yes, just like a Trump University, and a total scam as well.

Of course, Trump hasn’t gone as far as executing people who discredit his administration or imprisoning journalists who cover him negatively (although he has retaliated against CNN publicly over their reporting and has referred to any news network not covering him favorably as “fake news”).

Neither has Trump established labor camps and a paramilitary army at his service, nor has he made the liberal Supreme Court members resign and replaced them with his friends, among other draconian measures that Buzz Windrip does impose in the novel.

But Trump’s authoritarian style, although at a smaller scale, is obvious. And as long as he remains in power, the threat against our democratic institutions is still there.

Extreme ideologies are hurting our country, and we must be smart in identifying and reducing divisive authoritarian groups in order to protect our freedoms.

As Doremus Jessup, the protagonist liberal journalist, observes: “the struggle today is not about Communism against Fascism, but tolerance against the bigotry that is preached equally by Communism and Fascism.”

We have been forewarned and cannot take things for granted. Towards the end of the story, and without giving any spoilers, Doremus Jessup leaves us with a final thought:

“More and more, as I think about history, I am convinced that everything that is worthwhile in the world has been accomplished by the free, inquiring, critical spirit, and that preservation of this spirit is more important than any social system whatsoever. But the men of ritual and the men of barbarism are capable of shutting up the men of science and of silencing them forever.”

 

 

Trump’s Checkmate

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Checkmate TrumpThe latest issue of The New Yorker (May 8, 2017) shares “Endgames” by Evan Osnos, a very comprehensive piece on what it would take to bring down Trump’s Presidency, focusing on the US Constitution’s Twenty-Fifth Amendment, the possibility of an impeachment, or even a self-imposed Nixonian exit.

While it is true that no US President has ever been immune to criticism, Trump entered his presidency having lost the popular vote by 3 million votes, in a sharply divided nation, with plenty of chaos, and fueled by a huge opposition of citizen activists and critics that so early in his term are calling for his impeachment.

His start has been everything but smooth sailing. Full of controversial executive orders, an unwillingness to release his tax returns, a questionable cabinet of incompetent loyalists, massive marches and protests all over the country, nepotism & conflicts of interest, and a federal investigation into a collusion with Russian interference of the 2016 US presidential election, among others, have gained Trump the lowest approval rating of any President in modern US history.

To make things worse, his arrogance and inability to take any negative criticism has irritated many people from his own political party. Trump is simply not interested in responding to his own actions, accountability is non-existent for him, and it’s always someone else’s fault.

But, can something really be done to take down Trump?

Yes, but the road to get there is not necessarily quick nor easy. Evan Osnos describes, for instance, how in 228 years of US political history, only one President has resigned and two have been impeached (although they were not removed from office).

One legal option to remove the President lies in the Twenty-Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution.

This amendment was adopted on February 10, 1967 and it deals with the succession to the Presidency as well as responding to the President’s disabilities. More precisely, but not as specific as we would like, Section 4 deals with the removal of the President if he is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.”

The common denominator for using this legal instrument has to do with the possibility of Trump being mentally unfit.

Speculation about Trump’s mental health started during the presidential campaign, but it has kept growing and it remains a big concern as the US and the world rely on his decision-making abilities to deal with imperative world affairs matters.

Osnos reveals how more than 50,000 mental-health professionals have signed a petition stating that Trump is “too seriously mentally ill to perform the duties of President and should be removed” under the 25th Amendment.

The author also shares with us a revealing study by psychiatrists at Duke University concluding that about half of US Presidents they researched had suffered a mental illness. With this, he details three particular cases that are worth noting:

Pro-slave President Franklin Pierce was a heavy drinker and suffered from depression after his son’s death at a crucial time in US history, years before the start of the Civil War. President Lyndon B. Johnson was also affected with paranoia as the Vietnam War escalated.

And finally, President Ronald Reagan’s judgment, as well as his speech and decision-making abilities, changed during the last years of his presidency. Five years after leaving office, Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

Trump does carry a lot of baggage against him that could trigger using this amendment, and there are elements that make people rightfully suspicious of his judgmental abilities and mental health.

To name a few, his constant repeating of proven falsehoods, his use of a fourth-grade level language, his threatening rhetoric against those who criticize him, his obscene narcissism and unpredictable behavior, and his incitement of violence against protesters, are among the dangerous signs that have people very worried.

Dispensing Section 4 of the 25th Amendment on Trump is a very possible, although not immediate, scenario.

Next comes the possibility of impeachment. The grounds for it include: “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”

One very important point Evan Osnos shares here comes from an interview he had with David O. Stewart, the author of “Impeached,” who told him: “impeachment is not a judicial proceeding, but a tool of political accountability.”

Among the reasons for impeachment are several undergoing investigations of Trump, including the very serious amounting evidence of collusion with Russia to win the 2016 presidential election, and his reluctance to resign from his business holdings and profiting from them while holding the office of the Presidency, plus violating the US Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause.

On this last example of using the public office for private gain, let’s not forget the State Department had to take down a website that promoted Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Resort.

But again, impeachment is not likely to happen soon. Not while Republicans hold the majority in Congress and the Senate. But Democrats have a big chance in the 2018 midterm elections to gain back political control and generate a bill for impeachment.

Finally, there is also the possibility of a Nixonian exit. One where Trump, cornered by multiple scandals, simply offers his resignation. He has expressed he misses his old life and that being President wasn’t as easy as he thought.

But as positive as it would be getting rid of an unstable and toxic President like Trump (if it ever happens before 2020), the scenario of dealing with a Mike Pence Presidency will also have its share of challenges in a country that desperately needs progressive actions to move forward.

 

¿Por qué conviene que sí quede Trump?

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Donald Trump by Michael Vadon
Creative Commons license use – Photo by Michael Vadon

Yo sé que a más de uno nos causa un dolor de estómago el solo hecho de escuchar el nombre de Donald Trump. Y escucharlo hablar es un verdadero suplicio.

Pero he estado pensando, desde hace algún tiempo atrás, que de toda la barbaridad republicana que desfila en la pasarela de selección interna, Trump puede ser lo mejor que les puede pasar a los demócratas si gana la nominación presidencial para representar al partido del elefante.

Es simplemente un escenario que veo muy factible y no seré el primero en especularlo. Pero de quedar Trump, es casi seguro que los demócratas obtengan la presidencia.

Es más, me voy a ir todavía más al futuro: Trump incluso será lo mejor que le puede pasar al partido republicano una vez que haya sido el candidato a presidente y haya perdido la presidencia.

Pero vayamos en orden.

Ya han comenzado las elecciones primarias en los Estados Unidos y poco a poco van autoeliminándose los candidatos republicanos que ven lejos sus posibilidades de representar a su partido.

Pero todavía quedan (ya son menos) algunas obstinadas y voraces sanguijuelas que se rehúsan a desprenderse de la luminaria aun sabiendo que sus posibilidades en este proceso de pre-selección son visiblemente microscópicas.

Donald Trump se ha mantenido a la cabeza en las encuestas, pero no puede aún echar las campanas al vuelo, pues su adversario más cercano, Ted Cruz, puede arruinarle la fiesta en cualquier descuido.

Y aquí repito la palabra clave: descuido. Eso es precisamente lo que esperan los demás candidatos conservadores, que algún extraordinario evento haga que tropiece Trump.

Pero ¿qué diferencia hay entre Trump y los demás candidatos republicanos? ¿Qué más da quién quede en ese partido?

En efecto, ideológicamente no hay mucha diferencia entre los candidatos conservadores. Casi todos comparten muchos temas en común: no creen en el cambio climático, no creen en la evolución, son pro-armas, quieren tener el control sobre los derechos de la mujer, son anti-gay, anti-inmigrantes, anti programas sociales, sus políticas económicas y fiscales favorecen más a las clases altas y a las corporaciones, quieren gobernar con la Biblia, etc.

La diferencia con Trump, es que él ha acaparado los reflectores en los medios porque, además de ser un personaje polémico, famoso y extravagante, se maneja con una retórica llena de elementos vulgares, exagerados, y discriminatorios que agradan a cierta parte de la población.

En sus populares discursos ha insultado a los mexicanos, a las mujeres, a los discapacitados, a los musulmanes, a los prisioneros de guerra, a reporteros, y demás. Sus seguidores lo admiran porque “dice lo que piensa”, como si eso fuera una virtud.

Trump se ha enemistado con tantos grupos que incluso dentro del partido republicano ¡ya no lo quieren! Esto es por demás interesante siendo que ellos mismos, junto con el apoyo de Fox News, crearon a este personaje que, más que un súper héroe para los conservadores, se está convirtiendo en un villano.

Y por eso conviene que gane Trump la nominación republicana. Porque hasta en el plano internacional es el malo de la película. De no quedar Trump, alguien más moderado pudiera “recuperar” votos ya prácticamente perdidos.

En este rubro es importante mencionar también que, gracias a Trump (aunado al apoyo reciente que le otorgó Sara Palin), han despertado hasta los votantes más apáticos para registrarse a votar y no permitir un gobierno trumpiano.

Solo esperemos que Trump continúe con su misma retórica para seguir echándose a más grupos (votos) en contra y pierda la presidencia. Con ello, la victoria de los demócratas estará asegurada.

Cabe aclarar que no todo dependerá de lo que haga o deje de hacer Trump. Bernie Sanders del partido demócrata está llevando a cabo una campaña muy exitosa cuyo movimiento ha crecido admirablemente. Quien sea que logre la nominación demócrata cuenta desde ya con un tremendo apoyo.

Por otro lado, esperemos que el acenso y caída de Trump una vez pasadas las elecciones presidenciales sea también un detonante de acción para el partido republicano. Aunque claro, no tienen que esperarse hasta entonces para hacer ajustes.

A este partido le urge oprimir el botón de reset y reinventarse completamente. Su ideología ya está obsoleta y es incompatible a los tiempos y a las necesidades actuales.

Algo radical e inteligente tendrán que hacer si quieren ganarse la confianza de la población y ser tomados en serio. Para empezar, deben evitar a toda costa que gente como Trump se postulen a cargos públicos.