No Savior

I read that during the first presidential debate Donald Trump declared himself fit for the Oval Office because he has always been a “winner.” A man could easily spend a month or more, even years, investigating Trump’s history as a businessman. I don’t have that kind of time or inclination. All along I’ve not taken Trump seriously, which is a mistake, I admit, because many political figures who appeared ridiculous in their respective nations were able to seize power. I still believe that Trump doesn’t want to be president -- he just wants to win the election.

Which I don’t think likely to happen. Yes, Hillary Clinton is a serial failure and queen of mendacity, but she is going to win the election, if only by a slim margin.

But getting back to the Donald...I think he is utterly emblematic of the neoliberal age that took off in earnest when Ronnie Reagan blamed all the nation’s woes on government bureaucrats and pointy-headed intellectuals and lazy welfare queens. Remember how Businessmen were glorified back in the 80’s, looked upon as intrepid pioneers who would deliver prosperity to all if only they could shrug off the government’s shackles. Profit became the Holy Grail and the “free market” the only route to get there. The Great American Sell-Off began, and Trump was in the front row, ready to capitalize. A new crop of robber barons extolled the free market while their lobbyists and lawyers and compliant politicians did everything in their power to serve up monopolies: defense, telecommunications, media, pharmaceuticals, insurance, finance. As time passed, the lexicon of the market crept into every aspect of American life. Privatize everything not tied down, went the mantra, bust unions, and ship jobs where labor is dirt cheap and workers disposable. This formula, and a constant litany of calls and legislation for lower taxes on the “producers” and “job creators” worked, transferring wealth upwards at a clip unseen since the Gilded Age, and crazier yet, despite decades of evidence that this system was a one-way street, the people continued to believe that capitalism was the only way American life could be organized.

The ironic thing about Trump is that, for all his self-proclaimed business prowess, he has wallowed in failure time and time again: casinos, Trump Airlines, Trump University. Trump is skilled at spectacle, at being the frontman, the bombastic talking head for whom nothing is too big or grand; the reality is much different, failures outnumber wins, but this has never deterred Trump from portraying himself as infallible, or from queuing up for tax breaks, bankruptcy protection, and other forms of government aid.

Same as the big banks back in 2008. By all the laws of the Market, the banks that risked and lost should have been allowed to fail. Isn’t the Market supposed to weed out the weak, the poor performers, the companies that can’t innovate, adapt, and thrive? Neoliberalism doesn’t work that way; business calls the tune and government dances. The wealthy and connected get protection, the poor and vulnerable get the Market’s bitter medicine.

It’s a racket, all legal, and 100 times better than anything the Mafia ever dreamed up.  

So, Donald Trump crows about not paying income taxes, says that makes him smart rather than a run-of-the-mill dick, and the fool has the nuts to make this boast before the entire world. That alone should have made his most devoted followers switch off the light, but maybe they haven’t realized that the joke is on them.

Here’s the harsh truth: a savior isn’t going to rise from the political duopoly.

We’re on our own.