Biden has gone.
I am relieved. I could not see anyway he could beat Trump. He was simply too infirm to be a credible candidate for US President.
So too is Trump, but then he is not a candidate to be US President. He is seeking to stage a coup to overthrow the US system of government whatever the result, all based on a neo-fascist personality cult intended to deliver an autocratic, Christian-nationalist, anarcho-capitalist regime (and yes, it is the internal contradictions and conflicts that will kill his regime if that attempt is made).
The question now is who can defeat this attempt to end US democracy (such as it is), the rule of law in the US and the rights of hundreds of millions, including every US woman?
Let me be clear, I do not know the answer to that question. Whether it is Kamala Harris, I cannot be sure. I know her knowledge of economics appears pretty weak. Her advantage is association with incumbency.
What I do know is that whoever gets the task will have the hopes of much of the world resting on them. What we also know is that the risk they will be taking on - by challenging Trump, who believes in his deluded state that a god of his own creation is on his side - will be significant.
Go well, is the best I can wish them, whoever they might be.
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I agree with your points but “anarcho-capitalism” doesn’t make any sense as a category — anarchy is an absence of hierarchy but capitalism cannot function in that way. The phrase also doesn’t apply to Trump.
The Political Compass shows a way of describing political views along both an economic axis (ie, traditional left vs right) and also a social axis, which ranges from libertarian to authoritarian. In that context, anarchists occupy the libertarian left while the self-proclaimed “anarcho-capitalists” are in the libertarian right corner. Trump is authoritarian right though, no matter what he says.
https://www.politicalcompass.org/
The phrase clearly applies to Vance
Anarcho capitalism cannot exist, it is a contradiction in terms, but has been borrowed by Austrian school far right libertarians, as a self reference, by those who do not understand anarchism.
Of course, capitalism requires an all powerful state protecting absolute property rights and enforcing propertied interests.
There was a group of 19thC individualistic anarchists, with Max Stirner the leading light, but this fringe were dismissed in short order by anarchists who understand it is an entirely collaborative form of social organisation. Murray Bookchin’s dismissal of Stirner only required a short paragraph.
Vance thinks the UK is an islamist state, and his politics is ignorant at every level.
Twp a cachi, as we Welsh Islamists might describe him.
This will not stop the Trump team seeking to create an almost wholly unregulated environment for business.
But it will be highly regulated, though only in favour of the ownership class.
Capitalism cannot survive without property rights and their absolute enforcement.
Even calling this democracy, or worse, confusing it with anarchism, is a red herring, designed to obscure. That is Trump’s MO.
A Trumpian plutocracy isn’t even Thatcher’s “property owning democracy” but a much larger wolf.
I agree. Real anarchism is about replacing the state with community. There was a brilliant description of how it worked in Spain in the book The Spanish Civil Wat by Anthony Beevor. However in common usage it is about a complete lack of the rule of law. In that sense, Trump is certainly an anarchist.
Anarcho-capitalism is about turning our states into a state of stateless-ness and that property rights are the means to organise such a non-state-state. We all become fully private individuals and the only bond between us are property rights and we have free choice to honour such contracts or not.
It is completely opposed to conservative and liberal ideology. I tend to think that it is opposed to all political ideologies and I believe its advocates think that politics is a waste of time. As such it can’t be put on a right-left top-down political compass. It wants to smash the compass.
You get my whole point
The contradictions in Trump 2.0 will tear it apart
If Biden had decided to go earlier this year, the Democrats could have had time to make the best choice. His stubborness prevented that from happening. One advantage of a parliamentary system is that we can remove a leader without too much chaos. Prime Ministers have been replaced -in my memory, in 1963, 1976, 1990 and 2007. before the Brexit induced changes of the last two governments.
I ran a discussion on my Facebook page with a group of Americans. We decided that Trump’s supporters ignored the industrial scale lying because he made them feel good about themselves. As we often say on this blog, the classic ingredients of Fascism.
HI Richard
“The hopes of the world will rest on the Democrat candidate, whoever they might be now
Posted on July 22 2024”
I commented on this outlook previously. To suggest that the world should be held to ransom by one country, is truly shocking. This is a peculiarly western view. The USA is a malign influence on the world, and the sooner its grip is removed the better. It has caused untold suffering in every country it get its claws into, because of its greed and colonial nature.
Neither candidate will be any better. Trump will seek to resolve Ukraine, whilst fuelling Israel, who ever the democrats choose will make both worse. It does not matter who is placed in the Whitehouse.
The best hope is that the USA declines and other spheres of influence rise – Russia/China, India, Africa and south America will provide a multipolar world. You may not like these countries, but I would argue that they do not have the sociopathic outlook of the USA and its western cronies. It is also better to have more than one centre of power.
I am glad Biden has gone, he is a nasty piece of work, no different than Trump, but no-one in the USA offers anything better. I hope this does indeed hasten the end of the USA as a centre of power.
Regards
Thank you and VERY well said, Sean.
From his election in 1972 and becoming Strom Thurmond’s protege, Joe Biden has always been a nasty piece of work. No one should feel sorry for that genocidal maniac.
Readers should acquaint themselves with the Clarence Thomas hearing for the Supreme Court and Biden’s humiliation of Anita Hill. Biden also facilitated NAFTA and the mass incarceration associated with the three strikes and you’re out legislation.
Harris is another nasty piece of work. Readers should acquaint themselves with her stint as California Attorney-General and her favours for the prison industrial complex.
The Trump derangement syndrome and MSM propaganda allow these vile characters to prosper.
Let me conclude with a fun fact for readers: Crowd Strike, the IT firm responsible for the outage with Microsoft, is a contractor to the Clinton Foundation and Hilary Clinton campaign. Rather than use their own investigators, the FBI relied on Crowd Strike, which includes the Pelosi family as a minor investor, to investigate Trump and the fantasy that is known as Russiagate. When working on operational resilience with the Bank of England in late 2021, the Bank expressed concern about the dominance of US defence contractors, including Crowd Strike.
It’s usually right wingers who post drivel on this blog, but occasionally we get nonsense such as yours.
You seem to be motivated by an implacable anti Americanism. Yes there is a great deal wrong with the US and it has undoubtedly been responsible for some appalling foreign interventions in its history especially in its own ‘backyard’ of Latin America e.g Chile 1973.
But to equate Biden with Trump and to want Putin’s Russia and Xi’s China to be equal centres of power in the world to the US led West is absurd. The US is as Richard said, a highly imperfect democracy whereas both Russia and China are brutal, frequently corrupt dictatorships actively seeking the end of any form of rules based governance in the world achieved at such cost after the end of WW2 and it’s replacement by the ideology of might is right.
And Trump is a friend of Putin who undoubtedly has a sociopathic outlook and has commissioned assassinations of opponents, including those carried out in the UK in 2018. You want Ukraine ‘resolved’ by letting Putin win by Trump getting into the White House and cutting off support for Ukraine? How stupid is that? Putin’s invasion of Ukraine wasan act of aggression with no justification other than his own self justifying self putting Russian imperialism.
The U.S. is a country that voted in George Bush Jnr twice. That always sticks with me.
I hope that Harris has a positive effect on the Democratic vote as a woman and a woman of colour.
But like the UK, the USA has serious problems with its voting system, whether it be illegal data mining or playing games and exploiting the electoral college system and the Trump crew has form on that.
Being frank, I have no idea what will happen over there, and that is scary enough thank you very much.
Thank you, PSR.
Do you know anything about Harris? Her background, how she started in politics and with whom, and her stint as California AG may lead to a revision of your thoughts.
With regard to this colour nonsense, I’m a Mauritian Creole and stunned by how often people like are patronised about voting on ethnic lines. I prefer to vote on class lines. Harris serves oligarchs.
I think you are right on Harris
What do you think this says about our PM? He did say Biden was on good form and mentally agile when they met.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/11/keir-starmer-says-joe-biden-was-on-good-form-in-first-bilateral-meeting
I think its shows weakness and much of the same old kind of stuff that we have seen from our previous govt and politicians.
No leadership, honesty and ambition to reset the world stage for the greater benefit of everyone. Diplomacy and statesmanship has its role but we are reaching a critical juncture and he should be bold, brave, relentlessly committed to the word he used during his campaign ‘CHANGE’ but which is now hardly mentioned. The PM is already failing on many fronts in my view and its been less than 100 days since he was elected.
I think it says he did not think he could say anything else without interfering in internal US fairs and that was probably right.
From following the primaries previously Kamala Harris would be a terrible choice. She didn’t win a single state. She seems to be pretty toxic to the wider population including the ‘black community’ that there is a presumption she will appeal to. The party establishment seems to be rallying behind her led no doubt by Hillary Clinton and her cohort which will most likely lead to a rerun of 2016 to the consternation and incomprehension of liberal opinion. What lost 2016 for Hillary was people not turning out to vote rather than voting for Trump as they saw nothing to vote for. So unless they improve their policy offer the Democrats will be stuck trying to put lipstick on the proverbial pig. They would be better off going with Gavin Newsom and giving working class voters something to vote like oh I don’t know Medicare for all and a genuine hike in the minimum wage.
Gavin Newsom has already pulled out
A rerun of 2016 it is then. Unless the US descends into civil war first. Considering the febrile atmosphere around the failed Trump assassination that doesn’t seem so far fetched.
Thank you and VERY well said, Tom.
An imaginative counter-image to Trump could be a two-woman ticket. Kamala Harris and Mitchigan Governor, Gretchen Whitmer. She is an impressive communicator. One to watch…
I think she has already pulled out
@ Pilgrim Sllght Return
good to see you back
Polls show that the only candidate so far, that could beat Trump is Robert F Kennedy Jr.
He held a press conference last night, https://www.youtube.com/live/LXrysxb8_m4?si=Fb-bauGgDiqTwbFZ&t=1012
Only the Independent mentioned it. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/biden-robert-kennedy-news-conference-livestream-b2583437.html
Predictably, none of the other mainstream media even commented on it, let alone broadcast it.
He is a truly appalling candidate
Thank you, Richard.
According to friends and former counterparts on Wall Street and in DC, one reason why Democrat contenders are sitting out until 2028, there appears to be a sense of inevitability about Trump, even before the shooting. “Wall Street money, Hollywood money, Jewish money, Chicago money are deserting the Democrats in favour of Trump.” JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon, a Democrat, has emerged as favourite to head the US Treasury under Trump, a position he has coveted for a decade.
Not good
And deeply naive to think tere will be a 2028 election
Looking at all the comments, it becomes evident that if the USA insists on electing nutters, once or twice, & that the alternatives are to say the very least – not nice – then it is time for the EU (& the UK) to put distance between them and the US.
Oddly, the EU/UK is in a relatively strong position. For example, there is only one company that makes semiconductor production equipment that can make cutting edge semiconductors (3 nanomtere dimentions). ASML – and its manufacturing is mostly in the Netherlands. There are other examples. Time EU/UK said to US “happy to stay friends but if you keep electing nutters we will keep our distance” etc. Oh & the EU needs unfied armed forces. Given US developments, NATO is no longer relevant.
Neither Democrats nor Trump will do anything for the vast majority of Americans both are tied hand and foot to the neoliberal economic fantasy world and Neither have ever showed a scintilla of progressive change that would help the poorest.
Both parties are agents of their donors they will obediently comply with whoever bankrolls them as always follow the money.
Were I American I would vote for Dr Jill Stein head and shoulders above anyone else in USA politics.
Her campaigns for president have focused heavily on the proposal of a Green New Deal, which includes a number of reforms intended to address climate change and income inequality, as well as civil and political rights reform.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Stein
https://x.com/DrJillStein?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
50% will not vote
They know the system is rigged
That is what should worry us