The Desire For Change
The overwhelming impression when considering the current political landscape is that it is very much the idea of not having politics as usual that's getting the most attention. Trump and Bernie Sanders are by far the biggest outsiders to really get attention and stay in the race in the last twenty years. The same people who voted for the change that Obama spoke about during his campaigns for president seem to be torn in between the two more extreme non-traditionalist candidates. Given that this is the third election in the a row where people are overwhelmingly turning to alternative candidates to the traditional Bush's and Clinton's it is defintely becoming a trend but what does it mean? Anti-Politics In David Brooks article The Governing Cancer of Our Time he argues that this move against politics as usual has occurred for the last thirty years. He's basically proposing that anyone who has become president after the ninety seventies are non-traditional politicians. The list of presidents at that time start with Jimmy Carter, then there is Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Bush Jr., and Barack Obama. What is obvious when reviewing this list is that Brooks is correct. None of these men were traditional politicians as we had known them. Part of that might be because of the role that television has played in the election process. Among people my age that were born during this "anti-politics" reign we have nothing to really compare it to in our experience. This seems to be the natural order of things. However, it seems that this group of anti-politics leaders has actually disillusioned the American populace even more regarding politics. So every time that a campaign promise that is supported by the people fails to be fulfilled the next presidential election guarantees that there will be even more radical options for the presidency. Brooks, David. The Governing Cancer of Our Time. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/26/opinion/the-governing-cancer-of-our-time.html?_r=0 Change Politics as usual has failed to actually bring about the changes promised during campaigns in both parties. Obama promised to root out the special interests in Washington D.C. A major part of his platform was the fact that he was an outsider and was not beholden to anyone in the capital. However, when elected and with a majority Democratic congress and senate Obama failed to produce any change regarding the special interests hold on government officials in D.C. He did not stomp out the lobbyists that he spoke so vehemently against during his election. The only thing he managed to do was get the congress and senate to pass a bill they were not allowed to read- the Affordable Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). Which, while part of the bill was brilliant as it included that Health Care companies could not exempt people with pre-existing conditions and that birth control is free- has some major problems (among them that it included a Tax even though Obama promised that it did not). Strangely, eight years after Obama's promises of not serving special interests out of Washington D.C. a republican candidate with no governing experience is promising the same thing. Only this time he is claiming to be funding his own campaign and the reason he can kick special interests out of D.C. is because he has no desire for their money because he's already a millionaire. Not too surprisingly there are a lot of people, including swing voters, who are supporting this out of the box candidate. Hilary Is Sure To Win If Hilary is to win it will mark an unprecedented change in the way that our country is governed. The biggest change is that democrats will have held office for over a decade. Obama, a democrat, has been in the office for eight years. An additional four years of Democrats holding the presidential seat would be a first. Strangely, I don't know a single person that would vote for her. However, it seems that the people who are more inclined to approve of traditional politics would gladly vote for Hilary over Trump if he wins the Republican election. In fact, making Trump the main Republican candidate might play into Hilary's hand so that she is the assured victor. Given that Trump has, in the past, endorsed the Clinton's bids for the presidential election and was an avid Democrat it does bring into mind the idea that the election is rigged. Trump may be acting so politically abrasive that swing voters will be pushed to vote for Clinton. Hilary supporters have unwavering belief that she would be the winner. If not because she is a household name than because she is a woamn. Jonathon Chait already wrote an article titled Why Hilary Clinton Is Probably Going to Win the 2016 Election way before Trump appeared to be a real contender. In the article he explains how the Democratic party holds the majority in the United States and continues to grow. The Republican party has been in decline. Here are a few interesting quotes from the article: "Unless the economy goes into a recession over the next year and a half, Hillary Clinton is probably going to win the presidential election." "She cannot promise her supporters a dramatic change or new possibilities; she is personally too familiar, and the near certainty of at least one Republican-controlled chamber of Congress suggests continued legislative stalemate." Chait, Jonathon. Why HIlary Clinton is Probably Going to Win the 2016 Election. http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/04/why-hillary-clinton-is-probably-going-to-win.html# Gass, Nick. Trump Has Spent Years Courting Hillary and Other Dems. http://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/donald-trump-donations-democrats-hillary-clinton-119071 List of Democratic Presidents: http://thefreeresource.com/list-of-democratic-presidents-what-presidents-were-democrats/ The Financial Crisis Unfortunately for Clinton there has been a lot of talk about a Financial Crisis hitting this year. From predictions from sources like Jonathan Cahn who makes a decent argument regarding the seven year pattern that Wall Street analysts couldn't explain to even more esoteric sources such as the channel Bashar. There are even analysts that are coming out of the woodwork to say this is the year that it might happen. While I'm not a huge fan of InfoWars.com or the idea of a Financial Armageddon here is an interesting interview with Martin Armstrong where he actually predicts the Republican party splitting as it is starting to do with Trump/Cruz/Rubio:
The most interesting problem in the economy is that the raising of the interest rate and a problem with the government bonds. Since Obama has been elected The Fed has been offering a near to nothing interest rate. This has lead to a false economic boom in the housing market. However, it has been announced that in June the Fed will raise interest rates and it will directly impact the average american citizen.
Further making the argument of a possible financial crisis is the fact that whenever it appears that a democratic president is going to be elected the Stock Market dips. In 2012 the Dow dropped 313 points after Obama won. If it appears that Hilary is going to win there will be an inevitably going to be a dip in the financial market around the end of this year. Further hurting this situation is that Baby Boomers are more than ready to yank out their 401k and stocks if it even begins to seem that the Stock Market is going to crash. Not willing to see their life savings go down in flames they are even willing to face severe penalties for pulling their money out. Shell, Adam. Stocks: Dow Ends Down 313 Points After Obama Win. Gillespie, Patrick. What An Interest Rate Increases Means For Real People. http://money.cnn.com/2015/03/19/news/economy/federal-reserve-statement-interest-rates/index.html The Donald Personally, I don't trust Trump. He has all of the tactics and personality of a used car salesman. As anyone who has bought a used car off of a lot has experienced a salesman will say whatever he can to get someone to buy a car. The problem is that when you get the car home you find out it as an oil leak and a transmission problem that had a temporary fix put on it at the car lot. I would love to be proved wrong but the shallow promises that he has made really casts doubt on his ability to fulfill his promises. In fact, his promise that Mexico will build a wall along the border to keep out their own citizens has already caused political problems with the Vice President Biden apologizing for Trumps words. However, I must admit that it was a glorious moment when Trump prompted Jeb Bush to drop out of the race. One of the families that seems to believe that they are American Royalty (much like the Clinton's) when name recognition almost guarantees that they will win was encouraging. Bernie Sanders Surprisingly, a self proclaimed Socialist is also running. Although, he appears to have been spanked by Hillary Clinton on Super Tuesday the mere fact that he has garnered so much support by so many is encouraging. At the very least Hillary has not gone uncontested in the race. However, there isn't much that Bernie offers that is vastly different from Hilary. Yes, hes promised free education by taxing Stock Trading. However, after seeing what happened with Obama's supposed free Universal Health Care Act I highly doubt that Bernie would actually produce such a bill that would make it past the Senate and Congress. What's hilarious is that from the start John Stewart on the Daily Show said that Bernie had no chance but given that there is just a vacuum of candidates Bernie has hung on. Libertarian While I'm not a serious libertarian I have voted libertarian for the last two elections. I support smaller government and getting rid of the national debt. As Ron Paul pointed out there is no difference between the the authoritarian politicians on both sides of the Democrat and Republican Parties. The truth is no matter which way we go there is going to be someone in Washington D.C. that wants to tell us what to do and create regulations as to what we can and cannot do in our personal lives. Often when we have the wide spread opposition to government (which can see with members of the same groups protesting both Republican and Democrat rallies) and police is an authoritarian response. Often such a response leads to the infringement of personal and civil liberties.
Conclusion Again, I do not support the idea that any of this is the "End of the World" doom and gloom. Overwhelmingly, no matter what the outcome of this election I believe that there will be a change. The general populace seems to have agreed that the politics of the last few decades didn't reflect the will of the people. Whatever candidate wins this election will have a daunting task of trying to repair the country. However, in many cases the suggestion is that after the crash there will be economic reform that will lead to a boom in our country.
Our country and economy has been limping along for the last eight years during the Obama Administration. Just seeing a change so that there will be the option of the growth will be incredibly encouraging. Finally, let's end with a lighter tone with Chad Prather's take on this election cycle:
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Brave Soul! May Your Journey On The Path Of The Seeker Bring You Joy and Peace! I'm currently posting every Saturday. With a new addition the family I have pre-scheduled most posts through December 2022. Full Moon Posts will contain up-to-date content when I can get to them. Thank you so much for your support and understanding! This is a place where you can encounter new spiritual ideas that have helped me develop as an Individual On The Path of the Seeker. Take or Leave this information as you see fit. Archives
April 2024
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