Why am I writing about Trump on this Crooked Capitalism blog? First, I think democracy and capitalism are closely intervened. Without democracy, free markets and capitalism are hard to sustain in the purest form.
I never thought Trump would win the 2016 Presidential election. I generally didn't like him to be US President. I voted against him. Now when he is elected, I am trying to find reasons to like him. His victory is a proof that there are many many people who like him. Why don't I like him. Maybe I am biased. I don't want to be a guy who criticizes him for everything he does, or for everything he says. I don't think that is a healthy approach if I want to contribute and do my part to help the nation. As President Obama said during his farewell speech, democracy is our joint responsibility and I believe more can be achieved with cooperation and positive attitude than with hate and negativity.
Here are some reasons why I like Trump:
1) When I was in college, studying engineering and MBA, I always believed that nations should be ran more like businesses. A nation should not spend more than what it takes in. Overspending or deficits are bad things. Cost and benefit should be carefully done for any project to make sure benefits outweigh spend. I believed that a businessman could do all this better than a career politician. A businessman is focused on money, generally have better cost benefit skills, and are able to call a quit when something is not working; on the other hand, most politicians are primarily focused on votes and next elections. The positions they take and the calculations they do are more for winning the next election and favoring those who helped them win the last time ;)
I think in form of Trump, I will get a chance to witness the hypothesis that a businessman can run a nation better than career politicians.
2) I always dreamed to see a president who is willing to annoy people. You can not please everyone every time. There are times, you have to stand up and annoy some people to achieve something that is bigger and better. Most politicians always take the middle path- they do not want to offend people. They want to be likable so they wear some masks. Even if they believe that something needs to change, they would avoid confronting some people, some groups. They would choose to be political and ignore it. Unless you offend some retirees, some immigrants, some corporate entities, you can NOT bring much needed changes to Social Security, Medicare, Drug prices or healthcare. Things need to change over time and to make such changes the POTUS (President of the US) need to be courageous and stand against vested interests. I like a president who for the good of the nation does not hesitate to annoy people, confront some who are taking unfair benefit of the system or national resources. (If you are annoyed by Trump's victory, I think it is time to see what are the reasons behind it. Is it immigration? Is it being a woman? Is is because you are liberal?)
In Trump, I see a guy who can annoy whenever needed. He can annoy Fed and #PuppetYellen (sorry I see her only as a puppet of stock market!). He can annoy CNN publicly and he can take on the FBI and CIA. When for the selfish business reasons, Apple refused to unlock a terrorist's phone, I liked Trump when he publicly stood against Apple. In my thinking, if you can't annoy some, you can't bring any change. Jesus annoyed Jews, Gandhi annoyed British, MLK annoyed white people, Lincoln annoyed Southerners, Narendra Modi is annoying many corrupt and wealthy in India! Everyone who changed, or tried to change the society to make it better, had to do the unpleasant work of annoying those who were refusing change.
3) Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: It says that a person progresses thro various needs. Food and home motivates a poor. Once you have access to food and home, they no longer motivate you. Then you want to be rich. Once you are satisfied being rich, you want to be famous. Once you are rich and famous, you want to go out and do things for the society, community, or other people. Trump is a successful businessman with billions of dollars. He is also very famous. He has money and fame. He has everything that most of us would desire or long for. Now at this stage, as per Maslow's theory, I am inclined to believe that President-Elect Trump would be motivated more by self-realization or doing something that has little self-interest.
4) Trump is smart and capable of making impossible possible. Most people on the West coast or East coast tend to make fun of Trump or hate him. Most immigrants and kids in California do parody of him. They hate him. However most people forget that he is smart. Most of us spend a lifetime and can barely make a million ;) He has made billions. Don't you agree he is smart?
Trump has the capacity to make impossible possible. Who believed him a year ago when he decided to run for GOP nomination? He defeated career politicians and big shots in GOP to win the nomination. Then, very few of us believed that he would be able to defeat Hillary Clinton. Guess what? Oh, no need to guess LOL. We just need to accept that Trump has the capacity to make impossible possible. I have personally believed that there are many problems in USA which are difficult, if not impossible to solve, like healthcare, immigration, lobbying, stronghold of rich and wealthy, etc. I think Trump has the capacity to make impossible possible.
5) It is time for Democracy to evolve. I know most, if not all, of you would get offended when I raise a finger at democracy. I think we no longer have a true democracy. Our system is not For the people; it is more For the RICH People. Under the fancy cover of democracy, we are living in an aristocracy. (Browse various posts on this blog Crooked Capitalism if you are curious.) Lobbyists, and media, hired/pay-rolled by wealthy individuals and institutions do many things that are in self-interest and against the interests of common citizens. If lobbyist and media is not enough, now we have no cap on political contributions by wealthy and vested interested. Do you think political donations are donations to charity- donations that have no expectations to get anything back? What do you think of various Props on election ballots? Most of them are nothing but attempts by some institutions or wealthy individuals to get things done by spending millions of dollars. (Talk with any police department about impact of Prop 47 or something to decriminalize the society. Now if you steal from any store items that cost less than $950, you wouldn't go to jail! This has created a new lot of criminals. If they get caught- it is no longer a felony; It is now only a misdemeanor! They now don't get a prison; just a ticket by police. However most people were fooled to vote Yes on it by ads on TV!) I don't think we have a pure Democracy. I like to call US more as an Aristocratic nation. If you think Trump is crazy, bully and acts like an autocrat, I am willing to taste a bit of Autocratic regime too after seeing democracy being turned in aristocracy and after seeing year over year the widening income and wealth gaps.
6) There are lot of things that need to be fixed!
Immigration is one of them. There are many things that need to changed. Here are some examples. Many immigrants come in senior years. Without contributing a cent to the Social Security fund, they keep getting money from the pool that baby boomers have contributed over their decades of work! Immigrants also cost taxpayers with free medicare. USA had resources to do all that maybe years back; but no more. One more example is immigrant students. Schools are free but colleges cost thousands. There are many immigrant kids who study colleges for free and also get money to sustain themselves while on the other end, locals incur tens of thousands of dollars for college education. One other example is visas for skilled workers. H1B was done for booming IT field of 1990s. Two million some IT professionals have made USA home and IT is no longer a booming or dynamic industry that lacks skills in local job markets. It has matured. For most technologies, ample skill is available locally. There is no more any need to keep bringing in foreign workers when many skilled citizens have hard time to find a job! H1Bs are preferred by companies because they work as low as half the cost of a local citizen. CEOs want fat bonuses; I don't think they and politicians are acting in the best interest of Americans.
Overspending by government is another issue. Probably you are not aware but if I am not wrong, 20 cents of every dollar that Federal government gets is spent on defense. I am pretty sure there are lot of inefficiencies. When Trump says that some fighter planes cost too much to make. I tend to believe him. When he takes on Boeing for a billion plus dollars on one Air Force 1 plane, I like him. I am sure there would be corruption and lot of free riding too in defense on the name of national security- a holy cow. No one likes to cut down or talk bad about defense spending. I think Trump has guts to take them head on.
7) Markets are booming: Since Trump won the election, the stock market is booming in USA. I guess one more reason to like Trump.
I think Trump has capacity and ability to do lot good for the USA. So far, I think he has shown willingness too!
(Got to go. Will continue later!)
I never thought Trump would win the 2016 Presidential election. I generally didn't like him to be US President. I voted against him. Now when he is elected, I am trying to find reasons to like him. His victory is a proof that there are many many people who like him. Why don't I like him. Maybe I am biased. I don't want to be a guy who criticizes him for everything he does, or for everything he says. I don't think that is a healthy approach if I want to contribute and do my part to help the nation. As President Obama said during his farewell speech, democracy is our joint responsibility and I believe more can be achieved with cooperation and positive attitude than with hate and negativity.
Here are some reasons why I like Trump:
1) When I was in college, studying engineering and MBA, I always believed that nations should be ran more like businesses. A nation should not spend more than what it takes in. Overspending or deficits are bad things. Cost and benefit should be carefully done for any project to make sure benefits outweigh spend. I believed that a businessman could do all this better than a career politician. A businessman is focused on money, generally have better cost benefit skills, and are able to call a quit when something is not working; on the other hand, most politicians are primarily focused on votes and next elections. The positions they take and the calculations they do are more for winning the next election and favoring those who helped them win the last time ;)
I think in form of Trump, I will get a chance to witness the hypothesis that a businessman can run a nation better than career politicians.
2) I always dreamed to see a president who is willing to annoy people. You can not please everyone every time. There are times, you have to stand up and annoy some people to achieve something that is bigger and better. Most politicians always take the middle path- they do not want to offend people. They want to be likable so they wear some masks. Even if they believe that something needs to change, they would avoid confronting some people, some groups. They would choose to be political and ignore it. Unless you offend some retirees, some immigrants, some corporate entities, you can NOT bring much needed changes to Social Security, Medicare, Drug prices or healthcare. Things need to change over time and to make such changes the POTUS (President of the US) need to be courageous and stand against vested interests. I like a president who for the good of the nation does not hesitate to annoy people, confront some who are taking unfair benefit of the system or national resources. (If you are annoyed by Trump's victory, I think it is time to see what are the reasons behind it. Is it immigration? Is it being a woman? Is is because you are liberal?)
In Trump, I see a guy who can annoy whenever needed. He can annoy Fed and #PuppetYellen (sorry I see her only as a puppet of stock market!). He can annoy CNN publicly and he can take on the FBI and CIA. When for the selfish business reasons, Apple refused to unlock a terrorist's phone, I liked Trump when he publicly stood against Apple. In my thinking, if you can't annoy some, you can't bring any change. Jesus annoyed Jews, Gandhi annoyed British, MLK annoyed white people, Lincoln annoyed Southerners, Narendra Modi is annoying many corrupt and wealthy in India! Everyone who changed, or tried to change the society to make it better, had to do the unpleasant work of annoying those who were refusing change.
3) Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: It says that a person progresses thro various needs. Food and home motivates a poor. Once you have access to food and home, they no longer motivate you. Then you want to be rich. Once you are satisfied being rich, you want to be famous. Once you are rich and famous, you want to go out and do things for the society, community, or other people. Trump is a successful businessman with billions of dollars. He is also very famous. He has money and fame. He has everything that most of us would desire or long for. Now at this stage, as per Maslow's theory, I am inclined to believe that President-Elect Trump would be motivated more by self-realization or doing something that has little self-interest.
4) Trump is smart and capable of making impossible possible. Most people on the West coast or East coast tend to make fun of Trump or hate him. Most immigrants and kids in California do parody of him. They hate him. However most people forget that he is smart. Most of us spend a lifetime and can barely make a million ;) He has made billions. Don't you agree he is smart?
Trump has the capacity to make impossible possible. Who believed him a year ago when he decided to run for GOP nomination? He defeated career politicians and big shots in GOP to win the nomination. Then, very few of us believed that he would be able to defeat Hillary Clinton. Guess what? Oh, no need to guess LOL. We just need to accept that Trump has the capacity to make impossible possible. I have personally believed that there are many problems in USA which are difficult, if not impossible to solve, like healthcare, immigration, lobbying, stronghold of rich and wealthy, etc. I think Trump has the capacity to make impossible possible.
5) It is time for Democracy to evolve. I know most, if not all, of you would get offended when I raise a finger at democracy. I think we no longer have a true democracy. Our system is not For the people; it is more For the RICH People. Under the fancy cover of democracy, we are living in an aristocracy. (Browse various posts on this blog Crooked Capitalism if you are curious.) Lobbyists, and media, hired/pay-rolled by wealthy individuals and institutions do many things that are in self-interest and against the interests of common citizens. If lobbyist and media is not enough, now we have no cap on political contributions by wealthy and vested interested. Do you think political donations are donations to charity- donations that have no expectations to get anything back? What do you think of various Props on election ballots? Most of them are nothing but attempts by some institutions or wealthy individuals to get things done by spending millions of dollars. (Talk with any police department about impact of Prop 47 or something to decriminalize the society. Now if you steal from any store items that cost less than $950, you wouldn't go to jail! This has created a new lot of criminals. If they get caught- it is no longer a felony; It is now only a misdemeanor! They now don't get a prison; just a ticket by police. However most people were fooled to vote Yes on it by ads on TV!) I don't think we have a pure Democracy. I like to call US more as an Aristocratic nation. If you think Trump is crazy, bully and acts like an autocrat, I am willing to taste a bit of Autocratic regime too after seeing democracy being turned in aristocracy and after seeing year over year the widening income and wealth gaps.
6) There are lot of things that need to be fixed!
Immigration is one of them. There are many things that need to changed. Here are some examples. Many immigrants come in senior years. Without contributing a cent to the Social Security fund, they keep getting money from the pool that baby boomers have contributed over their decades of work! Immigrants also cost taxpayers with free medicare. USA had resources to do all that maybe years back; but no more. One more example is immigrant students. Schools are free but colleges cost thousands. There are many immigrant kids who study colleges for free and also get money to sustain themselves while on the other end, locals incur tens of thousands of dollars for college education. One other example is visas for skilled workers. H1B was done for booming IT field of 1990s. Two million some IT professionals have made USA home and IT is no longer a booming or dynamic industry that lacks skills in local job markets. It has matured. For most technologies, ample skill is available locally. There is no more any need to keep bringing in foreign workers when many skilled citizens have hard time to find a job! H1Bs are preferred by companies because they work as low as half the cost of a local citizen. CEOs want fat bonuses; I don't think they and politicians are acting in the best interest of Americans.
Overspending by government is another issue. Probably you are not aware but if I am not wrong, 20 cents of every dollar that Federal government gets is spent on defense. I am pretty sure there are lot of inefficiencies. When Trump says that some fighter planes cost too much to make. I tend to believe him. When he takes on Boeing for a billion plus dollars on one Air Force 1 plane, I like him. I am sure there would be corruption and lot of free riding too in defense on the name of national security- a holy cow. No one likes to cut down or talk bad about defense spending. I think Trump has guts to take them head on.
7) Markets are booming: Since Trump won the election, the stock market is booming in USA. I guess one more reason to like Trump.
I think Trump has capacity and ability to do lot good for the USA. So far, I think he has shown willingness too!
(Got to go. Will continue later!)
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