We know what is wrong with Trump et al.
But what is wrong with us? What the hell is wrong with
US?
As one of the ‘observers from a distant planet’ (it
seems…) I was told during the EU referendum that – referring to those who voted
for Brexit – though it didn’t have that handle then – I was being disingenuous.
A little condescending. Unfair. Everyone has a right to their opinion.
To which I can only wonder – but do they though?
Why is the opinion of someone who spends their time
brain addled with reality TV or febrile celebrity bollocks or other complete
mind-numbing social media gobbledygook and who then puts that opinion into play
at the ballot box, as valid as people who’ve been paying attention?
And now that its all gone to very completely
absolutely predictable shite, can I please at least be pissed off about it?
May I – as I did in a recently published letter - now
refer to them as not so much turkeys voting for Christmas but turkeys
who voted for a permanent parking space at the abattoir and daily stuffing?
And it is that x1000 re Trump and America. Both having
burst upon us like a giant plague of boils in 2016. And here's an old doodle from that dark year...
They/we’ve known what Trump is, ever since he
descended the gold elevator with mannequin Melania. And if the glitzy descent
wasn’t a metaphor/warning/visual premonition, I don’t know what was.
The appalling Zelenskyy ambush in The Oval Office was
just the most recent horror show in a tired, long-running franchise that has us
anxious and weary in equal measure.
Rape wasn’t enough. 32 felony convictions weren’t
enough. Migrant infants put in cages, separated from their parents – some, to
this day, not reunited – not enough. The constant grifting; from MAGA bibles
made in China to cheap gold hi-tops, to the eve-of-inauguration meme crypto
scam. Just what was it about this man that Americans thought was going to turn
out well for them?
Ditto – here – Farage and Johnson. We knew who they
were. Con-men. Mad egoists. Chancers and most of all racist.
And yes, in all cases, the legacy media has given them
a massive leg up. Why, ratings? Because they thought it was entertaining? Who
knows. What we do know is that all these men were allowed to get away with
behaviour that would have been career-ending for almost any other politician.
Even in these days where our expectations are so low.
I know racism dressed up as jingoism never loses its attraction
for a lot of people. Add to that now – the very obvious draw of aggressive
misogyny. But, are so very many millions of voters really willing to go for all
that knowing that pretty much every other aspect of their lives will be ruined?
Yes.
Clearly.
Is it that we’ve just given up?
Overwhelmed by the things we’ve relied on all our
lives that no longer work – here in the UK that includes, public transport, all
infrastructure, affordability of anything, education – at all levels. Care for
the vulnerable yada yada yada.
And what of the soft right and liberal Left?
Well, Biden along with previously Rishi Sunak
(remember him?) and subsequently Sir Keir Starmer, were happy to facilitate Netanyahu’s
Gaza slaughter devastation. Starmer – as leader of the Labour Party - refused
to get rid of the 2-child benefit cap leaving many vulnerable youngsters in
poverty and appalling living conditions, while simultaneously refusing to cap
bankers’ bonuses (remember bankers – they brought the economy down in 2008 and
most of us are still paying for that one way or another).
Biden lost the plot and started to think that his
presidency and his family were more important than America. Then – having left
the VP in an absolutely impossible position – trying to fight an election in a
few weeks that her opponent never stopped fighting since he left the White
House so very reluctantly last time – claimed if he’d still been doddering
around - he’d have won.
Is the whole world suffering from delusions?
I glance around my immediate world at the vape-addled
youngsters all talking in TV reality show soundbites while the hedgerows and
motorways are an open dump. Paths are a minefield of dog shit and everywhere,
unhealthy, miserable-looking people are staggering along clutching ‘energy’
drinks and throw-away food (at least that is what they tend to do with it –
plus the packaging) and yes – faces are never more than 4 seconds away from
being zoned into their smartphones and whatever is going on there. Shopping for
tat. Gambling. Videos of shite. Etc
I think the clue may be in our clothes. If you glance
around, just see how many folks you can spot wearing entirely black or at least
something black.
Are we all pre-mourning as the world slips away?
And when was the last time you heard any mention of
the thing that is actually gong to wipe out us humans – the climate crisis?
So – yes – any engaged person can see what is so very
wrong with Trump, J. D. Vance, Putin, Orban, Milei etc, (apart from they all
have terrible hair) but we put them there. All these idiots, walking
disasters were elected.
So
WHAT IS WRONG WITH US?
*
Thanks for reading. I’m no longer going weekly on this
as having to tune in in a forensic way to what is happening in the world too
regularly will drive anyone under the duvet.
Do check out my other writing – novels, children’s
poetry and stories about the environment. Cheers.
My BOOKS (avail in all good online book stores)