Wow. Just Wow.

So - It's been almost four years since I (apparently) had anything to say here. But the events of the last 24 hours have been historic, and warrant critical observation.

For background, I am a white male, formerly from Kentucky (now living in Virginia), 55 years old. I am a veteran, married to a a disabled spouse, renting rather than owning at the moment, with extensive student loan debt, and not a lot of disposable assets, trying to purchase a home, and by all indications, will have to work until I am 72 in order to afford to retire (especially sitting on a 30-year mortgage). Based upon the turnout for the victor of the electoral college vote, you'd think I'd be a happy camper. 

However, the other side of the coin presents that I am also a defense contractor with a Master's degree in Cyber-related disciplines, two cars and a motorcycle, a truck and another motorcycle (I inherited on the passing of my last sibling), and a trailer for my sometime hobby. From this perspective, life doesn't appear to suck too much. But last night's election results will likely change that last bit for me, considerably. Both personally, and professionally.

President-Elect Trump, soon to be the Entertainer-in-Chief, has sold the White American Underclass a bill of goods. And they swallowed it, hook, line and sinker. Make America Great Again. Jobs, Jobs, Jobs. And be afraid of those who are different (immigrants, especially Muslims). All illegal aliens are criminals (while an accurate statement from an immigration point-of-view, Trump's POV is that they're all drug-addled or drug-dealing felons who will steal your jobs, rape your sons and seduce your daughters). This all made for a very acrimonious campaign cycle.

The fact is, industrial jobs that went overseas aren't coming back. He/We can't change the tax laws enough to offset the value of cheap labor in foreign markets. Even if we could cajole American firms to bring back their offshore capital, it will just be to marginally support the consumer economy we have become. He/We can't reinvent the American manufacturing sector because manufacturing requires raw materials that we've pretty much spent. If you look at a map of the world of raw materials, the majority of cheap Iron is coming from Chinese-run, coal-fired forges (the U.S. is 8th in production of Iron/Steel). China produces 32 times the Iron we produce in the U.S. And 91% of the rare earth minerals used to enable the technological wonders of Silicon Valley are mined in China. Importing those materials to the U.S. to reinvigorate a 2nd generation industrial complex and the manufacturing sectors would require end product pricing that simply will not enable us to be competitive in world markets. And even if we're not exporting, then we'd saturate the U.S. market with our own non-tariffed products in pretty short order, if we could even afford to buy them with our rapidly diminishing wages. Our products are coal and oil, two things we can readily sell abroad (or use to continue diminishing our dependence on foreign influence; but if we are buying our own rhetoric about global warming, probably shouldn't.

So - Cars, Appliances, Steel for construction of buildings and infrastructure: Largely gone for good. Coal, bad idea. Being from Kentucky, I get it. But it is a losing proposition. You can't make mining it safe, and the use of it sets the planet on a path to self-annihilation. Oil? It's like sitting at the casino table too long. It's a long-term gamble that won't pay off in the end, because all it does is buy time to a conclusion that won't come out in our favor. The rest of the world will sit quietly until we run out, then we're stuck. And again, it also keeps us (all) on that global path to environmental doom. These are not answers. They're desperate, cloying attempts to recapture the global dominance which, in our shortsightedness, slipped our grasp.

As for the social issues that Trump has brought to the fore, while I agree that the path to citizenship should not be amnesty for those who have already broken our existing immigration laws, I do not believe that everyone who comes to our shores is here simply to take from others, lower our standards of living, or threaten our way of life (whatever that has become these days). Given the size of the Muslim cohort, I do believe that there is some 'Six-degrees of separation' between many Muslims and those Muslims who mean to do us harm. However, I do not believe that every Muslim who has immigrated to America (or converted; don't forget, there are many who have) is an inherent threat to our country, or personally knows someone who is. Yes, we should be more diligent, do a better job at screening on both ends of the pipeline into our country. Yes, we should be deporting illegal aliens based upon violent or drug-related criminal records (here or in their home country). But building a wall will be a ridiculous expense we can ill afford when we cannot yet care for our own.

And while we do possess great military might, we are not Rome, nor is Trump an Alexander the Great. Our allies as well as many of those unfriendly to the U.S. have all amassed armaments sufficient to keep anyone with a shred of wisdom at bay. The days of Empire building are over. And if we retreat or pivot back to an isolationist policy, I doubt we will ever find ourselves enjoying the role of sole superpower of this world ever again, unless we foolishly choose (or provoke) a return to the dark ages and start over.

Personally, last night's political victory for the unwashed white minority feels more like a splenetic hemorrhage by those simply unable to engage the world as it has become, for better or worse.
Trump has knowingly set the under-educated, under-employed segment of white America on itself (and everyone else), turning us into the proverbial 'Crab Bucket'.

DAILY GRILL - Center for American Progress Action Fund

Q: But if [Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki] said get out now, we don't want you anymore –
BUSH: I don't see how we could stay. It is his country.
-- President Bush on the Charlie Rose show, 4/24/07

VERSUS

"The United States on Tuesday rejected a demand from Iraq for a specific date for pullout of US-led foreign troops from the country, saying any withdrawal will be based on conditions on the ground."
-- AFP, 7/8/08
© Center for American Progress Action Fund

Belgian woman wages war for Al Qaeda on the Web - International Herald Tribune

A truly interesting article:

"Now, even as El Aroud remains under constant surveillance, she is back home rallying militants on her Web site - and collecting more than $1,100 a month in government unemployment benefits."

Response to John McCain...

Sir,

Sadly, there is no longer simply 'a biggest challenge that America faces'. The problem has become too diverse and multifacted to sum up in a sound bite encapsulation.

Indeed, the state of our economy is a significant concern to all Americans. Many have lost or are losing their homes and dreams due to unscrupulous and predatory lending practices. Many have lost or are losing their jobs to unfair hiring practices (e.g. H1B Visas) and profit-driven offshoring practices. Many of our aged and infirm are being forced to choose between bankruptcy or death by pharmaceutical and insurance companies whose sole focus is the bottom line (e.g. Tier4 drugs), without regard to the social injustice they bring to bear on the citizens who depend so critically upon their products and services. And as a consumer economy, we depend far too much upon the good nature of other nations. Considering our standing in the world, that is a recipe for demise of our country and our way of life as we know it.

Democracy was a wonderful discovery, and on the whole its implementation has demonstrated a propensity for prosperity where it emerges. I believe those who recognize its virtues will embrace it. Those who do not, will not, and cannot be induced through force or coercion. And as we know, those nations or factions that are threatened by it will respond with violence and fear. Through the machinations of others, our nation has been spread too thin globally. We have committed economically (promoting a Nuclear India, and permitting/encouraging commerce with a socially abusive China) to agenda that do not serve the interest of America or the world in which we live. And our noble men and women in uniform remain in harms way without a plan to meet our obligation to reasonably minimize or negate that risk while seeing our commitment to Iraq through to the formation of a functioning sovereign government, eventually retuning our soldiers to missions worthy of our national heritage. And as an experienced soldier, you of all candidates know full well the virtue and wisdom of pulling back and regrouping when the best laid plans clearly demonstrate a lack of progress, and wasting of limited resources (e.g. Afghanistan and Bin Ladin).

As the quintessential democracy, we embraced Emma Lazarus' 19th century invitation to accept other countries 'tired, poor and huddled masses'. And in doing so, over time, America has become stronger through the inevitable diversity it has fostered. However, having left open our 'golden door' to an unchecked influx of illegal immigration, we have also left ourselves open to economic ruin through the unending drain upon social and public services, and violent retaliation from those who do not share our social values, or our national allegience. Lip service and convenient flag waving is insufficient evidence of loyal citizenry.

As a global citizen, we have failed our neighbors in serving the interests of our world on the environmental front, a war just as vital as any we prosecute in any finite sovereign nation. Admittedly, the industrial revolution was instrumental in the development and expansion of the global economy to be certain. However as any scientist will tell you, the unchecked growth of any single influencing factor in an environment will destabilize that environment, threatening all life within it. We have an obligation to reduce our negative impact on our world, to reduce our dependence upon foreign energy sources, and lead other nations by that example.

The answers to some of these issues, and others, may be found through a process of expanded higher education and education loan debt forgiveness through targeted public service or specific trades; increased economic incentives for technological development; tougher policies (not economic incentives) to keep jobs and dollars at home; 'fair trade, not free trade',