Can there be any doubt that the most surprising event of 2016 was the election of Donald J. Trump as President of the United States? Reactions have been breathtakingly diverse and troubling to more and more of us as Trump’s tweets get more omnipresent as he appears to loathe holding press conferences with any degree of regularity.
In past years I have speculated on future events based on what has happened in the years just closed. This year, as the new President and his team assemble, even the most intrepid analysts seem unable to do more than cavil about the seemingly unlimited damages that can be wrought upon us. Ironically, the most harm could be visited upon those who listened and voted for the siren song of “Making America Great Again.”
Thus, I humbly offer my list of possible good and bad outcomes, and stating up front that it is not comprehensive and the items may be overcome be events with the appearance of black swan events and information to which I am not privy.
Bad Actions or Inactions Possible Under Trump:
- Repeal of Obama Care sans any replacement short of passing costs back on the poorest among us.
- Cutting off support for Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) and perpetuating other family planning inhibitors such as reinstatement of the Helm’s Amendment.
- Ignoring the threat of climate change and possible US withdrawal from the Global Climate Change Initiative (GCCI).
- Continued ignoring of the growing threat of population growth as human numbers climb from 2 billion in 1930 to 8 billion by 2050.
- Ignoring our precious rule of law by finding sneaky ways to buy outcomes. We have to find a comprehensive way to get the money out of politics – from the post of dog catcher to president of the United States.
Good Actions or Inactions Possible Under Trump:
- Enforcement of our immigration laws, plus instituting a mandatory E verify program for all US employers.
- Withholding of Federal funds to cities which insist on ignoring immigration laws by calling themselves Sanctuary Cities.
- Reorganize international relations that reduce perpetual war. The business of America can no longer be war.
- Recognizing that our present debt accumulation will fatally hurt our future.
- No safe legislative districts for representatives who will not compromise and pass legislation that benefits all Americans.
I am hopeful that leaders of both parties will realize how perilously close to multiple disasters our world lurches. Even the US elites are not immune from disaster. If the world order continues to erode, their seemingly cozy perches could come tumbling down along with everyone else. Read Edgar Allen Poe’s “Masque of the Red Death” and think about the already proven case for anthropocene climate change.
“But the Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious. When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court, and with these retired to the deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys.”1
Edgar Allen Poe, Masque of the Red Death
Former US Navy officer, banker and venture capitalist, Donald A. Collins, a free lance writer living in Washington, DC., has spent over 40 years working for women=s reproductive health as a board member and/or officer of numerous family planning organizations including Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Guttmacher Institute, Family Health International and Ipas. Yale under graduate, NYU MBA.
1 – Shmoop Editorial Team. “The Masque of the Red Death Foolishness and Folly Quotes Page 1.” Shmoop. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 19 Jan. 2017.
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