Will Trump 2 0 Make America Grate Again

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I’ve been feeling less pessimistic than usual lately, although I’m possibly not feeling well, but it sure feels better than just bitching and whingeing about things
Normal service will resume soon enough, I’m sure, but I’ll enjoy it for now.
I’ve often felt Malaysia was regressing rather than progressing, and I wasn’t shy about saying that. While some of the reasons are beyond our control, many are our own fault, and it’s depressing to feel opportunities are slipping us by.
However, I’m one of the many Malaysians (apparently 82% of us are like-minded) who feel upbeat about the new year, and by extension, the future.
Unsurprisingly, it’s easy for many of us in the developing world to think that things are bound to get better, given where we were before.
That makes sense, but there’s another reason too. Look around and you’ll see so much crazy stuff going on in the world right now. “Let’s destroy ourselves and the world” seems almost to have become an Olympic medal event, with everybody fighting for gold.
Lebensraum again?
Donald Trump will soon return to the White House. He’s been hogging the headlines now with, among other things, wanting to acquire Greenland and the Panama Canal, and not ruling out the use of force, whether economic or military, to get his wishes.
It feels like we’re back to Nazi Germany’s doctrine of lebensraum – the need for “breathing space” around their country for economic and military reasons — that was used to justify invading their neighbours and starting World War 2.
Perhaps this is indeed America’s own version of lebensraum, and if so it’s also the beginning of some nasty times for the world.
Taking the two strategic locations of Greenland and the Panama Canal will certainly help Trump to contain China economically and militarily, but the consequences will be dire.
China’s influence
Decades of America’s neglect of Latin America have resulted in China’s growing influence and more than US$500 billion of trade with the region, up from barely US$20 billion two decades ago. That’s a huge advantage they won’t let go easily.
Things weren’t good for the US in the past, either, even when the US did pay attention to the South Americans.
There were coups and putsches aplenty, toppling elected governments to put in place murderous right-wing military regimes – think Chile, Argentina, Brazil and other smaller “banana republics” of the time.
Trump could end up pushing the entire region – even Argentina currently under a Trump-wannabe Javier Milei – even deeper into China’s orbit.
MAGA mania
His control of the Panama Canal, if it came to that, would be meaningless given how easy it is to militarily disable that waterway.
While the Danes and their European allies aren’t likely to go with Trump on Greenland, his demand will play well with his easy-to-please MAGA crowd.
Outrage and discord give oxygen to Trump, and he’s brilliant at stoking the political and culture wars for his own benefit.
Decline of the west
To the rest of us, it seems all those international rules and institutions set up by the west are observed only when convenient to them, but discarded when not.
While Gaza and the rest of Palestine are being obliterated, so is the reputation of the western nations as responsible world powers, yet again giving their nemesis China an easy opportunity to look good by comparison.
The almost intractable problems of US budget deficits, rising national debt, crumbling infrastructure, trade imbalances and the societal issues of political polarisation, widening income gaps, increasingly unaffordable healthcare and education costs won’t go away by merely throwing slogans at them.
Add in a global pandemic or two, and all bets are off.
Climate change
And there’s the changing climate. America has just greeted the new year with the most damaging forest fires in history. A very wet winter that promoted vegetation growth was followed by a long hot and dry summer that turned this new growth into firewood that made the fires uncontrollable.
Hold tight folks – there’s plenty more from where these came from.
Hurricanes, tropical storms and tornadoes of increasing intensity are occurring in places where they used to be rarities. The 2024 US hurricane season cost the country almost a quarter of a trillion dollars of damage and over 400 deaths.
Plenty more from where those came from, too.
Feeling the heat
The year 2024 was the warmest year on record, and many aspects of potential climate disasters may have reached tipping points, and the real pain may only be just beginning.
Many places in the US are becoming almost uninsurable against fires and floods, and that’s just going to get worse.
Economically, many countries in the west are burdened with adverse demographic trends – ageing (and declining) populations, escalating social security and healthcare costs, while financing, directly or indirectly, bigger defence budgets at the expense of their citizens’ welfare.
Gloom and sunshine
The late President Jimmy Carter gave a famous address on the energy crisis facing the US and the world in the late 1970s.
He didn’t get everything right – it turns out there’s an almost inexhaustible supply of oil and gas if we’re willing to destroy the environment to get them – but he was remarkably prescient and honest about the challenges facing Americans and the world.
Carter’s unvarnished perspectives certainly look forlorn against Ronald Reagan’s “morning in America” sunniness. But reality is often sobering, and often we would rather latch on to some irrational optimism driven by cunning politicians and lately by ruthless business moguls, or both, rather than deal with it.
Regardless of how huge the GDP, stock market or the number of billionaires there are, the future looks bleak for many as America abandons its secret sauce to greatness – its belief that prosper-thy-neighbour is the best way to become prosperous yourself. America is more intertwined with the world that it cares to admit.
Asean’s turn
Anyway, it’s also too easy to focus on the negatives and forget this century belongs to Asia. Asean countries have done a lot of things right and the old examples and benchmarks, of countries who are now also our economic competitors, look a little bit worse for wear.
We don’t have to be hysterical cheerleaders of everything around us. We know there are many things that are wrong and need fixing. But we must realise we as individuals and communities can make significant changes and improvements, sometimes in spite of what our venal politicians want.
And that we all will be better for it. The culture of always focusing on the negatives and on what separates us rather than unites us will sabotage our own journey to greatness. We must let that go.
It’s been said whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad. There’s indeed a lot of madness out there, but we just need to count our blessings, focus on our future, and let the gods do what they must to the others. - FMT
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.

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