Trump's Return: Threat or Catalyst for Change?

Is the re-election of Donald Trump a threat to the values of mindfulness, compassion, and kindness, or could it be an unexpected catalyst for positive change? As we unpack the implications of Trump's surprising return to the presidency, we explore the stark contrast between his aggressive worldview and the values many of us hold dear. Drawing from Lisa Lehrer's insightful analysis in the New York Times, we delve into concerns surrounding potential authoritarian tendencies, economic challenges linked to proposed tariffs, and broader societal trends that have fueled Trump's support. Amidst the uncertainty, we reflect on the possibility of positive outcomes, such as enhanced government efficiency, while keeping hope alive and staying proactive.

Navigating this new political landscape, we ponder the potential for Trump’s administration to surprise skeptics and enact policies that genuinely benefit the American people. Even as skepticism lingers, there is a desire for solutions that make a tangible difference. We also discuss potential changes for the podcast, hinting at a possible sabbatical in the coming year as I prepare to work in Washington, D.C. Despite this potential pause, the commitment to fostering positive change and reducing suffering remains unwavering, encouraging listeners to uphold these values and remain hopeful for a better future.

Music: Semo - 'Chemtrails'

Transcript

Speaker 2 0:25

Thank you, hi Don Thompson, here with another podcast for you today, and I'm recording this the day after our election on November the 6th in the morning. So I'm fresh off of learning about the news that we have a new president, or a new president who was president before and has been reelected, and what you know people are calling one of the most unprecedented comebacks in the history of politics, which I would venture to say is likely true. So I just wanted to comment about that. You know, as a mindful person, as a person interested in mindfulness and Buddhism, and generally a person who doesn't really, you know, I would say, like he might say the kind of rhetoric that Mr Trump expressed during his campaign, the people seem to resonate with. Certainly the voters seem to resonate with that messaging, you know. So I wanted to say, first off, I know that a lot of people that are, you know, mindfulness types, you might say people that are trying to be forgiving and compassionate and more loving and kind, these people have been sort of repudiated in a way, you know, because now we have a leader that really demonstrates the fact, at least on paper so far, that those kinds of attitudes don't necessarily get you to where you need to be, from a competitive standpoint, in the United States, united States. So as a role model, you know, mr Trump is basically telling us that you need to be competitive and to be competitive, you need to be aggressive and you need to be able to demean the competition and so on and so forth. At least that's the worldview, in my mind, that he seems to be propagating. But I would say that, you know, don't despair. I mean, I think that if you are one of those people and you're listening to this podcast and you know anybody interested in listening to this podcast, I would say probably is not in the, you know, under the umbrella you might say, of the worldview that we need to do whatever we can to win. I don't think that's necessarily the type of people that are listening to this podcast. So I'd just like to go over a couple of thoughts related to the Trump victory, and I actually read a very interesting piece by a New York Times writer. Her name is Lisa Lehrer and she wrote a piece very, very early on November the 6th that I cracked open, andres a Strong man, and I think that you know some of the points that she makes are very interesting. So, basically what she's saying and I'll just read a little bit from the preamble here.

Speaker 2 3:38

Donald Trump said he would use military force against his political opponents. He would fire thousands of career public servants. He would deport millions of immigrants in military-style roundups. He would crush the independence of the Department of Justice, use government to push public health conspiracies and abandon America's allies abroad. He would turn the government into a tool of his own grievances, a way to punish his critics and richly reward his supporters. He would be a dictator. In quotes, if only on day one. End of quote. That's Lisa Lair in her piece, and what she's saying is that, hearing all of this stuff you know, which I have witnessed, I've been listening to people said, yeah, let's sign up for that, let's get on board.

Speaker 2 4:29

So I thought, in thinking about this, it's not really. It's sort of a sad day for America, for a lot of us that don't really adhere to these kinds of ideas or this kind of approach to life. You know, and mindfulness has been trying to promote an alternative way to look at life that's a little bit more kinder and gentler. But I think that you know, in a way, this repudiation, I would not say of mindfulness directly, directly, but of the idea that you know you can compete in a different way or you can survive in a different way, or that survival of the fittest, this sort of Darwinian approach to life, is not necessarily the best way to go. I think that you know people that believe that that isn't the best way to go should take heart. I don't think that we should, you know, be too depressed about the whole situation, because there are things that we can do. There are things that we will do, you know, as the Trump administration comes in. I, in fact, am going to be working in Washington DC for a university, I'm going to be teaching, so I'm going to use that opportunity to do whatever I can, to participate in whatever I can, to, you know, try to alleviate whatever suffering is caused by the situation, cost by the situation.

Speaker 2 6:11

Now, I also have to say that I'm open to listening and I'm open to the fact that perhaps there will be some good ideas that come out of this whole exercise. It could be that, for example, the government you know could be somewhat streamlined and made more efficient, and things like that. That could be the case, and maybe that'll happen under Trump. But I do think some of the economic policies that have been, you know, spun up or talked about, particularly related to tariffs. A lot of the economists are telling us that those are not necessarily the greatest idea, that they might be really a taxation on people. You know, a sort of a you know a backdoor tax. Basically, what happens is the tariffs will force the people that sell the products to raise their prices, so those prices will just get passed along to the consumer and, you know, probably you know, you've heard of that, and probably most of the people that voted for Trump heard of that, but still they signed on to it.

Speaker 2 7:04

So I think that, in general and I was talking to my spouse about this this morning is, I would say that there is a revolt of sorts happening in the United States, and I would say that, for lack of a better term or way to put it, I would say it's a revolt against the elites or against the experts. So this revolt has been brewing for a long time and there's a lot of different components to it, but basically the experts, let's say the class of people that administer the administrative state, you know the experts. They are being revolted against. By this revolt, mr Trump is really co-opting the desire of people to revolt against these elites, the desire of people to revolt against these elites.

Speaker 2 8:05

The elites, basically, are seen as people that look at the world in a certain way that demeans their particular perspective. And a lot of them, of course we know, are religious people. They're spiritual people, christian people, and people that listen to this podcast might often consider themselves spiritual and people that listen to this podcast might often consider themselves spiritual. But I think that the people that feel demeaned by the elites are more along the religious stripe. These are people that believe that you know, really in God and they believe that God has the ultimate power in life or over life. So I think that this revolt against the elites is understandable and I can sort of get you know, you might say, why people would want to revolt or do revolt against the elites.

Speaker 2 8:58

In a sense, the elites, the scientific class, you might say the PhDs of the world, the academic elites, the bureaucratic elites, those people, the deep state, as they are called sometimes these people have been in power and have really in many ways wreaked havoc on people's lives. It isn't so much that they have done this, but what they've done really, the elites, is they've worked within the framework of a certain system, and what's come under question is not the system, the system let's call it capitalism, let's call it free market economics. This system has not come under assault. What has come under assault are the people that support or represent this system. This system of capitalism has been administered by a certain group of people, and that's who's being really voted out, in a way. I mean, these are the people that live in New York, on the East Coast, in Washington DC, in California, on the West Coast, that run the big tech companies. These are the people, these are the elites, and they all went for Harris. They all went Democratic. These are the elites and they all went for Harris, they all went Democratic, these people.

Speaker 2 10:26

So the elite states clearly show up as blue states, and they're on the East Coast and on the West Coast, and then you have everybody in the middle that feels squeezed, you might say, by these elites and are revolting against them. The irony is that the person that they've decided to represent them is a billionaire. So what you would think on a certain level would be class warfare, sort of a labor revolt against management, is being ran by the person who is basically holding the keys to the capitalist system. So what they're saying really is that they want to return back to a sort of a pure capitalist system. They don't want to have this globalist capitalist system. They don't want to have this capitalist system that's, you know gamed by these elite people of various stripes, whether that be academic, whether that be business people, whether that be whoever. They don't want to have that power structure in place. They want to upset it.

Speaker 2 11:31

They want to rock the boat and change it, and Mr Trump is the one that they voted in to enact these changes and whether or not it'll work, well, the experts say it won't work. The experts say that a lot of the policies are going to be detrimental to the very people that Trump is saying that they are supposed to help. So clearly, that's an example of how the experts are not being listened to. The experts were clearly on the side of the Democrats. The numbers are clearly on the side of the Democrats. If you look at the jobs numbers for the Democrats as opposed to the Republicans, it is clear that the Democrats have been more successful at creating jobs than the Republicans. The Republicans might create jobs, but the jobs are destroyed by economic upheaval that typically happens under their watch. So you know I hate to be the bearer of bad news and, again, most of the people on this listening to this podcast probably understand this anyway.

Speaker 2 12:34

But you know Mr Trump may introduce more economic upheaval. There may be more problems, you know. Then he may create more problems than he fixes simply by usurping the existing system, the existing order, but he will usurp it in a way that preserves the underlying economic realities of capitalism. He's not going to create a socialist state. We know that that's not going to happen. He's not going to be even close, and that's not what people want. They understand that. They don't want any kind of a socialistic revolution. What they want is a return to what they perceive might be a pure form of capitalism, of capitalism that truly supports competition and is not being gamed by the elites in a certain way against people that are common people, working people. That's really what Trump is proposing here.

Hoping for Good From Trump Presidency

Speaker 2 13:39

He may not be directly saying that, but what he is indirectly appealing to is the sense among people that they're being screwed, basically by somebody, and Trump is saying well, I will fix the situation and I'm not sure that that's going to happen. Frankly, I think that the Democrats, who have been oftentimes co-opted by corporate interests let's say by, you know, corporate interests, let's say, have maybe not done the best job in terms of helping people, but I think they've done a better job. Frankly, if you look at the numbers, it's clear. So I don't think that Mr Trump is going to help. I don't think so, but I could be wrong and maybe, you know, we'll see what happens. So I wish him luck, you know. I wish him luck, I wish his administration good luck, you know. Godspeed, mr Trump. We'll see what happens.

Speaker 2 14:38

I, you know, hope it works out and that some good ideas come out of it and that the American people benefit in some way, and I'm proven wrong that it won't be a problem, that there won't be more problems that come out of the Trump administration and policies than solutions. Let's hope that the solutions are good, let's hope that they take hold and help. So, anyway, I'll leave the podcast at that and I thank you for listening. As always, I'll continue to do this podcast for a while. I am sort of shifting gears, so don't be surprised if I sort of drop off the radar. I'll announce it if I do that, but I might, you know, take a sabbatical in the next week year after the first of the year, I might take a sabbatical for a while and come back at this podcast later on. But anyway, for right now, for this podcast, I'll go ahead and sign off and no-transcript.