Wednesday 29 March 2017

Trump's mind

What does Donald J Trump really really believe in? What does he really want to do with his time in the White House? I'm not being conspiratorial, I'm not even thinking about Moscow and the Putin friendship row which as far as I can see is much ado about not very much. No, what's in Trump's mind? Does he just come up with fancy ideas for the sake of it without actually thinking whether such ideas are feasible, practical, possible or sensible? Take his scrapping of Obama's climate-protection regulations which led to a collapse in morale in the coal industry. Did he think that his signature at the bottom of the executive order would instantly rejuvenate the coal business and provide tens of thousands of jobs? I think he did, judging by the fact he surrounded himself with coal miners as he signed. The truth is that the coal industry has faded so fast into the background that it's most unlikely it can be revived, whatever Trump does. For example, many power station owners have dropped coal in favour of natural gas. It's cleaner for everyone, reliable, efficient and more cost-effective. Going back to the bad old days of burning coal seems like a retrograde step, never mind the damage the fossil-burning does to the environment. China went on a coal-fired power station building frenzy, and caused massive pollution up and down the country, and, thus, across the globe, adding to the human contribution to climate change. OK, Trump doesn't believe in all that, he seriously is of the opinion that climate change has nothing to do with us humans and our bad habits. What DOES he believe? That the patently obvious changes in the climate are down to an increase in methane-gas flatulence among our bovine friends? Or that it's God trying to warn us or punish us for our wayward behaviour? I don't think he cares about climate change (Trump, not God), even though he has children of his own, and, unlike Obama, he obviously hasn't been watching Sir David Attenborough's television programmes highlighting the alarming changes going on, especially in the Antarctic. All he wants to do is bring back coal, never mind the consequences, so that he can boast that he has created thousands more jobs as part of his America First campaign. None of his "advisers" presumably whispered in his ear that his plans might be thwarted by power station bosses who no longer want coal to drive their plants. In the UK, we don't have a coal industry anymore. All the old mines have been closed. And we've still got masses of coal left underground. Times have moved on. Trump wants to go backwards. It's the same with his other ideas. Like the Mexico wall. Building walls to keep people out is not what the new world is about. Not in the West anyway. Remember the Berlin Wall, Mr President. That came down, brick by brick, slab by slab, and a new country was born. And has survived against all the odds and flourished. Mexico is a neighbour, not an enemy. If you want to keep illegal immigrants away, think of other ways, Mr President. Forget the wall! It will be an immense waste of money. But perhaps he only wants to build the wall to create jobs!! America First. Creating jobs is good, but the Mexico wall-building industry, like the coal industry, is going to be damaging for everyone. PS I see the Trump family company wants to build another hotel in Washington. Well, at least if everything goes politically wrong for him, he can still pile up his profits for the day when he leaves or gets kicked out of the White House!!

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