The results of the US elections were not so surprising for me: after all, I live in a country where politics has been dominated by a financial tycoon, Silvio Berlusconi, for more than 20 years. Berlusconi and Trump share many characteristics, but the most curious one is that they are rich and that the poor vote for them. Why is that? Are the poor stupid or what?
But the poor are not stupid. They are badly misinformed by the Western media, but they perceive that they are facing a true Empire of Lies and that they are being lied to, consistently, brazenly, and gleefully. There are plenty of studies (*) showing that people detect lies not on the basis of rational consideration, but on a much simpler test: consistency. They take into account what a person does, not so much what that person says.
In other words, if you want to help the poor and gain their trust, you have to be poor. That’s why Franciscan monks wear a brown tunic, pledge to own nothing, and are forbidden even to touch money. If you want to have the vote of the poor, you don’t have to arrive to such extremes, but you have to be consistent: what you are has to bee in agreement with what you say. And, if you are rich, you shouldn’t even try to disguise yourself as being poor. As I said, the poor are not stupid.
That was the problem of the Italian Communist Party that was supposed to represent the workers. Over the years, it came to be led by wealthy people who claimed to represent the workers, but who were not workers; they were at best well paid bureaucrats, at worst thieves. Eventually, the workers started voting for Berlusconi and the Communist party was swept away from history. It turned into the present “Democratic Party,” a mongrel that we could define as “Berlusconi 2.0”.
Berlusconi was brash, silly, nasty, politically incorrect, a womanizer, and more, but he mainly said what he thought, he was not lying and people perceived that he was not the front man for someone else. Now over 80 and mostly retired from politics, he could probably come back and win again.
It is very much the same thing for Donald Trump. You may hate what he says, but there is little doubt that he says what he thinks; he is not lying. It was exactly the opposite for Hillary Clinton, who was perceived as having much to hide, despite what she kept saying. And, in the end, it makes sense to prefer a honest son of a bitch to a smooth-sounding liar, no matter how pleasant is what she says.
So, things went the way they should have. One thing that should never surprise us about the future is that it always surprises us. Will we ever learn that?
(*) If you have the time to read the book “Big Gods” by Ara Norenzayan, do so. It is an eye opener in this matter
Ugo Bardi teaches physical chemistry at the University of Florence, in Italy. He is interested in resource depletion, system dynamics modeling, climate science and renewable energy. Contact: ugo.bardi(whirlything)unifi.it
Trump has caught the right pulse at the right time though he did not have the diplomatic skills as that of Hilary. Moreover, Clinton had open differences with Sanders who might have actually won the elections had he given the chance. Trump had less skirmishes with Ted Cruz and people spotted the difference and voted for a ‘ straight- forward’ evil instead of ‘ clandestine’ evil. The voters have applied logic to illogical situations….!
Who are they supposed to vote 4?? Most politicians are wealthy, all of them are at least upper class that is upper upper class..So what to do??
Both parties are losers.
It was Bush Republicans who did the 911 inside job, with Bush shutting down investigations that pointed to his involved orchestration. Then Democrazy Obama was welcomed in by the Republican Establishment to cover-up and continue the shut down. They knew he would be a two termed POTUS, because they knew the Political body would never impeach the first elected Black President, making him the ace card, to make people forget the 911 Crimes to humanity.
They even fukcing crashed the banks to prevent people to even have their own investigations. That’s why no one was prosecuted for their inside Bank Crimes.
They sent us off to War to torture and commit War Crimes in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya, which has caused this trouble not only in Syria, and Turkey, but also into Crimea, and Ukraine, trying to blame Russia as the problem, when in fact the US Sons of Ritches have been the cause all along.. With a huge refugee Crisis unfolding in Europe, and the rush to occupy the UK, finally brought about Brexit.
The issue is really the Energy Policy. If people had the correct clean energy we would not have this crisis in the world, jockeying to control Oil resources in other nations, and fighting Pollution on such a grand scale. People could farm and grow their own, instead of being controlled by the Agriculture Corporations.
I have the invention that makes pollution free electricity, water, new air, and hydrogen gas at zero cost. Far superior to Solar, and wind power , and any other method.
It is not about voting, it’s about organizing; whether you think Franciscan Monks are vowed poverty seekers, or hold the truth and are in fact have more Security and Wealth because God and Christ have said so and are the final word. Easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than a rich man to enter the gates of heaven.
I invite people to seek me out, if you are dissatisfied with the current process. Why?? Because I am firstly not a Politician, or support the lies of Democrazy, Communism, Dictatorships, Fascism, Racism, Militarists’, or terrorism.
Trump may call his election a movement, but mine is a Crusade, for the world, not the United States. Jesus sits at the right hand of God, and I sit and bow at his feet, in doing his Providence. My creation is The GEM: God’s Electricity Machine, supporting Gods/ University. My Crusade is not a Church, and is not a Religion, and is not a Government. It is a light, a purpose, a benevolence, a quest for eternal life, a Charity, of Love for mankind, that unites us to him. Jesus The Lord.
Follow me brethren, I will bring you to the Father, the Master: the Saviour, the beloved in Jesus Christ.
Dominic Jermano
djermano@yahoo.com
After months of complicated theories and impossible entanglements of improbable events leading to Trump’s victory, it is so refreshing to read the simplicity of it all. My experience with people and their decision making has been that a choice resolves the tension in an almost magical way. The relief of entering into a state of decision is so pleasurable that we dare not deny it.
And why not? We work so hard to build a reliable way of processing input from the world, why make being “right” anything more complicated than a sudden cessation of conflicting thoughts. For me, Trump, rat that he is, allowed me to dislike him to the point of voting for Hillary, for which I now feel was not a choice at all but a tawdry compromise. Such a long and horrible election and yet I feel barely soiled, incomplete, a minor player in a small smash-up.
Thanks Ugo!