Donald Trump is our “Brexit”:

What you should know

I have a ritual. Each morning, I drink coffee while watching CNN, reading my email and cuddling with my red-nosed Pit Bull, Maynard. One morning, I discovered a TED talk by Alexander Betts that I think explains well the issues surrounding the U.K.’s “Brexit” issue. I started watching it simply because I wanted to learn more about why it is the UK decided to effectively opt out of “globalization.” After watching Mr. Betts’ TED talk, I was surprised to learn that the reasons for the UK vote are the result of extreme polarization, xenophobia, and racism that exists within the UK. It struck me immediately how similar the description of the UK’s political and cultural environment was with what is happening in the U.S. right now.

When the UK’s “Brexit” vote took place, I learned about it largely through mainstream TV news reporting where the similarities between U.S. and UK politics were covered very lightly. Perhaps there were other journalistic pieces providing more in-depth coverage on this topic, but honestly I did not find it at the time that voters in the UK were voting on “Brexit.” Because the US news coverage was so lacking in terms of content depth, I remained largely ignorant about “Brexit” and why I should care. (Maybe we should just call the mainstream U.S. TV news outlets what they have become — the propaganda machines of the right vs. left politics. Fox, or “Republican News Network (RNN)” as I like to call it, caters to the Republican agenda and CNN to the Democratic side. As a side note, this also explains why I watch CNN 99.9% of the time. In my opinion, there is no objective journalism going on in the mainstream U.S. TV news outlets today. But, I digress….)

As a Democrat leaning toward liberal, I tend to agree with the concept of “Inclusive Globalization” as described by Kofi Annan (former UN Secretary General) in his 2002 speech to Yale University. You can read about his speech here: http://www.un.org/press/en/2002/SGSM8412.doc.htm

It seems like the most isolationist, xenophobic and racist parts of U.S. culture are increasing daily. Previous to this year’s Presidential election, I foolishly believed that racists were a small minority within the “lunatic fringe” of our population. I could not have been more wrong. For someone like me, a child of the turmoil-filled 60’s, where racial rioting occurred often, the Vietnam War was being protested across college campuses, and a nuclear war with Russia loomed large as a distinct possibility. I can remember those nuclear war drills at school where I would be instructed to “hide” under my desk from the incoming “nukes.” As a child, I remember thinking to myself that there might not be a world left for me to grow up in. This was pretty scary stuff for an elementary school kid to think about! So when I began seeing similar events occurring in 2016 with racial protesting, rioting, terrorism, and North Korea launching missiles to test their developing nuclear bomb capability, I became quite concerned. I wanted to blame Donald Trump for the political divide in the U.S. because I despise what he represents — racism, xenophobia, bigotry, and extreme greed.

After watching the TED Talk by Alexander Betts on “Brexit” and reading Kofi’s speech, I have a better understanding of what is happening within the U.S. and why such polarization exists. I learned that Donald Trump is actually NOT the root cause of our extreme political and racial divide. If only it was that simple! Trump is just the easiest target in which Democrats like to place blame. He scares us because of what he says, what he represents and the growing number of his fanatic supporters. I wanted to deny that part of our society even existed because for me, a child of the racially divided and politically charged 1960’s, it’s just too scary to think otherwise. That was a mistake. Denying it exists will not make it go away. As with most things in life, I believe that education is the key to understanding. In my case, Alexander Betts’ TED talk and Kofi Annan’s speech really broke it down for me.

After I read Kofi Annan’s 2002 speech on Globalization, it struck me how much it reads like a Nostradamus prediction in hindsight. For example, Mr. Annan stated that unless nations carefully consider the “social as well as economic consequences of globalization” that there will be political backlash.

“I and others have urged greater consideration for the potential political backlash if the social –- as well as the economic -– consequences of globalization are left unattended.”

Reading that one line caused me to have an “aha moment.” I learned WHY it is that there’s such a large part of the U.S. population that actively fears immigration — -the very basis under which the U.S. was founded. It explains why my brother’s son believes that something as simple as a wall on the Mexican border is the answer to all his fiscal problems, and why he plans to vote for a xenophobe racist such as Donald Trump. He believes that the U.S. hands out green cards with cash attached like candy and that those immigrants then take jobs away from everyday Americans. He’s not saying this because it’s factual. He’s saying it because that is his reality having been undercut by Mexican immigrants who will work more cheaply than he. It doesn’t matter how that Mexican immigrant got here nor why. My nephew is simply trying to provide food and shelter his family, and not necessarily to spread hate in the world. While we disagree on immigration issues, I can not deny my nephew’s perception of reality. The xenophobia and bigotry in which Donald Trump’s campaign attaches itself occurs because U.S. politicians are not addressing the needs of a large segment of our population who is hurting. Combine that hurt with a general fear of terrorism and what results is the political backlash we’re watching occur with the rise of Donald Trump as the Republican Party Presidential nominee. How ironic is it that a rich man is somehow now viewed as the savior of an economically struggling part of the U.S. population?

So how do we fix this? There’s no easy answer. Alexander Betts and Kofi Annan both agree that the economic benefits of globalization have to include benefits to the host population or it is doomed to political polarization. We must become more tolerant of one another as global citizens, ensure that economic benefits of immigration are shared more fairly, educate one another on our views, and make sure we elect politicians who will be more accountable to a philosophy of “global citizenry” as opposed to acting like islands unto themselves. THAT is a very tall order!

Want to learn more? Check out these links:

https://www.ted.com/…/alexander_betts_why_brexit_happened_a… http://www.un.org/press/en/2002/SGSM8412.doc.htm