I wanted to vote for Trump, but I couldn’t
There was a part of me that wanted to vote for Mr. Donald Trump.
Our country is not doing well. Our interaction (trade) with the world may have played a significant role in that. Trump’s message of hope resonated with the despair of some in our country. “We‘ll bring back manufacturing jobs!”
As a nation, we have gotten “the short end” of trade deals. “We get lower prices!” But do we have the income to afford it? Is it even the products we should be or want to be consuming?
“Why don’t nations pay us for the protection that our military provides?” We spend over 15% of our budget on our military. How come our military spending is a third of the entire world’s military spending? “If we’re protecting the world, they should pay for it!”
On the surface, these were valid arguments for me. It spoke to the part of me that wanted to solve poverty here in the US right now. It was a…quick fix. It could solve our short-term problems. But the thing is: difficult problems rarely have easy solutions. Complicated problems require comprehensive solutions.
Donald Trump is dangling some candy in front of us, the public, when what we actually need is some whole food. Candy gives you the sugar rush you crave right now (short-term), but fruits & vegetables keep you alive (long-term).
Donald Trump’s platform may be something I personally desire and grapple with — we have real problems to deal, including global trade & our military — but really, I can’t bring myself to vote for him because of what his temperament and character show me.
Donald J. Trump is the kind of guy that looks out for #1: himself.
It’s not even about the nuclear codes (even though it kind of is). Donald J. Trump is the kind of guy that looks out for #1: himself. He lives off of “candy”, the easy way out. He cares about what he can get out of it and not about building a relationship for the long haul.
Why did he violate the privacy of women? He cared about his desire, and not hers. Why does he blame immigrants? Cause it’s easier to blame “the other”, than to look at the real root of the problem (our economy). Why didn’t he pay his contractors as agreed? He didn’t care about his relationship with that contractor or the people under that contractor’s care. He cared about his bottom line, about how much money he could save. He is a deal-maker…for himself.
The Prisoner’s Dilemma
Basically, the Prisoner’s Dilemma has 3 different outcomes:
- Cooperate and both serve lesser sentences.
- Both don’t cooperate and both serve moderate sentences.
- Only one cooperates & serves no consequences, while the other serves a severe sentence.
Game theory states #2 as the most likely scenario. However, in the world, in business and in politics (ideally), people generally strive for #1, to cooperate and create a win-win situation. Trump strives for #3. He promises to cooperate, but already has it in his mind to not cooperate.
He doesn’t operate like this in all situations, but when in a position of power during a negotiation, this is his go-to move. And in the world, the US is in that position of power. This is what makes Trump dangerous for the world.
So yay, we’re the power players of the world! But wait, we have 13.8% (2015) of our citizens in poverty? Two-thirds of our citizens have less than $3,000 in savings? Trump’s solution is to close off and take care of ourselves, make ourselves prosperous — the quick fix — but at what cost does it come? Bill Gates, on the other hand, talks about how globalization has caused global inequality to fall faster than ever.
Right now, in the world’s version of the Prisoner’s Dilemma, our world has chosen #1. Trump’s foreign policy will be to choose #3 whenever he can. His foreign policy is a direct reflection of himself. We should get what we want, what is rightfully ours.
What does NATO & the globalization of trade have in common? They’ve helped to create a formal & informal alliance for a more peaceful world. Trump would destroy that.
Trump is selfish and he would become selfish for America as well. He would exacerbate in the world, the real problem in our world economy: not so much income inequality, but wealth inequality.
“The triumph of globalization and market capitalism has improved living standards for billions while concentrating billions among the few.” — Richard Freeman [cite]
(Wait, so what’s the difference between income & wealth? Think about income as the money you make currently & wealth as the money you’ve saved over time; your “salary” versus “net worth”.)
Government about caring for the lowest common denominator?
“[G]overnment will never run the way Silicon Valley runs because, by definition, democracy is messy. This is a big, diverse country with a lot of interests and a lot of disparate points of view. And part of government’s job…is dealing with problems that nobody else wants to deal with.” — Barack Obama [cite]
What we need to ask ourselves is: what do we value as a country? The value that I hold and the one that I thought America held was to serve the lowest common denominator. In the military, it’s “no man left behind.” In the Bible, it talks about caring for the widows and the orphans. In our government, should it be “dealing with problems that nobody else wants to deal with”?
Our President has a lot of power (Freakonomics podcast episode “Has the U.S. Presidency Become a Dictatorship”). But “the people” (the majority) haven’t really ever had a voice in politics. For a few issues here and there, when the people get riled up, their voice gets heard. But by and large, the voices of the wealthy & special interests are heard over “the people”.
This is a real problem, with a conceptually easy solution: we need to care about politics, to be an informed and engaged citizen. This is what Polinav is trying to solve.
In lieu of “the people” making their voice heard, we get someone like Trump. Someone who will serve his base passionately, no matter how small a percentage his core base may be. So, Trump & Clinton are two very different value statements for me. Trump will bull-doze the political process and take care of “his people”. Clinton will navigate our perilous political system in an attempt to serve “the people”.
It’s interesting that this may have been an election that I voted Republican. Our national debt scares me. We spend more than 10% of our budget on interest?! But I can’t vote for someone who only looks out for himself, who would completely wrangle the political process for his purposes with no regard for the intended or unintended consequences. This is why I did not vote for Trump.
To end with a tidy bow, Exhibit A: An exploration of Trump’s temperament.
