The Rust Belt & the Promises Made (Satis Shroff)

THE PROMISES MADE & THE RUST BELT (Satis Shroff)

The rust belt to the north of the USA was Hillary Clinton's Waterloo,eh? 

- US soldiers will be fighting abroad only for dollars. No money, no military engagement.

- Bbut what about the Nato?

- The Nato should grow up without its Big Brother and learn to stand on its own two feet. The USA doen't want to fight for the smaller nations. President Trump wants to withdraw a number of existing free trade agreements, including the North American Free Trade Agreement between the US, Canada and Mexico.
-Why?
- This causes job losses in the USA.
- The President wants to withdraw his country from the World Trade Organization. Can you fancy that?
- What about China?
- The President is favour of taxing imports, and wants to impose tariffs of 45% on China and 35% on goods shipped from Mexico.
- But why?

- This is to prevent companies moving jobs south of the border.
- Is Ukraine small?
- Does Afghanistan fall under the same category?
- What about the promises made during the elections?
- The White House is complicated. It's not a business. President Trump will have to deliver what he promised. If he doesn't the same people who voted for him might get mad at him. He also has four years to go. He learns fast. Moreover, he has his squad of advisers in the White House, who all have gone to university so all he has to do is a bit of brain storming with his crew.
- God save America.
- Four years later we have another candidate.
- Who?

- Michelle Obama, of course. She's a terrific speaker and can run a presidential house.
- So it was the country people who love freedom, guns and dislike Muslims who finally won,eh?
- I'm scared of the promises he made.
- What's going to be different with President Trump?
- A lot but I just can't believe that only 18% of Americans went to the polls.
- The rest were busy watching TV, dude.
- Didn't President Trump say US citizens should buy US products?
- That's what the Nazis did. They put up signs: Don't buy from Jewish shops.
- The Germans in Stuttgart and Munich are getting edgy. They're sared that the Americans won't buy those sleek, German cars.

-German managers are worried: will the logistics path be open or closed?
- They're shouting: 'That's protectionism!'

- Europe is undergoing a crisis: first it was Greece, then came the refugees crisis, followed by former East Bloc nations not wanting to take any refugees. This alone shows how disunited the Europeans are. The refugees were a signal for the rightists in Europe to start a political campaign of hatred and fear against refugees and asylum seekers, and a movement not only in Germany but also in others parts of Europe. The fact that the Americans have voted for Trump gives the Neo-nazis and other rightist parties the incentive to do the same in Europe, by using populist arguments of racism, hatred and fear. This line of thinking seems to be catching on everywhere. It is a signal for republicans and Europeans to vote the rightist parties because a lot of people are dissatisfied with the conservative and leftist parties.

- Alone in 2016 more than 1800 attacks were made on refugees and asylum seekers in Germany. The asylum-debate has been instrumentalised by the rightists. Besides the 1803 criminal acts against the refugees, another 813 criminal acts have been carried out by the rightists against asylum and refugee homes where the people live.

- A policy of isolation and protectionism can't help the country-living, gun-toting whites who have given their precious vote to President Trump. Alone in Baden-Württemberg there are 35,000 American citizens and most couldn't believe that Trump made it in the elections.

- So what's the reality after the elections?

- President Trump solemnly said that the election was over, and now it was time to work together and that he's for all Americans. It is the American reality and now we can only hope that things work out well both within the vast USA and in the external politics with other nations.

-However, Berlin is sceptical about President Trump's political intentions.
- 'US politics has become unpredictable,' says Mr. Steinmeier, who has good chances of becoming the new German President, since President Gauck will be leaving soon.

- The entire German nation is looking at the new man in the White House for answers.
- Let's make America great again, was the slogan, wasn't it?