A Brief Political Interlude

While in Brazil I have had intermittent e-mail access. Given time i have kept abreast of news in the USA including the beginning of the interminable Presidential campaigns. While we are still in the first inning ( a baseball reference. Games normally have nine innings) there have been some developments. The current Republican front runner is a non- politician billionaire named Donald Trump. While in Brazil i have had several people ask me about American politics. Brazilians generally know more about the US than Americans know about Brazil. My take on the Trump phenomenon is simple. A sizeable minority of people like him because they detest the ^chattering class,^^ the professional pundits, writers,and alleged journalists, the vast majority of whom are both leftist and condescending elitists who have little grasp of the reality lived by most Americans. Trump~s refusal to kow-tow to these people, who have held the power in the country since they orchestrated the ouster of President Nixon in the mid 70~s ( over four decadesago) is considered refreshing and satisfying. For once, media types of both the left and the right are united because Trump is exposing their hypocrisy, self-centeredness and hubris. For the moment his positions, past and present, and his future are not relevant. Many Americans are tired of what has been done to this country by the elites of both political parties. They are tired of political correctness, and, of being blamed for everything wrong in the world, past and present. They want to be able to live their lives without ever increasing government interference on all levels, local, state, and particularly federal. They are tired of the endless redistribution of wealth from those who work to those who don~t that only incentivizes dependency. They want to exercise their religions freely. They believe that allowing free market capitalism to work is the best way to lift people out of poverty, and to improve the standard of living for the middle class. They recognize that every additional dollar taken by the government for taxes or fees is a reduction of their personal freedom. They are generous and willing to help those in need but find it increasingly difficult to do so when an ever increasing Proportion of the value of their labor is confiscated by a rapacious political class. Trump speaks to these people.