John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY LIZZY BUCHAN IN THE INDEPENDENT
“Brexit: Boris Johnson orders Trump trade talks to begin the day after UK leaves the EU”
This is where Britain is going to pay a serious price, negotiating a trade agreement with Trump.
It doesn't matter whether Boris Johnson gets along well with Trump or not.
Trump craps on friend and foe alike. On his work associates and even on his spouse.
Trump is completely about Trump, and every trade issue everywhere is about Trump being seen to have come out on top.
He is the most complete narcissist I can recall. He also has a large streak of really ugly ideology.
And his beliefs and practices are not fully rational, as he has demonstrated a number of times, as in just suddenly ripping up the Iran nuclear agreement or the INF Treaty or in assassinating another country’s national hero.
He has no respect for rule of law, and literally shows contempt for international order – i.e., the WTO, the ICC, the ICJ, the UN, UNESCO, OPCW, etc.
And please note, Britain leaves the EU and seeks closer connection with the US right at a time of its increasing general aggressiveness and efforts to dominate.
That includes Republicans and Democrats alike, Trump only being the loudest and ugliest of them. They all recognize and fear America’s relative decline over decades. America is simply not competitive at many things and has been overtaken by rising countries who are competitive. It was also spoiled by so many easy, golden years in the postwar period. It has a serious attitude problem.
So, we have its new Pentagon slogan about “full-spectrum dominance,” which is just a charming thing to go around muttering. America simply is going to attempt muscling its way into getting what it wants from others. It really believes it can fight and bully its way to restoring the “American Dream,” which is, of course, complete nonsense.
In the attempt, America is going to increase instability, insecurity, and uncertainty in the world. Combined with the country’s lack of respect for rule of law, it promises to make for dangerous times ahead.
It is a bad time to be leaving a huge organization like the EU and attaching your hopes to America. America is simply not what it once was, in both its competitiveness and its ethics.
The EU has failed in a number of ways, but it has in great part been very successful, as in delivering increased prosperity, and countries still queue up to join. It has more potential still, and it is not in the business of starting wars and trying to tell everyone else what to do.
Those last two activities have become almost a full-time occupation for America.
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Response to a comment saying, “The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention reports an average of 420 deaths a year in the US from salmonella. Figures from the UK show no deaths in recent years. Question for Brexiters. Are you happy to introduce US food-borne illness rates to the UK?”
Good point.
And there are a lot of other comparable ones.
America is a society with a deep gut dislike of regulation.
And, look out, National Health Service!
