A River in Africa

 

Someone on a social group email list to which I belong asked yesterday if anyone liked Trump.

I volunteered that, were I an American, I’d probably be prepared to crawl over the proverbial broken glass to vote for him now.

He responded,

“I can understand that some might prefer Trump over Biden, but not to such an extent. Is there a particular issue where you think it so important that Trump wins over Biden? How do you envision that life in America would be so much worse under Biden?

Just asking.”

I responded to the invitation with a list of points.

Might as well reprint them here:

There are several issues.

To begin with, the mobs in the streets. The Dems have been calling to defund the police, and Biden will not denounce Antifa, let alone Black Lives Matter. People are losing livelihoods and lives, and this is liable to devolve into civil war if it continues. We must restore order, not encourage the mobs.

Next, the growing climate of censorship and blacklisting. This is coming from the left; the political right is being shut down. For the sake of democracy, this must be resisted in any way possible; so there is a moral obligation to vote for the right.

Next, the fact that a cabal of media, big tech-social media companies, and elements within the civil service have been prepared to ignore all the rules, and even risk their own reputation, business, or career in order to defeat Trump, is alarming. It looks again as though there really is a swamp, that they are in process of seizing complete control of government, and supporting Trump is the only way to stop them.

Next, Trump has promised to give all American families school choice. This could at a stroke dramatically improve race relations and reduce poverty for future generations, and reverse what seems a general civilizational decline. And Trump has a track record of keeping his promises.

Next, Biden seems senile. It seems wildly irresponsible to vote someone suffering from dementia into the presidency.

Next, it was clear even before the recent revelations from his son’s laptop that Biden has long been in the business of selling his office. It is bad enough that he had been selling out to the banks and insurance companies, but it is alarming that he has been selling out to foreign interests and perhaps foreign powers. America is currently in a dangerous struggle for dominance with China. They dare not have someone compromised at the helm.

Next, until COVID appeared, either an Act of God or of the CCP, Trump was presiding over the best US economy in memory. I suspect this had something to do with his push for deregulation and his renegotiation of trade deals. There is reason to suspect the economy would not do so well under a different regime.

Next, Trump’s approach in foreign policy has been effective: no new wars, ISIS erased from the map, now Arab-Israeli peace deals. There is every reason, on past performance, to expect that much of this momentum toward peace would be lost under Biden.

And my interlocutor responded with one line: “What a complete crock of s***.” 

No counter to any of the arguments. All he can do is swear in response.

Isn’t this what we have seen more generally? Those opposed to Trump, the left generally, do not engage, but just shout. They do not want to hear facts or reasons.

The problem is the problem of denial. They are spiritually ill. They are in headlong flight from truth.