Trump is the earthquake, shaking up the foundation of our country.

[The_Doctor]

They're aware that a crisis may come their way, they're remarkably aware that the country is horribly angry at the elites. What they're not really connecting the dots is that they are now part of the problem, not the solution, and how they are so amazingly lacking in self-awareness is beyond me.

They're like asking to be introduced topolitical reality, everyday, on multiple levels because they don't have any real understanding of history, economics, politics, or institutional needs and the list goes on and on.

[The_Doctor]

Donlald Trump isn't the earthquake. He's the hapless metereologist who sees the gathering Cat 5 storm and tells us to run directly into the eye of the storm and hope we survive (or if you prefer, he aimlessly wanders around). He can see the storm, but Donald Trump doesn't know how to handle a storm.

He is a symptom of what is to come, the destruction, the economic upheaval, and the populist revolt that will make 2016 look like a walk in the park. Republicans ignored Trump and ignore the populist storm as they coopt him.

He is a hapless fool who clings to the one nugget of electoral knowledge he honed to win the election. He has no idea how to fix the storm. Or even how to pilot the plane through it.

Does anyone believe that a wall or immigration restriction will genuinely ward off the economic storm? Or that the continuation of the policies we have had that leave out 50% of the country who are working class will continue to work? (I hate saying that, though).

Low taxes, free trade, and limited government are good ideas ... but they must not hold us hostage to the very real issues we face, such as educating our young, preparing them for the new economy, and protecting the economy from the marketplace's worst excesses. And truthfully, we may need to go more left than I'd be happy with.

[The_Doctor]

Anyone who has seen the policies in this country, the economic statistics, and the forces of globalization and neoliberal thought throughout the United States since 2000, and the world cannot possibly avoid the inescapable conclusion we are about to face some very strong upheavals in society and we are facing a fundamental redefinition of the social contract, what it means to work, and the relationship between hard work and wages, along with the social relationship we have with one another.

Fact number one - China, India, the United States, Europe, and Japan have all seen working class populations, that for different reasons face stagnation and economic mobility issues. Fact number two - these people are justifiably angry at this lack of mobility and frustrated that globalization threatens their economic strength. Fact Number Three - growth since 2008 has been anemic and nowhere near the kind of pace needed to sustain our living standards. Fact Number Four - people have started being populists in responses. Look at the 2002 French result and look at the 2017 likely runoff result. 18% voted for FN, now it's likely to be 40%, a doubling. That's not accidental.

Ad the last most crucial fact is that our economies, as a global economy, are not as strong as we like to believe. The top line numbers may be OK, but the underlying fundamentals are still weak. Wage growth in the United States is anemic, and recovery  from the Great Recession wasn't exactly that great. I can't speak to Britain, China, or wherever (though I am researching that).

2008 was a foretaste of what would happen. We basically papered it over and hoped for the best. It was not exactly a ringing support of the policies that have been in place since 1945. Really, that was just inviting the beast to come into the house.