I know Stu but thumbs from you are hard earned, so I'll take mine when I can get them.
President Donald Trump
- Thread starter Eventhorizon
- Start date
Trump has a lot of experience in dealing with bankruptcy, debt, and tricky labor situations, all the while keeping his head well above water. He is adept at developing a good brand name, and attracting investors. I think his skill set is highly suited to the situation the US finds itself in at present.
The biggest challenge for him will be effectively engaging his entrepreneurial skills within a system that has operated almost exclusively on the intersecting planes of politics/popularity and ideology. He'll be a pragmatist trying to work within a bureaucracy.
The biggest challenge for him will be effectively engaging his entrepreneurial skills within a system that has operated almost exclusively on the intersecting planes of politics/popularity and ideology. He'll be a pragmatist trying to work within a bureaucracy.
I understand, but that seems a bit pigheaded. I mean in this case, Trump is literally only nominally a Republican. He was a card-carrying Democrat previously and good pals with the Clintons. I would categorize him as either a Reagan Democrat or an independent who hopped onto the Republican ticket because he could. The latter is why of course the establishment Republicans all hate him. I can understand not voting for him, but it seems like the two-party system is pretty dead and candidates are just picking a team, so speak, where there is availability. Based on that, I am personally no longer really concerned with who calls themselves a Democrat or Republican.
At the risk of further derailing this thread, the two party system is far from dead. It will be the frame of american politics for as long as the US economy is in the top three of the world and the US military remains the dominant world force.
The difference between the two parties is one of social justice and economic egalitarianism vs the supremacy of the individual and economic elitism. The majority of people fall somewhere in the middle. For me, every time the GOP is in power the country moves backward. I know that most people look at character when electing a president. Character is important, but policy is just as important, perhaps more so as we really can't judge Trump or Clinton's character by what gets reported in the cacophonous press
The difference between the two parties is one of social justice and economic egalitarianism vs the supremacy of the individual and economic elitism. The majority of people fall somewhere in the middle. For me, every time the GOP is in power the country moves backward. I know that most people look at character when electing a president. Character is important, but policy is just as important, perhaps more so as we really can't judge Trump or Clinton's character by what gets reported in the cacophonous press
I may be mis-quoting, words to chew...was it Margaret Thatcher who said..."If you stand in the middle of the road long enough you'll be run over by both sides."
Trump has been not been a successful businessman, Consider this:
Trump’s net worth has grown about 300% to an estimated $4 billion since 1987, according to a report by the Associated Press. But the real estate mogul would have made even more money if he had just invested in index funds. The AP says that, if Trump had invested in an index fund in 1988, his net worth would be as much as $13 billion.
http://fortune.com/2015/08/20/donald-trump-index-funds/
In other words if he had done nothing but invest his inheritance in index funds he would worth a lot more than he is now. These numbers represent the litany of failures that Trump has done over the years. Trump is not really an entrepreneur, he is a dilettante playing with his inheritance money. He is no Warren Buffet or Bill Gates.
So what "skill set" are we talking about here? Show biz skills? The ability to project an image that bears no resemblance to reality? The problem with that is that people see through it eventually, and then they realize this emperor truly has no clothes.
I wish I were as unsuccessful as he is.
Dont beat up on yourself @PintoBean. It's all relative isn't it? Trump is no "self made man" and if you started out with the kind of money he inherited, you would be as rich and likely richer as he is right now.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...his-empire-with-a-small-loan-from-his-father/
Only teeny-tiny misers measure success in dollars. He could have had more money, but instead he has done what he wants. You cannot roll up to JC Penny and pay for influence, social cache, nor for non-consumeristic satisfaction/achievement. Bill Gates' success is not his wealth, but it is Microsoft, and a slew of things/people he has radically influenced. If Bill Gates had never been born, our world (not just our society) would probably be unrecognizable to us. That's success.
Try to ratchet up your attention-span; do you want a president who does nothing and hoards money, or one who stimulates activity, and brand (national) prestige/influence? Read the OP again a couple of times.
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That is the first picture of Michelle Obama I have seen where she actually looks somewhat attractive. I wonder if its because shes smiling?I probably did overstate things by saying that the two party system is dead. However, unusual interest in independents as well as the fact that Trump basically doesn't really fit either a DNC or GOP agenda, is indicative of the fact that the two party system is probably changing.
Oh I see @Flavus Aquila so a businessman should not be judged on the wealth he generates? Well on the metrics of business success this is the primary measurement. Numbers do not lie.
Let's entertain your other argument. What pray tell has Trump invented or what has he radically influenced that would put in the company of someone like Bill Gates? Better yet let's compare the actions of the Trump Foundation to the actions of Gates Foundation. There is no comparison! The Clinton Foundation has also done much more good in the world than Trump ever thought of doing. So again I ask you: what has this man accomplished? To me his sole accomplishment is building a brand name based on some sort tacky aesthetic of what some people think wealth should be.
Let's entertain your other argument. What pray tell has Trump invented or what has he radically influenced that would put in the company of someone like Bill Gates? Better yet let's compare the actions of the Trump Foundation to the actions of Gates Foundation. There is no comparison! The Clinton Foundation has also done much more good in the world than Trump ever thought of doing. So again I ask you: what has this man accomplished? To me his sole accomplishment is building a brand name based on some sort tacky aesthetic of what some people think wealth should be.
Bill Gates had a quasi monopoly. Clinton has SJW virtue signalling cache. Trump has brand-power: people who want to be treated as important (VIP), people who want some acknowledgement that they matter, can be pretty sure to find this in any establishment branded Trump. (No expenses spared, but without the camp opulence of some other brands). In every enterprise Trump has always been severely exacting in his expectations for service delivery to the end user, even at the expense of profitability.
Regular citizens will be on the way up with him, whereas the bureaucracy may be steam-rolled and bullied to get it.
@Flavus Aquila tell this to the students who enrolled at Trump U. I wonder how exacting his expectations were for that little venture? How much to they think they matter?
The_Mysterious_Stranger
Community Member
Curious what you all think about Sam Harris, an INFJ, argument about why Trump is a dangerous candidate.
What...we really need someone to tell us why Trump is dangerous. Thats like someone telling us how to think.