In this month’s election, Donald Trump has been elected to a second term and I like many of my fellow citizens see him as a clear and present threat to both our country and to the world abroad. One reason we know that he is a threat is because he clearly stated in his own words that if elected, he would like to be a dictator. Though he said, just for one day upon taking office, this should be of great concern and for whatever reason this was somehow overlooked by voters in the election. Like many dictators, including fascist ones, Donald Trump uses bullying tactics and makes threats upon other to get his way. Making threats, in my view, further testifies as to why he is indeed a threat.
One of his keyways of making threats is through tariffs. We saw this in his first term and now in his second term, he is ramping up proposals for the use of tariffs to a much greater extent. Not only is he targeting China along with our neighboring countries, Mexico and Canada but Trump now proposes a universal tariff that will apply to all countries we import goods from.
Looking at presidents over the last several decades, I have never seen a president with such an infinity for tariffs. As a devout Christian, I find a comment Trump made while being interviewed on the Joe Rogan show just a few weeks before the election rather disconcerting. According to his statement, tariffs is the best word in the dictionary, even greater than the word love. To me this is interesting considering the words from 1 Corinthians 13:13 which of course are found in the Bible including the copy Trump sold for $60 a piece earlier in the year that state the following: “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
I also see his proposal for the use of tariffs as a sign of his in compassion. In our country we struggle with a significant drug epidemic despite our ongoing War on Drugs that we have been engaging in for over 50 years. His answer is to threaten Mexico with a 25% tariff until drugs cease coming over our border though this will harm both of our countries economically. Not only that, despite this being a failure during the Reagan administration, Trump also plans to use the military to go after drug cartels only to a much greater extent. In fact, on his campaign website, there was a five-minute-long clip in which he described this plan in full detail while clearly ignoring the unintended consequences of such a measure. If Trump were truly sensitive to our drug epidemic, he would see this as health problem and recognize that the millions of Americans who struggle with this addiction need effective care and treatment. Not only that, perhaps he, like many others, could see the need to improve our criminal justice system which even one of his closest allies Tulsi Gabbard recognizes. This way, we would have less people placed in jail for non-violent drug offenses including possession that would lessen the impact that incarceration has on addicts who find no remedy for their struggle while in prison. Proper justice reform would also benefit the families of non-violent drug offenders who are adversely impacted through the separation that comes through incarceration.
Sadly, he like others who support his tariff measures have forgotten our history from the Great Depression era. In 1930 under President Herbert Hoover, despite warnings from over 1,000 economists, the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 was put into place which Trump’s policies will effectively reintroduce. This failed protectionist measure brought forth a decrease in foreign trade by approximately 65% in the years shortly after and as a further consequence, countries throughout the world responded with retaliatory tariffs towards us leading to significant strain in the world economy while worsening our own economic depression. Not only do tariff measures place barriers to trade between countries but they also serve as barriers to peace between nations which explain why the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act created international instability that contributed to World War II.
While Trump’s trade tactics clearly exemplify his bullying nature, his own words that fascist dictators turn to are also highly disconcerting. Before crowds in efforts to stoke reaction, he has told his audiences things such as, “I alone can fix it” and “I am your voice.” His words are also threatening as he has made clear that in his second term, he plans to seek revenge on his political enemies and proudly said before crowds, “I am your warrior, your justice, and your retribution.” Trump’s words of dehumanization should be of great concern. In our nation’s history we saw slaves dehumanized, same as Blacks last century were leading up to the civil rights movement. Of course, during World War II Jews were dehumanized by the Nazis and we have persistently seen the abortion industry do the same to the unborn. Now, we have Trump increasingly using hateful and dehumanizing rhetoric towards immigrants including his false claims made during his debate with Kamala Harris that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Illinois were eating cats and dogs as a prime example. Shortly after he said this, his own vice president, J.D. Vance, even acknowledged this was a false claim though justified using the claim saying that it was necessary to bring attention to the immigration issue.
Regarding the immigrant population in our country, his plans to “round up” and deport over 10 million of them should of great concern. Speaking of his dehumanizing language towards the immigrants, he has used such while promoting this plan by making claims such as, “they are polluting our culture,” despite the contributions they make to our society in the way of taking on various forms of labor and even by running their own businesses. The civil liberties implications of this plan have the potential to pose dire consequences in respect to how the immigrants would be detained and eventually deported. Also important to consider are the costs necessary to hire the thousands of new federal agents who will eventually be full time on the Federal Government payroll and the cost burden for state and local governments to carry out this plan. While it is a valid concern that there are indeed immigrant gangs who have crossed the border who have caused harm and made neighborhoods unsafe throughout the country, the more sensible approach would be to prosecute and eventually deport those in this criminal element.
Since Donald Trump came on the national scene nine years ago, he has repeatedly promoted this idea of “Making America Great Again.” Now, in his second term, perhaps to cater to those in his Christian Nationalist base, he is promising that he will bring forth a “New Golden Age” as a possible reference to the reign of King David. In America, same as with other countries, we do not need self-promoting leaders who rely on nationalist propaganda campaigns but rather humble servants. For as we are told, once again in the words found in the Trump Bible as with other copies, “The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Matthew 23:11-12)
In His Image 