First published in the www.suffolkfreepress.co.uk & www.dissexpress.co.uk Thursday, October15, 2020.
Trump is trampling on people’s freedom
In last week’s letters, Steve Britt accused Quentin Cornish of playing the man not the ball in his criticism of Donald Trump.
The problem is that the man and the ball are one and the same in American politics at the moment.
The problem is that the man and the ball are one and the same in American politics at the moment.
The medium really is the message. Trump puts himself before anything, even his own administration, and so trying to separate policies and the man is virtually impossible.
In fact, the Republican convention has resolved ‘that the 2020 Republican National Convention will adjourn without adopting a new platform until the 2024 Republican National Convention’, which suggests they have no new ideas for the next four years.
They will continue, however, to ‘enthusiastically support the President’s America-first agenda’. So, it is the President’s agenda – not the administration’s.
They will continue, however, to ‘enthusiastically support the President’s America-first agenda’. So, it is the President’s agenda – not the administration’s.
In all fairness, let us take a brief look at what Trump has achieved. He has, indeed, cut taxes, which means that essential infrastructure, health care and welfare benefits for the poorest have been slashed.
Libertarians like Mr Britt may well cheer, but let us remember that their ‘freedom’ means real poverty for many and a decline in those public services that the unemployed and low paid rely on.
Freedom for some at the expense of misery for many. Trump has also cut back on many regulations regarding employment and the environment, making life much more difficult for many working people and allowing big corporations to trash the environment in many parts of America.
Freedom for big business, misery for those who find forests being felled and new mines opening up next door to their homes.
Under Trump, the coal industry – a major contributor to the climate crisis – has been revived and new oil pipelines, such as the Dakota Access Pipeline, are being constructed with all the risks and environmental damage that will be involved. Making America great at the expense of the rest of the world.
Under Trump, the coal industry – a major contributor to the climate crisis – has been revived and new oil pipelines, such as the Dakota Access Pipeline, are being constructed with all the risks and environmental damage that will be involved. Making America great at the expense of the rest of the world.
I could go on. Under Trump, America has swung dangerously to the right, with increasing threats to civil liberties, including the right to protest and LGBT and women’s rights.
He is now threatening to challenge the very democratic process which brought him to power.
As a ‘freedom’ lover, Mr Britt should be appalled at what Trump is doing and threatens to do to many people’s freedoms in the USA.
Unfortunately, libertarians seem to be more concerned with their own liberties, rather than those of their fellow humans.
True freedom is to be found in a caring society that cares for all its people by ensuring that the most disadvantaged are looked after and all have equality of opportunity.
That is not Trump’s America and I have to say that I am increasingly worried it that may no longer be Johnson’s United Kingdom.
I am all for individual liberty but not when it infringes on the rights and wellbeing of others, especially those less fortunate.
Richard Stainer
Bradfield St George
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