THURSDAY, 19 NOVEMBER 2020
Not exactly an advanced political analysis, and I don’t think it would qualify me as a “Deep State Alt-right conspiracy nut”, but here is a thought nonetheless:
Concentric circles, with figures in the middle who may or may not be familiar to the public. These include political leaders who have reached the pinnacle of official power: Bill and Hillary Clinton, Barack and Michelle Obama, the Bush family.
Amongst the people in the following circle are those who walk the corridors of the White House on a daily basis: National Security Advisers, some cabinet members, Chiefs of Staff, heads of intelligence services, and so on.
Professional bureaucrats and agents from the FBI, CIA, and other agencies and organisations fill up the third circle.
Then you get super wealthy and influential figures from the world of money and big business.
The circle thereafter sees presidents of top universities, and other respected and influential academics.
And then, after maybe one or two more circles, the spaces that are populated by the general public begin: dentists and teachers, plumbers and small business owners, truck drivers and cooks.
The ruling elite gets the necessary support from the first few circles – the people who usually know what’s really going on, and who decide which direction economic policy, and foreign policy, and so on, will develop.
The ruling elite also has considerable support among the figures of the world of money and big business, and among the most influential academic leaders.
And then comes the support of millions of “ordinary” people – who usually give a Clinton or an Obama or a Bush the feeling that they can legitimately claim to be leaders of the nation.
However, US presidents are not necessarily part of the inner circle of power. Trump is the best example of this. That he became president in 2016 was pure accident, because the inner circles were so stupid as to believe polls and predictions. Because the pressure was great in the first hours after the election results had come out in November 2016, Hillary conceded. But she probably did it because the inner circle – the people who really hold the reins of power in Washington DC – promised her that they had Plans B and C and perhaps even D. Trump won’t rule for long, they probably comforted her, and if he is not ousted within months, he will be severely hampered. And if he manages to survive repeated attacks and conspiracies against him for four years, he will certainly not get a second term in the White House.
FRIDAY 20 NOVEMBER 2020
Twenty-twenty brought lockdowns; closed schools with pupils who had to attend classes at home; businesses that were forced to close by the thousands and which may never open again; national borders closed to most international tourists, with the expected negative consequences for local economies; people who are forced to wear masks, who are even advised to pull the masks over their mouths between bites of food.
Data that is accepted across the spectrum as accurate indicate that more than 99% of people who get COVID-19 survive the disease. Compared to that, the death rate with SARS in 2003 was 9.5%.
There are people who argue that the reaction to COVID-19 has been totally and utterly exaggerated.
My question is, what happens when the next pandemic hit? Are people just going to be obedient again and submit to every decree their governments issue? What percentage of parents who cannot make alternative arrangements for their children who should be in school, of small business owners, of ordinary people who, unlike politicians, won’t continue to draw a salary when they don’t work, will refuse to follow guidelines from governments and international organisations with dubious loyalties?
SATURDAY, 21 NOVEMBER 2020
I saw a video on Twitter last night that simply took the cake. It honestly filled me with hope.
Imagine, somewhere in a parallel universe, there is also a Joe Biden and a Donald Trump. But these two old geezers are not political opponents involved in a bitter struggle for political power. “Joe Biden” sits on a park bench and beats a drum, and “Donald Trump”, in a business suit with a red tie, stands next to his partner and dances while occasionally uttering sounds that might be construed to be a song. This while people in the background enjoy the cooler air of the early evening with a walk along the promenade.
And naturally the picture wouldn’t be complete without the white cat in the foreground jiving along with his nose against the camera.
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