	Generational Dynamics
	Forecasting America's Destiny ... and the World's

\| HOME \| WEB LOG \| COMMENT \| FORUM \|
\| DOWNLOADS \| FOURTH TURNING ARCHIVE \| ABOUT \|

Generational Dynamics Web Log for 21-Jan-2017
21-Jan-17 World View -- President Trump's inauguration speech links today's America to the 1930s

Web Log - January, 2017

21-Jan-17 World View -- President Trump's inauguration speech links today's America to the 1930s

The Gambia's leader steps down, after his army chief deserts him

by John J. Xenakis

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

President Trump's inauguration speech links today's America to the 1930s
The Gambia's leader steps down, after his army chief deserts him

President Trump's inauguration speech links today's America to the 1930s

Friday's inauguration in Washington

Friday's inauguration in Washington

After the end of World War II, world leaders decided that the root causes of the war were nationalism and xenophobia in the 1930s, as I've been writing about for years, as well as American isolationism.

President Donald J. Trump's inauguration speech combined strong nationalism and isolationism with just a tiny smidgen of xenophobia, much less of the latter than we've heard from him in the past. It seemed to me that he struck the right balance, but even so, his speech was a return to the mood of the 1930s.

His appeal to nationalism and isolationism was at its strongest when he firmly declared that "it's going to be only America first, America first." All of these themes can be identified from the following excerpts:

"We assembled here today are issuing a new decree to be heard in every city, in every foreign capital, and in every hall of power. From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. From this day forward, it's going to be only America first, America first.
Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs will be made to benefit American workers and American families. We must protect our borders from the ravages of other countries making our products, stealing our companies and destroying our jobs. ...
We will seek friendship and goodwill with the nations of the world, but we do so with the understanding that it is the right of all nations to put their own interests first. We do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone, but rather to let it shine as an example. We will shine for everyone to follow."

The invocation of nationalism and isolationism was not the only link in Trump's speech to 1930s America. His description of today's America could have come right out of a history book describing the Great Depression:

"At the center of this movement is a crucial conviction, that a nation exists to serve its citizens. Americans want great schools for their children, safe neighborhoods for their families, and good jobs for themselves. These are just and reasonable demands of righteous people and a righteous public.
But for too many of our citizens, a different reality exists: mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities; rusted out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation; an education system flush with cash, but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of all knowledge; and the crime and the gangs and the drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential.
This American carnage stops right here and stops right now."

MSNBC's Chris Matthews made the truly idiotic statement that Trump's inauguration speech was "Hitlerian." Actually, it was much more "Rooseveltian," because it describes a national mood today that's very similar to the national mood in the 1930s -- not Germany's mood, but America's mood.

Perhaps, in drafting this speech, Trump was influenced by his chief strategist Steve Bannon, who is very knowledgeable about Generational Dynamics and about history in general. But however it came about, Trump's view of America today is remarkably similar to the Generational Dynamics view of America that I've been writing about for years. And Generational Dynamics predicts that the world his headed for a Clash of Civilizations world war, pitting China and its allies against America and its allies. This is what America and the Trump administration should be preparing for. Washington Post and The Hill

Related Articles

The Gambia's leader steps down, after his army chief deserts him

There was a lot of talk on Friday comparing the United States to the Gambia. America has had orderly transitions of power every four years since 1792, even during the American Civil War -- a remarkable feat possibly unparalleled by any other country in history.

By contrast, in many countries in Africa, when a leader comes to power, he refuses to step down, and directs violence and torture to any opposition figures who object. I've written extensively about this in Zimbabwe and Burundi for example, as well as in Syria (not an African country).

The Gambia was on exactly the same path, when the dictator Yahya Jammeh, who took power in a 1994 coup, refused to step down after losing the December election for president to businessman Adama Barrow. Jammeh's mandate ended on January 19, and troops from several of The Gambia's neighbors in the ECOWAS confederation (Economic Community of West African States) sent troops into The Gambia and threatened to force Jammeh to step down.

What's remarkable about this situation is the unanimity of international opinion. In any similar situation, some countries would side with Jammeh and others would side with his opponent. But in this case, every country that made any statement at all sided against Jammeh.

On Friday, the leaders of Mauritania and Guinea flew into The Gambia's capital city Banjul to convince Jammeh to leave without bloodshed. According to reports, Jammeh refused to give up power until late Friday evening, when his army leader General Ousman Badjie defected, and joined the calls for Jammeh to step down.

Late reports indicate that he's agreed, but it's not known what the terms are or where he would be going.

Meanwhile, on Friday, President Obama left office and President Trump entered that office. No threatening troops from any foreign country were required for that change to occur. Vanguard (Nigeria) and BBC

Related Articles

(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 21-Jan-17 World View -- President Trump's inauguration speech links today's America to the 1930s thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (21-Jan-2017) Permanent Link
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Donate to Generational Dynamics via PayPal

Web Log Pages

Current Web Log

Generational Dynamics Web Log for 21-Jan-2017 21-Jan-17 World View -- President Trump's inauguration speech links today's America to the 1930s

President Trump's inauguration speech links today's America to the 1930s

The Gambia's leader steps down, after his army chief deserts him

Web Log Pages

Generational Dynamics Web Log for 21-Jan-2017
21-Jan-17 World View -- President Trump's inauguration speech links today's America to the 1930s