
I never thought we’d be saying “President Trump,” but here we go.
(NOTE: This post is about to get super negative, but ends on a positive note.)
As I’ve stated on this blog, as horrible as Hillary Clinton is, I didn’t feel that Trump was decent enough to vote for. So I didn’t. But I respect those who voted for Trump as the lesser of the two evils and whose good hearts compelled them to stop a sociopathic Hillary Clinton leadership.
And of course, I enjoyed Trump’s mouthing off to reporters, interviewers, and sycophantic candidates as much as anyone else.
But along the lines of this blog's current series of America’s Scary New Direction, I want to point out some things:
Nazi and Communist leaders all did positive things for their countries in addition to the atrocities.
And these positives can never outweigh the horrific things that happened.
But the people (at least initially) felt those positives did outweigh the horrors.
Stalin
- Industrialized the USSR, bringing its economy up and modernizing its military
- Defeated Nazi Germany
- Transformed the USSR into a global power
- Vastly improved Russian education, providing the USSR with top scientists and others,
- Eliminated illiteracy
Mao
- Enacted equality for women
- Vastly improved the military
- Instituted one common language: Mandarin (as we learn from Migdal Bavel, people need a common language in order to be unified)
- Deposed the corrupt warlords and the imperialist rich exploiting the common person
- Transformed the Chinese economy into an economy of growth and vitality
Hitler
- Improved worker safety
- Provided hot meals for workers along obligatory work vacations.
- Enabled the average German to finally be able to afford cheap holidays at large resorts
- Enabled the average German to buy a car
- Built the Autobahn
- Built railroads
- Hosted the Olympics
- Provided seemingly wonderful children’s programs
- Slashed unemployment for the average German
- Vastly improved Germany’s military
Please notice that the positive changes under each ruler occurred toward the beginning of their leadership, which lulled people into thinking things had really changed for the better.
Furthermore, the above accomplishments are extremely desirable.
How can you argue with the benefits of better transportation, low unemployment, a thriving economy, the elimination illiteracy, equal opportunity regardless of class or gender, rescuing people from banditry and exploitation, and more?
President Trump has also promised to “rebuild” the American military, take care of “the people” and so on.
(Note: I don't think Trump is like Mao, Stalin, or Hitler. But I think American society is headed in that direction because many Americans are self-absorbed, lack a moral value system, prefer social media & entertainment to doing the right thing, and many have become mindless)
Maybe I am wrong, but I think things will look up at the beginning:
- I believe Trump will build a wall (or at least make a good go of it).
- I believe that he’ll deport some illegal immigrants (whether in roundups or of those already in prison or in some other way).
- And you might see an upswing in the American economy and employment (especially with the accelerated military “rebuilding”).
- Hopefully, he’ll minimize regulations for small businesses and rescind America's horrible overreach into expat bank accounts (or at least, reduce the fee to cancel American citizenship so those of us who want it aren't forced to pay 1000s of dollars that we don’t have).
But America (with the exception of the many people who "held their nose" as they voted because they rightly can't stand either candidate — or those who didn't vote at all for the same reason) has shown that it doesn’t care about even the most basic morality of its leaders.
Please see American Jews and the Presidential Election for a succinct yet thorough list of both candidates' flaws.
Right now, America just wants its ego (to be “great!”) and its comforts.
And it's important to note that Trump won by a very narrow margin. There is a sizable percentage of Americans who support Hillary, despite her heinous history.
And as long as people under Communism and Nazism felt materially taken care of, they turned a blind eye to the nasty stuff—until it was too late.
I hope I am wrong. I hope that Mashiach will just show up already and get us all, both spiritually and physically, to the place we're each supposed to be.
There is Still Hope
Hopefully, this is a sign that things won't go down the terrible road history seems to indicate.
I don't know what Hashem's Plan is, but I do know that He is Compassionate and gives us numerous chances to finally get it right.
Hopefully, Mashiach will come before there is any more suffering.