In our overrated, outdated, capitalistic economic system, there are only winners and losers. It’s the reason the United States experiences such high inequality. It’s the reason the U.S. has a President Donald Trump.
Reich continues to say, “This choice underlies Trump’s approach to other people as well as his view of America in the world. ‘At what point does America get demeaned? At what point do they start laughing at us, as a country?’ he asked Thursday during his major announcement from the White House Rose Garden that the US would be withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement. ‘We don’t want other leaders and other countries laughing at us anymore. And they won’t be. They won’t be.’
“For Trump, there is no such thing as collaboration for mutual gain. Cooperation is a sham. Social insurance is a con. Billionaires can be trusted because they’ve already made their money -- presumably by out-exploiting others. Dictators are admirable because they’re respected and feared.
“But democratically-elected prime ministers and presidents need to be shown who’s boss – their hands grabbed in white-knuckled contests of dominance, their bodies shoved aside if they get out in front. And treaties and compacts need to be renegotiated so America wins.
“It’s the same at home: Political opponents must be humiliated, White House staffers demeaned (even the Vice President shown his place), the press degraded, recalcitrant judges debased, others intimidated. Everything is a giant zero-sum game in which either you win and they lose, or they win and you lose. And if they dare put up a fight, you get even.
“This is the personality of a sociopath. He is now the single most powerful person on the planet, with the ability to order the destruction of the world in just over four minutes. It is our responsibility to get him out of the White House, peacefully and legally, as quickly as possible.”
