If the Republicans hold the House...
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Will the outcome be any different than if the Democrats take the House?
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Republican majority betrayals of Trump have arguably caused him more problems than Democrats.
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While Trump is talking so kindly about Putin, on the other side of the globe…
In Russia, only 26 percent of those surveyed voiced a favorable opinion of the U.S., a drop from 41 percent in 2017, and just 19 percent Russians have a positive view of Trump
This is from a Pew poll.
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Why does anyone care what Russians think of us?
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Because they have a massive nuclear arsenal. Are you being serious? I can’t tell if you’re joking.
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@approxinfinity So because the people of Russia don’t like us they are going to nuke us? So is that how this works. We should just go around and poll Americans what countries they like and don’t like and then nuke the ones we don’t?
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@Woodrow I don’t think you can assume that the Russian government operates by the same standards as our government.
I don’t think it’s wise to dismiss the public opinion nations have of one another. I dont think you can assume how another nation’s disapproval will manifest itself.
Saddam Hussein was not the only person with a negative opinion of the United States in Iraq. Bin Laden was not the only one with anti American sentiment in Afghanistan. I don’t think we can assume we are dealing with only nuclear nation-states even if they immediately appear to be so, as in the case of Russia.
I am alarmed by the rise in nationalism / undermining of globalism we are seeing around the world and I think it is very dangerous.
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@approxinfinity I don’t know that the feeling of Nationalism has really changed. I just think the Left has gotten more Left on the issue.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_Immigration_Reform_and_Immigrant_Responsibility_Act_of_1996
That was only 22 years ago.
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@Kcmatt7 in terms of immigration, this administration has definitely taken a hard line and added official (ICE, pursuit of wall, etc.) and unofficial (family separation, etc.) measures. I agree that there were existing policies that predated Trump that were hard line. But there is more to their nationalist stance than immigration policy. They’ve gone after global treaties and trade alliances as well.
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@Woodrow and declining public sentiment is the backdrop to a foreground that is less than rosey.
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@approxinfinity Bin Laden was a Saudi, as were most of the 9/11 hijackers.
@Woodrow The importance of these polls is that they help us understand that the entire world is not just sitting around wishing they were American. Those populaces where America is distrusted or disliked can also be places where terrorist groups have fertile recruiting grounds. There are many jihadists in former Soviet countries.
Furthermore, even in traditionally friendly countries in Europe, there are massive numbers of migrants, unemployed, and refugees. If anti-American sentiment grows in the native populations, it can spread like wildfire through camps and other immigrant ghettoes. And with our current anti-refugee policies, those groups aren’t our biggest fans anyway.
These polls are also instructive of places where American travellers can be, or feel, very unsafe in large areas of the world where our dollars have traditionally been welcomed (even if they considered us arrogant boors).
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@approxinfinity Fair points. I’m just saying, could you imagine a Democrat running on the same platform Clinton ran on 22 years ago? It seems to me like Nationalism hasn’t gone anywhere. More like the Left has gone away from it on their own…
What do you not like about a Nationalistic approach to trades and treaties?
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Business is no longer national. Everything is global.
For example, tariffs against China (and their subsequent tariffs on US products) means that China will likely import agricultural products from places other than the US. That hurts Kansas farms. It could be a boon for places in South America and Africa, but that will hurt US production and sales.
Almost everything we use has something in it that was manufactured outside the US. Very few products out there anymore are completely designed and manufactured in one country. Having a nationalist attitude ignores economic drivers that dictate that we now live in a global economy. Consumers are free to think and feel that way because most people live in a limited scope of the economy. We are all bit players when it comes to that (unless someone on here happens to be incredibly wealthy). As a result, the places we shop are mostly local - we go to the grocery store a few miles from us, buy gas at the gas station down the street, etc.
However, those “local” places are really just a part of the global economy. As consumers, we don’t have to think about it that way, but that does not change the reality.
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@Kcmatt7 exactly what @justanotherfan said. Reality is everything is global and our interdependance guarantees our survival as a species and the greatest good for the greatest number, not just Americans ( it is indivisible anyway)
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@mayjay true, they were Saudis; I was thinking of the people that were holed up with him but your point is a better one … the attack may not have happened if the people that orchestrated it had a more favorable opinion of the US.
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Right, but this ignores two things. One, that our Government works for us. Not the globe. In theory, they’re job is to put our interests over everyone else in the World’s. Something we haven’t done, clearly.
Two, unconditional trade only creates a scenario where countries ignore that their workers are human beings and instead treat them like complete shit just so they can make something as cheap as possible. By having tarrifs, we essentially force countries to treat workers more fair as a terms of our new trade agreement. Otherwise, we will just continue to artificially raise the price.
Look at what Mexico caved to in the new NAFTA deal. Guaranteed $16/hr USD by 2023 for anyone working for auto manufacturers. That is what should be happening with every major manufacturing country we trade with.
Of course we live in a global economy, but we get taken advantage of from it. The truth is, what Trump is doing needed to be done. Criticize Trump all you want about pretty much anything else. But his tarriffs have had the desired effect. He has won with NAFTA and the EU. China appears to be on their heels as well. The truth is the other countries had no reason to work on trade terms because they were benefiting from them more than we were. Now they are getting the stick instead of the carrot and they are caving.
