Final Thoughts on the U.S. Presidential Election

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Election 2016 has been extremely bittersweet for me. On the positive side, through both the Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump grassroots movements, we have seen clear proof that a huge number of Americans accurately understand that the current system is totally rigged and simply not working for them. These people didn’t migrate toward these two candidates for some tweaks to the system here and there, their supporters want full scale paradigm level change.

As such, rather than dwelling on the differences between these two populist movements, let’s consider some of the areas where they overlap.

1. Trade — Opposition to NAFTA and current “trade” deals such as TPP, TTIP, and TISA have been central to both the Sanders and Trump campaigns.

2. War and militarism — Whether you believe Trump is sincere or not, opposition to Obama/Clinton interventionist overseas wars were key talking points for both Trump and Sanders.

3. The system is rigged — The painful acknowledgment that the U.S. economic system is a rigged scam that fails to reward hard work, and is more akin to a parasitic, predatory oligarchy with very limited social mobility, has been a key campaign theme for both Trump and Sanders. The economy is increasingly dominated by near-monoploy giants who relentlessly push for more power and more profits irrespective of the cost to society, whether that cost be war, poverty or social unrest.

4. Money in politics — The rigged economic system described above aggregates wealth into an increasingly small number of hands. Those hands then buy off politicians and rig the political process. A rigged economy and rigged political system perpetually feeds itself and endlessly grows at the expense of the public like a terminal cancer. Both Trump and Sanders emphasized this problem.

5. Rule of law is dead — Sanders focused on Wall Street bankers, while Trump focused on Hillary and her inner circle of cronies, but the overall point is the same. Rich and powerful oligarchs are above the law. We all know this, but Washington D.C. refuses to do anything about.

Despite all of the above, the ultimate status quo candidate, Hillary Clinton, has a very good chance of winning tomorrow’s election. Why? Primarily because Donald Trump is a very divisive figure who focused too much on polarizing issues such as building a wall, stop-and-frisk, supporting torture, advocating for internet censorship and libel laws, etc. While he got his act together toward the end of the campaign, he spent far too much of it marginalizing people like me who desperately want to vanquish the status quo, but couldn’t get comfortable with Trump.

This is where the election took on a decidedly negative tone for me on a personal basis. I’ve dedicated the last six years of my life to fully exposing and combating status quo corruption, but when the populist revolt finally arrived, the only choice I was given for change was one I couldn’t embrace. For someone so passionately yearning for positive, paradigm-level change, that’s been a crushing letdown. Personally, I’ve passed the point where I’m willing to vote for someone I don’t believe in or trust. As such, I won’t be voting for either one. That said, my individual vote is irrelevant, and I don’t want to focus on that. The bigger question is, who do I think will win?

On that question, I don’t have a strong opinion at the moment. Ultimately, it depends on whether Americans go into the voting booth and see status quo vs. blowing up the status quo, or if they see Donald Trump vs. Hillary Clinton. If they see the former, odds are in Trump’s favor. If they see the latter, it’s a matter of which personality Americans find least repulsive.

So here we stand. Despite the fact that a huge percentage of Americans deem both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton to be “unelectable,” one of them is about to be elected. As such, we really need to start thinking and strategizing about the future. In that regard, I propose we look at the five points of Sanders/Trump overlap I highlighted earlier. If we can stay focused on those existential issues after the election irrespective of who wins, “we the people” have a good chance of uniting a clear majority of the population and ultimately turning this national disaster around.

Or we can allow ourselves to be divided and conquered into oblivion. The choice is ours.

In Liberty,
Michael Krieger

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23 thoughts on “Final Thoughts on the U.S. Presidential Election”

  1. Another great article that is almost EXACTLY the same as how I feel about this election. Keep up the great work and never give up the good fight!

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  2. The most important element of this post is #5: RULE OF LAW IS DEAD. Along with it the people have lost DUE PROCESS.

    Hillary Clinton is a WAR CRIMINAL – just as Obama & Bush are WAR CRIMINALS.

    When the American people allow WAR CRIMINALS to be president, it says a lot about the American people.

    SECEDE…SECEDE…SECEDE!!!

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  3. Michael..you are a very Intelligent and principled person and have read and respected your blog for awhile now….Though after reading this blog (though you have mentioned your disdain for both candidates on numerous occasions,true?) I Must Ask… since you( as do many of Us) have this deep hunger for CHANGE,correct?..yet it seems you only want to accept CHANGE if it’s provided in a context of Your perceived Acceptable terms/actions..? Better to get the ship of Change moving,than WAIT in the Harbor for ‘potential’ Storms to Clear or Extra sails to arrive..! Aloha,and thanks for reading

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    • My view, as I’ve expressed repeatedly, is that big change is coming no matter who is elected. Much of that revolves around the debt bubble, and high likelihood of it bursting sooner rather than later. I’ve called this a financial extinction level event. In the aftermath of that event, I think there will be tremendous danger, as well as tremendous opportunity.

      As far as this election, there isn’t a major candidate I like enough or trust enough to vote for. It’s that simple. No, it’s not just change that I want, I want positive change. If you, or anyone else, sees it differently I respect your conclusion and hope we can work together to make the world a better place irrespective of who is elected.

    • Michael…I understand your position,and have always seen Trump as a ‘Lesser’ of two evils…lolol I have though,Always believed that Trump,since he has never held public office..Offered the Best ‘Pragmatic-Potential’ for real change in America. After Listening to his acceptance Speech,I for one am willing to Give him a Chance,the benefit of the doubt and see where it leads,aloha and thanks for reading

  4. The choice is even more war and corruption or a gnat’s ass chance of positive change. There is over $22 trillion of public money missing in the last two decades, $6.5 trillion gone from the Pentagon in 2015 alone. Getting that back would ease many issues. Clinton won’t try to get the loot back unless it goes to her that is.

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  5. Excerpt: “I’ve dedicated the last six years of my life to fully exposing and combating status quo corruption, but when the populist revolt finally arrived, the only choice I was given for change was one I couldn’t embrace”

    Your position is untenable and preposterous. Untenable because you refuse to make a choice, thereby attributing equivalency to the two candidates. Nothing could be further from the truth: Clinton is not merely corrupt, but evil. Ponder that term, since it has great depth of meaning, and not necessarily religious.

    And preposterous since you attribute no value to your single vote. This cavail is simplistic and erroneous, since if all voters assumed this position, no votes would be cast. Also, we must assume you have some influence with your readership, and consequently you have a duty to assist them in their decision by adequately informing them. Leading by an example of exclusion of action caused by assumption of an idealistic but specious moral position does a disservice to your readers.

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  6. Those who desire real change and choose to wait for the perfect pitch before swinging their bat may find that the field will be empty and the game will be over and yet they wait, with the bat on their shoulder, still hoping for that elusive perfect pitch.

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  7. I agree that Donald Trump is far from being a perfect candidate. But here you have someone who has dedicated his entire campaign fighting the establishment and the corrupt system that you have been consistently denouncing in your great articles. It’s hard to sit on the sidelines and watch Clinton, the very incarnation of that system get elected.

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  8. I hope Michael isn’t underestimating the possibility of a nuclear exchange with Russia if Hillary is elected, especially now that she’s aligned with the neocons. That would be insane. Can we be sure Putin will “blink”?

    I remember a Behavioral Finance course I took a few years ago. Our text (Shefrin’s, Beyond Greed and Fear) devoted most of a chapter to the Clinton’s “Loss Aversion” complex. Guys, I’m here to say Hillary is not going to back down in a confrontation with Russia. It’s not in her DNA.

    The other election issues are trivial by comparison. My “Hail Mary” vote goes to Trump.

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  9. Moe, bullying a blogger is the lowest of lows. The right to vote is just that, a right. It’s like the right to bear arms. Nowhere does it say in the U.S. Constitution that anyone is required to own a gun, vote, or worship a deity. It’s called freedom to choose. Many of us are sufficiently disgusted with the choices that the corrupt system is offering. If no one votes, all the better to expose the fraud that is this election and its candidates. Voting legitimizes the circus, and if you aren’t aware of all of the instances in history where populaces haven’t voted and the election was nullified and positive change occurred (along with the corrupt government sponsoring such elections being delegitimized), read up. In the meantime, the rest of us non-voters will be hoping for extremely embarrassing “results” from this crooked “election.”

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  10. I don’t find Trump repulsive. I think that he’s a plain-spoken New Yorker who had a great life as a wealthy businessman who feels he must involve himself in politics as the nation (and world) careens toward financial, economic, social collapse. He thinks he can help, but I doubt it.

    I see collapse as inevitable and perhaps imminent. I think Hillary is the crisis for this country, not Trump. Whoever wins will be “branded” with the collapse moniker. It deeply deserves to be the Left, but both parties deserve blame.

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