Trump’s America sick of being abused and taken for granted
OH, the weeping and the wailing, the rending of garments and the tearing of hair, at Trump’s block on arrivals from seven Muslim majority countries. Yes, his decree is pretty pointless – there have been no terror attacks on America from any of the forbidden states. Yes, it’s draconian and unfair – many perfectly respectable people from these territories have already been security vetted and issued with US entry visas, but waited too long to use them. Now they’re locked out.
So why has Trump made such a gargantuan, empty gesture? And why did the American people vote for it so enthusiastically? (Incidentally, Trump has only done what he promised to do on the stump, so why all the surprise? Perhaps it’s amazement at the sight of a politician actually honouring campaign promises.)
His brutal new immigration policy is fundamentally “un-American” we’re told. “It’s not what we’re about!” the west coast glitterati and the east coast radical chic have been bleating all week.
Er… actually, it is, guys. Maybe not in your fringe liberal tribes. But in heartland America? Yup. And over on this side of the pond, we’d better start examining our consciences – because quite a lot of what’s just happened is down to us. By “us” I mean everyone in the great global anti-American hate-machine conspiracy.
The default position that, all my lifetime, has made it intellectually safe and easy and cool to sneer at the USA, on just about every level you can think of. Unthinking, reflex anti-Americanism has become part of the weft and warp of post-war western society. From university campuses to television studios, newspaper columns to novels, the cheapest and easiest pot-shot to take has been against the good old unfashionable Yanks.
Oh, how we’ve sneered at them! Fat Americans, greedy Americans, McDonald’s-chomping Americans. Gas-guzzling Americans, illiterate hillbilly Americans, racist Americans. Arrogant Americans, planet-destroying Americans, Hollywood-insincere, soulless Americans.
All, in reality, a mirror reflecting our own image right back at us. Easy contempt of others usually has its roots in unconscious self-loathing.
And that’s just here in the liberal West. When it comes to the Middle East it’s a different league of hate altogether. The USA’s staunch support for Israel sees to that. America, The Great Satan. Levels of abomination soar above the rest of the world’s shallow sneers. It isn’t enough merely to deride America; she must be wiped from the face of the earth.
And thus the entire chorus of scorn fizzes into one great global cocktail of contempt, mockery and murderous dismissal. It has been like this ever since America rode to our rescue in the Second World War. We’ve never forgiven them for it.
But hold on! Actually, we all want to go to America, don’t we! Everyone wants to holiday there, study there, live there, be paid in dollars there – or to shelter under the USA’s military umbrella. Look at Europe’s pathetic contribution to Nato. We expect the Yanks to pick up the tab. It’s beyond shameless.
And you know what? I think the great mass of conservative Americans have finally had enough of it all. They’ve had their fill of being mocked, derided, patronised and laughed at, while simultaneously being ripped off and exploited. The new populism sweeping the wider West has given these generous, hard done-by people a voice. And here’s what they’re saying, through Donald Trump’s blaring megaphone, beginning with this message to the Middle East.
“You don’t like us? Right! Damn well don’t come here, then!”
It’s called reaping the whirlwind – and this is just the start.