He should be condemned, not appeased
Grahame Smith
DONALD Trump’s encounters with our Prime Minister are nothing more than a convenient pretext for the real reason for his visit, the most expensive ever Scottish golfing holiday. To some, Trump is a figure of ridicule, and he has given the latenight US talk show hosts plenty of opportunity to do just that. To others, including many white working class Americans, he is a figure of salvation from the drudgery of global capitalism. And to the rest, me included, he is a figure of dread, someone to be feared, someone who poses a significant threat to democracy. We Scots like to think we are a welcoming people. But there are limits and we should draw the line with Trump – a narcissistic, misogynist, sexist, racist, authoritarian, white supremacist, Nazi sympathizer. Trump and the other authoritarian leaders, in whose company he appears most comfortable, pose a threat to us, to our planet, to democracy, to unions, to progressives across the world. We should never forget the many lessons to be learned from history and it’s not as if we haven’t seen this movie before. The rise of ultra-right, populist, protectionist, authoritarian regimes has consistently followed a global economic crisis – just like the one in 2008. Fascism makes progress by increments. It feeds off economic discontent. It manufactures and stokes ethnic, cultural and national grievance. It concentrates power in its elites’ hands. It ostracises minorities or outsiders – those who do not conform. It eliminates opposition politically, in the media or in civic society – including trade unions. Fascist regimes hate international institutions that hold them to account. They say they’re upholding the rule of law – the law they create, however outrageous. Any dissent is condemned as lawlessness and is ruthlessly crushed. Trump’s actions conform to this sinister pattern. He has pulled the US out of the Paris climate accord and the UN Human Rights Council and violated the rules of the WTO. He has consistently criticised international institutions like the UN, the EU and WHO. He prefers the company of dictators like Putin, Kim, Erdogan and Duterte. He threatens to “lock up” his political opponents, condemning those who challenge him, including the media, as
GRAHAME SMITH STUC General Secretary
anti-American. He disregards evidence to justify his decisions while making a virtue out of ignorance, including his own.
He attacks unions, collective bargaining and workplace reps.
He justifies the separation of families on the Mexico border and the internment of children as upholding the rule of law.
He refers to those seeking asylum as people who infest America. He demeans women, people with disabilities, AfricanAmericans and the LGBT+ community.
He retweets disgusting and bogus videos of the UK’s far right and defends the Charlottesville Nazis as having “good people” among them.
Theresa May has much to be ashamed of but her sycophantic tolerance of Trump, despite his disregard for her and the “special relationship” between the US and the UK, is near the top of the list. It was disgraceful that a British PM ran to the White House to beg Trump to undertake a state visit. It says something that the Queen finds Trump so odious that she baulked at that prospect.
When asked about Trump’s detention of children, her response should have been to cancel his visit.
This week, May has the opportunity to tell Trump some home truths. I’m not holding my breath. Trump is dangerous. He should not be appeased or pandered to. He should be condemned.
Today and over the weekend, thousands will join people’s protests. These protests are not anti-American.
We stand shoulder to shoulder with all Americans who fear Trump as much as we do and who are resisting.
The STUC and unions will be prominent in these protests. It is our responsibility to defend democracy at home and abroad.
Democracy is about more than putting a vote in a ballot box on election day.
Political institutions need to be influenced and held to account by wider civic society of which unions are a central part.
We have a crucial role to play in defending fundamental human rights and civil liberties.
Building union membership and organisation has never been more important, not just to improve rights at work but to stand up for democracy.