Who would have guessed that the voters of America would elect someone like Trump- twice? Now this guy is saying that he wants to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America or something similar. He is also making a lot of noise about annexing Canada as the 51^st state, taking back the Panama Canal, and “buying” Greenland. His rationale is that it is for ‘national security’. He and his top supporters seem very positive about Vlad Putin and Victor Orban, but down on the EU and NATO. The nut wants to halt aid to Ukraine in its defense from Putin’s Special Military Operation. Does he see the importance of stopping Putin? I don’t think he cares.

Writer Tony Schwartz who “co-wrote” the 1987 memoir Trump: The Art of the Deal published in a 2016 article by Jane Mayer said that that-

“I put lipstick on a pig,” he said. “I feel a deep sense of remorse that I contributed to presenting Trump in a way that brought him wider attention and made him more appealing than he is.” He went on, “I genuinely believe that if Trump wins and gets the nuclear codes there is an excellent possibility it will lead to the end of civilization.” The Atlantic, Donald Trump’s Ghostwriter Tells All, Jane Mayer, July 18, 2016.

Some are speculating that a change in the world order is in the offing, so perhaps Trump wants in on it. Both Russia and China have expressed their desire to relieve the US of its hegemony role in the world. Whatever it is that Trump is planning, his words are suggestive of his past job as a real estate developer looking for property to acquire. He is renowned for a tough bargaining stance and his business history has shown that standing tough and using lawyers as battering rams is key to his success.

The explanation I’m left with when writing to an international audience is that half the adult population of the US is considerably less educated than many of us understood. While many of us were trying to achieve and grow in the 21st century, a great many citizens were decades behind and woefully undereducated for the times. Millions of people didn’t realize that a 12th grade education wouldn’t be nearly enough to weather the times and grow with civilization. They placed their bets on physical labor as a lifestyle and not even training for one of the better trades. Whereas low paying jobs may have been sufficient at one time for getting by, the cost of living in all of its dimensions inflated beyond them.

Many citizens in the MAGA population find themselves near or at retirement age with little savings after a hard life of low paying work. Add the high cost of American health care later in life and they realize they are cornered. In their minds the promise of American success has excluded them. But it’s not just in their minds. Opportunity sailed by them in the middle of the night with many job descriptions that required knowledge and skills they didn’t know they needed. They were toiling to stay afloat and unaware of the opportunities that further education or training could bring. Many are now deeply resentful of those more educated or just luckier people who found a greater piece of prosperity in changing times. Trump’s populist message rings true to them.