Like many of my American friends, I feel terrified by what lies ahead as we witness the inevitable collapse of the "American dream". There are no longer any guard rails.
AMERICA HAS BEEN MY SECOND HOME for the past 30 years.
Lobbying regularly in Washington D.C., organising scientific workshops, running lawsuits against the U.S. Federal Government over whales and working with powerful American environmental organisations — all part of my wonderfully interesting journey in the world’s most powerful democracy.
I’ve just returned from a couple of weeks in the U.S., post Donald Trump's re-election.
Like many of my American friends, I feel terrified by what lies ahead as we witness the inevitable collapse of the "American dream".
There are no longer any guard rails.
Only the people – who are so divided that any unity seems impossible – ensuring chaos, building on the COVID pandemic conflict which already divided the U.S. population creating massive splits in communities and families.
Trump’s environmental, legal, economic and reproductive rights threats and outcomes are an unfolding horror story, with many results potentially irreversible.
For example, if any Supreme Court justice retires during the Second Trump presidency, the Republicans will have secured a different future for the nation.
The list of disasters ahead grows every day.
Americans have voted in a grifter, a convicted felon, a sexual predator, a liar — and, a narcissist of Olympic proportions.
Don’t let anyone tell you that America will be great again under Trump.
The U.S. has been taken over by oligarchs like Elon Musk, pouring millions into election campaigns and supporting extreme right-wing opinion makers’ drivel, and conspiracy theories.
Many have been appointed to critical cabinet positions with zero experience — rewards for the millions donated to the Trump campaign.
The cost of living is through the roof in the U.S..
President Joe Biden has received many accolades for his stabilisation of the economy — but the results aren’t yet visible in supermarkets, restaurants, petrol stations, and in providing household necessities.
Even second-hand shops are prohibitively expensive.
Is the cost of living Biden’s fault?
The COVID pandemic caused major economic problems – which have continued to impact the economy – combined with the billions of debt left by the previous Trump administration.
Although the economy has significantly recovered under Biden’s administration the reality of the rising costs is demonstrable — many families using their credit cards to the max just to buy food.
Going to the movies is rapidly becoming a treat for the wealthy — with a can of Coke and a box of popcorn costing over AUD$27.00.
That’s without taking into account the cost of the movie!
There’s simply no getting away from how much money it costs to survive in middle-class and poor America.
According to data from the University of Florida Election Lab, approximately 245 million Americans were eligible to vote in the 2024 general election.
Close to 90 million legitimate voters failed to vote. Why?
There’s insufficient data to suggest a cause. Yet the outcome of this collective denial will be felt by every single citizen.
Unfortunately, the impact of a Second Trump presidency will also be felt globally.
Ukrainians are suffering massive missile attacks as Russian President, Vladimir Putin, makes hay while the sun shines in the period before Trump becomes president.
Trump's close friendship with Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, will likely mean the Middle East won't benefit substantively from the Second Trump presidency.
It’s hard to know where to start describing the situation. Like a tower of cards collapsing, every day brings more bad news.
As the public waits for Inauguration Day on 20 January 2025, the vacuum of less than two months feels like the calm before a war.
There’s no denying a major social change is happening.
One in five voters in San Francisco voted for Trump. Many white, college-educated women voted to support abortion rights in many states but voted for Trump as president.
Three pregnant women in Texas have died as a result of being denied an abortion as their medical conditions – which would normally have been resolved by a D&C – were denied by law.
When I questioned several doctors as to why the medical profession is standing by – helpless as women die – I was told the prospect of spending a life term in prison prevented any action.
Yet surely standing by a dying woman who could be saved is a denial of the Hippocratic Oath?
As a direct result of these deaths – and, similar deaths in other states where abortion is banned – many obstetricians and gynaecologists are leaving these states, ensuring that pregnant women who have no option to leave are highly vulnerable.
In the past, organisations such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) may have taken action to support the medical profession’s right to ignore abortion legislation.
The Republican-controlled U.S. House recently passed a bill that would give the government broad powers to punish non-profit organisations it deems support “terrorism”.
According to the Guardian, recent legislation gives the U.S. Treasury the power to strip non-profits it claims to support “terrorism” of their tax-exempt status — and, does not require the Treasury to adhere to any evidentiary standard in releasing its findings.
Although groups targeted could appeal to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or the courts for review, simply being identified as a supporter of terrorism could have a chilling effect on advocacy groups, critics warn.
Environmentally, the Second Trump presidency will see his oft-repeated mantra "drill baby drill" result in massive fossil fuel projects.
Trump's pick to lead the energy department, Chris Wright, believes:
'fossil fuels are the key to ending world poverty which, he says, is a greater problem than climate change's "distant" threat, according to a report he penned as CEO of oilfield services company Liberty Energy.'
In a corporate report released in January 2024 called 'Bettering Human Lives', Chris Wright said:
'that the energy transition has not begun and that climate change, while a challenge, is not the greatest threat to humans'.
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) – one of the leading U.S. environmental organisations – says a second Trump administration poses the gravest threat to the environment“that we’ve ever faced”.
Then there’s the dreaded Project 25 — summarised by the American Civil Liberties Union:
'Project 2025 is a federal policy agenda and blueprint for a radical restructuring of the executive branch authored and published by former Trump administration officials in partnership with The Heritage Foundation, a longstanding conservative think tank that opposes abortion and reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, immigrants’ rights, and racial equity. Project 2025’s largest publication, 'Mandate For Leadership' , is a 900-page manual for reorganising the entire federal government agency-by-agency to serve a conservative agenda.'
My friends and colleagues are deeply worried about the future of their country, their livelihoods and how they will survive as the U.S. Constitution, laws and ethics which have kept American democracy safe are being destroyed.
No one can predict the future other than the obvious. The world’s greatest democracy is stuffed.
A direct result of a long-term plan which has finally resulted in an oligarchy — a despotic petrostate replacing a once great nation with all its flaws.
Sue Arnold is an IA columnist and freelance investigative journalist. You can follow Sue on Twitter @koalacrisis.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License
Support independent journalism Subscribe to IA.
Related Articles
- Trump’s tariff wrecking ball about to hit the global economy
- No coming back from Trump
- Trump's runaway trolley piling up with cuckoo captain's picks
- Trump's tariffs and their effect on the Australian economy
- U.S. Election not about economic anxiety, it’s about religious identity anxiety
