Leaving the game

Donald Trump decided that the US will not be part of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. There has been a lot of condemnation of this reckless and immature action. Theresa May apparently rang him when she found out and said she didn’t think it was a good idea but that the UK would maintain its commitment to a healthy planet. I guess there is a limit to how far her relationship with him stretches after all.

While the White House Administration has been vilified for this decision, I think we should be celebrating. Let me explain…

A lot of US states have already enacted legislation to reduce greenhouse gases and are actively endorsing clean energy over the dirty crap that makes the US the second biggest polluter on the planet. (‘Clean coal’ is NOT a real thing, people!) This is excellent and means that no matter what Trump decides, the smarter states will be making the world liveable into the future.

One of the things that is pretty obvious (to me, at least) is that the US electorate apparently has no longer any trust or need for experts. That goes from politicians to scientists to…well, anyone with an ounce of intelligence. This was made very apparent when a lot of Trump voters claimed they only voted for him because the alternative (Hillary) was worse.

There’s two things wrong with that. One, there were lots of independents to vote for and, two, Hillary is a politician and Trump is a businessman/reality TV person who doesn’t read anything. Imagine wanting someone to fix the plumbing in your house and choosing a real estate agent to do it because the local plumber holds opinions you disagree with. There ARE other plumbers and a real estate agent will only increase any toilet blockages.

So, the whole Making America Great Again is really an attempt to push the clock back to a time when the American electorate were ill-informed and easily manipulated. Perhaps the slogan should read ‘Making America Dumb Again.’

While all of that is rather sad for the US, at least Trump’s time as leader is limited. For us, however, the dumbing down of the US is brilliant. Take the Paris Agreement as a ripe example.

Now that the child has left the table, the grown ups can get down to the serious business of making the world a better place for subsequent generations. And, most importantly, America has NO SAY in anything. Considering his pathetic behaviour in Europe last week, this can only be a good thing. It also means that everything written down doesn’t have to be in words of one syllable and include pictures.

So, rather than moan and complain about the short sighted stupidity of the current White House administration, I say three cheers for the Trumpster! Opting out is one of the best things he could have done for the planet.