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PeterClausFirstEssay 7 - 01 Jun 2017 - Main.PeterClaus
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> | “Trump: How do “we” resist? How do I resist?” | | | | |
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> | Introduction | | |
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> | Based on the feedback from my first draft, I am going to tackle the question of Trump, and the response to him in a more singular and personal light. What difference do I want to make? What difference can I make? Does it matter? What actions will I take to fight the evil that is the current administration? To this, I believe that the way to make the biggest impact is to oppose the specific discrete evils that I understand. It would be naïve and self-deluding to think that a young lawyer could take some grand stand against Trump or the evils of the world, or fix something they don’t understand. I see an example of this idea in my work prior to law school
Okinawa
Before coming to Law School, I worked for several years as an English teacher in Okinawa, Japan. Okinawa has a long history of problems. The American military has been there since WWII. Both Tokyo and Washington want to expand the bases into the undeveloped north. This expansion has been against intense local resistance. There’s plenty of dislike and distrust of Americans and the American government because of a few accidents and some incredibly awful and well publicized crimes.
As an American whose government is partially responsible these problems, I wanted to help and still do. However, as an English teacher in a rural area of the north, there wasn’t that much I could directly do. Even as a lawyer, the problem of the United States’ current military industrial complex, is not something I believe one person or group could tear down. However, I could make a difference in the discrete instances of the lives of people that I directly touched on. I taught elementary school, and I was the first American lots of my students really got to know. I hoped to be a better model, or at least an alternative for the vision of America they otherwise saw. It didn’t solve how Okinawa viewed Americans, but it helped. It gave my students and the community more information and a different perspective. This is my basic model of how to approach these problems, improve the aggregate by improving the specific. .
West Deer
In thinking about the specific ways that I want to oppose the evils I see, I agree with the idea that you have to fight the battles that you understand. Besides an American perspective on the military presence in Okinawa, I understand the economic frustration that underlies much of Trump’s rural support. The area I grew up in, the township of “West Deer”, near the city of Pittsburgh is pure rustbelt.
Virtually all of the people close to me that I grew up with haven’t been able to better their economic situation because of a lack of opportunities and lack of training to recognize and take advantage of opportunity. They (we?) are the poor white rural class that has come more into focus after the election. Great swaths of people have been left behind, and the lack of answers from the supposedly “progressive” options, have caused them to give up hope in the entire system. This frustration then caused them to turn to someone that they didn’t understand because he promised easy answers to save them, scapegoats for why they were “temporarily embarrassed millionaires”, and the promise of burning down the systems that hadn’t helped them. All of this was a lie, but Trump played them masterfully.
The quote by LBJ sums up the specific brand of racism that Trump stirred up in this election, that “If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you.” This division against ourselves and distraction from bettering our own economic interest, worked because of real unaddressed problems. Until we are able to fix the parts of America that have been left behind, I doubt the support for radical terrorist like Trump will dissipate. Coming from this area, I at least understand the problem. And, maybe I can fight Trump by returning to rural PA and working there.
Alternatively
As a counterpoint, I do think the disorientation that my previous draft focused on is still relevant here. The situation is just so different than anything that has come before, and so unpredictable that it is hard to orient your plans or future around it. Re-reading my first draft, it already feels anachronistic, and the possibility that Trump is impeached before I graduate law school has become a more real option. Yes, I am going to law school in the time of Trump, but I could be entering into the legal market where the rule of law doesn’t exist. Or Trump could be impeached. Neither would not solve the problems, of course, Pence and Ryan are still cartoonishly evil, and the structures that caused west deer will still be present, but they are at least a more understandable and predictable evil to oppose.
Conclusion
I believe what this means for me in how to oppose the chaos being unleashed is to fight the root causes that I see. Assuming I will be here next year, the question turns to what I can do to use my degree to help my area. This might still mean hawking it for a few years so that I can have the middle-class life I want. I have come a long way, and the golden handcuffs are still golden. But, that’s a conversation for where I see myself next year and in the future. In answering how I will oppose Trump’s chaos, the answer is working directly in the areas I understand. | | | \ No newline at end of file |
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PeterClausFirstEssay 6 - 01 Jun 2017 - Main.PeterClaus
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< | “Trump: Where do we go from here?” | | | | |
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< | -- By PeterClaus - 13 Mar 2017
I think this is an important question for some obvious reasons, and because I don't know the answer to it. Also so much of what is politically important and what we should work towards as society, such as better education, better healthcare, and a more economically just world feel so deeply beyond the pale, in terms of what we can currently achieve.
Overton Window
The political situation of America 2017, is part of why I've felt resistance or annoyance to several of the ideas that we discuss in this and my other classes. The foundations of the commerce clause are interesting and important in their own right, but seem incredibly immaterial if we have a President who may not believe in unfavorable judicial review. Yet we spend so much more time on the former. Likewise, things that we've talked about here, such as “free software, free hardware, etc” seem less important in the era of Trump. In the abstract, I mostly agree with many of the theses put forward. However, we are living in a country where the basic idea that someone can be a Muslim and an American is an issue that there is active disagreement on. This makes some of the issues that we discuss feel like trying to find a better couch while the house is on fire.
Resisting Despair
In terms of my answer to the question, resisting political despair is the first thing to address. An idea that I often hear repeated when discussing Trump, is that “Nothing Matters.” This refers to the fact that nothing Trump did as a candidate was able to dislodge the support that he ultimately had. And also refers to the fact that now, no matter the scandal his core will support him. It also increasingly seems that the Republicans will support him no matter what as well, in order to scavenge for whatever power and political influence they can. This is deeply disheartening both to someone who still wants the political process in America to be an answer to our problems instead of violent revolution, and because if “Nothing Matters” then the situation feels deeply hopeless. Resisting this urge is important, if we go quietly into the night and admit there is nothing we can do, then suicide or leaving the country are really the only options.
Unique Uncertainty
The current day feels uncertain in a way that is new to the time that I have been politically alive. First, this is because of the how completely unprecedented and totally wrong everyone was in predicting Trump's rise and victory. If everyone I view as an “expert” on the subject got it so deeply wrong, what should I look at to figure out how to move forward? How do we figure out how to fight this thing, if what we believe our the fundamental principles of how to interpret the current political world works, are in fact so unreliable. I'm also equally suspicious of anyone who claims to “understand it” now. This is Monday morning quarterbacking at best, and more likely deluded and intellectually self-serving.
Second, the range of possible outcomes from the US government are wider than before. I fully believe that not only could Trump start a war over perceived slight, but that there's really nothing off of the table that he could credibly do. It is equally plausible that I could wake up tomorrow and find that Trump has taken Steve Bannon off the NSC, as it is that he is going to instruct the Attorney General to prosecute President Obama for wire tapping Trump Tower. This wide swing of uncertainty is both terrifying for someone who would like to know what tomorrow is going to bring, but also make analysis of the situation, and planning to move forward a non-starter.
The Future and How Fascism Comes to America
Trump could be how true fascism comes to America. I don't think Trump himself is the ultimate dictator/Hitler/fascist parallel. However, as I've just said I don't know anything with any certainty. I think what is scary here is what Trump may have opened the door to. I believe he won't be our first fascist President is because he doesn't believe in anything but himself. He doesn't have a vision of how the world should be, there are no ideological ends that he wants to meet. Trump's only true allegiance begins and ends when he looks in the mirror. That being said, he certainly has inspired a sizable portion of America to believe in his cult of personality, and the false hope he has promised them. I also don't think that this is some complete political fluke.
Populism has always had a voice in America, and I worry that unless we address the economic concerns of the rust-belt, and the other areas that have turned to Trump they will continue to look for more and more desperate solutions. Further, if the Republicans are able to continue to work against the interests of those who vote for them, while stirring up a xenophobic fever about undesirables, you have a mixture that is perfectly made for a fascist solution. It feels very plausible that someone else could use the same messaging to the same groups, and it seems much easier to do this because so much of the political cannon of acceptability has already been broken. With Trump opening the door, I really could see someone like Alex Jones running for President, with the same paranoid style but an evil iconoclastic ideology to match.
A conclusion for this question is hard, because none of the normal rules seem to apply. Hope, waiting, and trying to learn more about the situation are the only forward steps that I can see at this point.
It's not clear to me what you want this essay to say. At
present, it appears to be mostly a testament to
disorientation, which is certainly a feeling that you share
with many people who have a longer experience with our
politics than you. And it is perfectly in tune with the
"noises off" in its doubt that whatever we were caring about
before is still relevant in the present situation.
But to say this and no more is, for that very reason, to
have in hand a sketch, rather than an essay. The question
being asked is neither historical (how do we interpret this
event in the context of what came before) nor political
(what resources have we to struggle for what we wish to
direct power to do). Probably, therefore, it's the wrong one.
So let's try a draft without Trash.YouTube illustrations, and
without the touristic involvement in our own
disorientation. Who this president is now seems clear even
to those who haven't watched him for decades. We are going
to hold our own against all the various forms of chaos he's
going to unleash. Your particular contribution to that
process is .... ?
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PeterClausFirstEssay 5 - 31 May 2017 - Main.TyCarleton
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“Trump: Where do we go from here?” | | | (what resources have we to struggle for what we wish to
direct power to do). Probably, therefore, it's the wrong one. | |
<
< | So let's try a draft without YouTube illustrations, and | >
> | So let's try a draft without Trash.YouTube illustrations, and | | | without the touristic involvement in our own
disorientation. Who this president is now seems clear even
to those who haven't watched him for decades. We are going |
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PeterClausFirstEssay 4 - 07 May 2017 - Main.EbenMoglen
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“Trump: Where do we go from here?” | | |
A conclusion for this question is hard, because none of the normal rules seem to apply. Hope, waiting, and trying to learn more about the situation are the only forward steps that I can see at this point. | |
>
> |
It's not clear to me what you want this essay to say. At
present, it appears to be mostly a testament to
disorientation, which is certainly a feeling that you share
with many people who have a longer experience with our
politics than you. And it is perfectly in tune with the
"noises off" in its doubt that whatever we were caring about
before is still relevant in the present situation.
But to say this and no more is, for that very reason, to
have in hand a sketch, rather than an essay. The question
being asked is neither historical (how do we interpret this
event in the context of what came before) nor political
(what resources have we to struggle for what we wish to
direct power to do). Probably, therefore, it's the wrong one.
So let's try a draft without YouTube illustrations, and
without the touristic involvement in our own
disorientation. Who this president is now seems clear even
to those who haven't watched him for decades. We are going
to hold our own against all the various forms of chaos he's
going to unleash. Your particular contribution to that
process is .... ?
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PeterClausFirstEssay 3 - 05 Apr 2017 - Main.PeterClaus
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“Trump: Where do we go from here?” | | |
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<
< | I think this is an important question for some obvious reasons, and because I don't fundamentally don't know the answer to it. Also so much of what is important and what we should work towards as society such as better free education, better healthcare, and a more economically just world feel so deeply beyond the pale, in terms of what we
can achieve. | >
> | I think this is an important question for some obvious reasons, and because I don't know the answer to it. Also so much of what is politically important and what we should work towards as society, such as better education, better healthcare, and a more economically just world feel so deeply beyond the pale, in terms of what we can currently achieve. | | | Overton Window | |
<
< | The political situation that currently exists, is part of why I've felt resistance or annoyance to several of the ideas that we discuss in this and my other classes. The foundations of the commerce clause are interesting and important in their own right, but seem incredibly immaterial if we have a President who may not believe in unfavorable judicial review. Yet we spend so much more time on the former. Likewise, things that we've talked about here, such as “free software, free hardware, etc” seem less important in the year of our lord 2017. In the abstract, I mostly agree with many of the theses put forward. However, we are living in a country where the basic idea that someone can be a Muslim and an American is an issue that there is active disagreement on. This makes some of the issues that we discuss feel like trying to find a better couch while the house is on fire. | >
> | The political situation of America 2017, is part of why I've felt resistance or annoyance to several of the ideas that we discuss in this and my other classes. The foundations of the commerce clause are interesting and important in their own right, but seem incredibly immaterial if we have a President who may not believe in unfavorable judicial review. Yet we spend so much more time on the former. Likewise, things that we've talked about here, such as “free software, free hardware, etc” seem less important in the era of Trump. In the abstract, I mostly agree with many of the theses put forward. However, we are living in a country where the basic idea that someone can be a Muslim and an American is an issue that there is active disagreement on. This makes some of the issues that we discuss feel like trying to find a better couch while the house is on fire. | | | Resisting Despair | |
<
< | In terms of my answer to the question, resisting political despair is the first thing to address. An idea that I often hear repeated when discussing Trump on the Internet, is that “Nothing Matters.” This refers to the fact that nothing Trump did as a candidate was able to dislodge the support that he ultimately had. And also refers to the fact that now, no matter the scandal his core will support him. It also increasingly seems that the Republicans will support him no matter what as well, in order to scavenge for whatever power and political influence they can. This is deeply disheartening both to someone who still wants the political process in America to be an answer to our problems instead of violent revolution, and because if “Nothing Matters” then the situation feels deeply hopeless. Resisting this urge is important, if we go quietly into the night and admit there is nothing we can do, then suicide or leaving the country are really the only options. | >
> | In terms of my answer to the question, resisting political despair is the first thing to address. An idea that I often hear repeated when discussing Trump, is that “Nothing Matters.” This refers to the fact that nothing Trump did as a candidate was able to dislodge the support that he ultimately had. And also refers to the fact that now, no matter the scandal his core will support him. It also increasingly seems that the Republicans will support him no matter what as well, in order to scavenge for whatever power and political influence they can. This is deeply disheartening both to someone who still wants the political process in America to be an answer to our problems instead of violent revolution, and because if “Nothing Matters” then the situation feels deeply hopeless. Resisting this urge is important, if we go quietly into the night and admit there is nothing we can do, then suicide or leaving the country are really the only options. | | | Unique Uncertainty | |
<
< | First, I am aware of how uncertain the current day feels in a way that is unique in the time that I have been politically alive. First, this is because of the how completely unprecedented and totally wrong everyone was in predicting Trump's rise and victory. If everyone I view as an “expert” on the subject got it so deeply wrong, what should I look at to figure out how to move forward? How do we figure out how to fight this thing, if what we believe our the fundamental principles of how to interpret the current political world are, are in fact so unreliable. I'm also equally suspicious of anyone who claims to “understand it” now. This is Monday morning quarterbacking at best, and more likely deluded and intellectually self-serving. | >
> | The current day feels uncertain in a way that is new to the time that I have been politically alive. First, this is because of the how completely unprecedented and totally wrong everyone was in predicting Trump's rise and victory. If everyone I view as an “expert” on the subject got it so deeply wrong, what should I look at to figure out how to move forward? How do we figure out how to fight this thing, if what we believe our the fundamental principles of how to interpret the current political world works, are in fact so unreliable. I'm also equally suspicious of anyone who claims to “understand it” now. This is Monday morning quarterbacking at best, and more likely deluded and intellectually self-serving. | | | | |
<
< | Second, I've never felt that the range of possible outcomes from the US government were quite so wide. I fully believe that not only could Trump start a war over perceived slight, but that there's really nothing off of the table that he could credibly do. I think it is equally plausible that I could wake up tomorrow and find that Trump has been impeached or resigned, as it is that he is going to instruct the Attorney General to prosecute President Obama for wire tapping Trump Tower. This wide swing of uncertainty is both terrifying for someone who would like to know what tomorrow is going to bring, but also make analysis of the situation, and planning to move forward a non-starter. | >
> | Second, the range of possible outcomes from the US government are wider than before. I fully believe that not only could Trump start a war over perceived slight, but that there's really nothing off of the table that he could credibly do. It is equally plausible that I could wake up tomorrow and find that Trump has taken Steve Bannon off the NSC, as it is that he is going to instruct the Attorney General to prosecute President Obama for wire tapping Trump Tower. This wide swing of uncertainty is both terrifying for someone who would like to know what tomorrow is going to bring, but also make analysis of the situation, and planning to move forward a non-starter. | | | The Future and How Fascism Comes to America | |
<
< | I do think Trump could be how true fascism comes to America. I don't think Trump himself is the ultimate dictator/Hitler/fascist parallel. Of course, as I've just said I don't know that with any certainty. I think what is scary is what Trump may have opened the door to. I believe he won't be our first fascist President is because he doesn't believe in anything but himself. He doesn't have a vision of how the world should be, there are no ideological ends that he wants to meet. Trump's only true allegiance begins and ends when he looks in the mirror. That being said, he certainly has inspired a sizable portion of America to believe in his cult of personality, and the false hope he has promised them. I also don't think that this is some complete political fluke. | >
> | Trump could be how true fascism comes to America. I don't think Trump himself is the ultimate dictator/Hitler/fascist parallel. However, as I've just said I don't know anything with any certainty. I think what is scary here is what Trump may have opened the door to. I believe he won't be our first fascist President is because he doesn't believe in anything but himself. He doesn't have a vision of how the world should be, there are no ideological ends that he wants to meet. Trump's only true allegiance begins and ends when he looks in the mirror. That being said, he certainly has inspired a sizable portion of America to believe in his cult of personality, and the false hope he has promised them. I also don't think that this is some complete political fluke. | | | Populism has always had a voice in America, and I worry that unless we address the economic concerns of the rust-belt, and the other areas that have turned to Trump they will continue to look for more and more desperate solutions. Further, if the Republicans are able to continue to work against the interests of those who vote for them, while stirring up a xenophobic fever about undesirables, you have a mixture that is perfectly made for a fascist solution. It feels very plausible that someone else could use the same messaging to the same groups, and it seems much easier to do this because so much of the political cannon of acceptability has already been broken. With Trump opening the door, I really could see someone like Alex Jones running for President, with the same paranoid style but an evil iconoclastic ideology to match. |
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PeterClausFirstEssay 2 - 04 Apr 2017 - Main.PeterClaus
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“Trump: Where do we go from here?”
-- By PeterClaus - 13 Mar 2017 | |
<
< | Why? | >
> | | | | I think this is an important question for some obvious reasons, and because I don't fundamentally don't know the answer to it. Also so much of what is important and what we should work towards as society such as better free education, better healthcare, and a more economically just world feel so deeply beyond the pale, in terms of what we
can achieve. | | | Populism has always had a voice in America, and I worry that unless we address the economic concerns of the rust-belt, and the other areas that have turned to Trump they will continue to look for more and more desperate solutions. Further, if the Republicans are able to continue to work against the interests of those who vote for them, while stirring up a xenophobic fever about undesirables, you have a mixture that is perfectly made for a fascist solution. It feels very plausible that someone else could use the same messaging to the same groups, and it seems much easier to do this because so much of the political cannon of acceptability has already been broken. With Trump opening the door, I really could see someone like Alex Jones running for President, with the same paranoid style but an evil iconoclastic ideology to match. | |
<
< | Conclusion | >
> | | | | A conclusion for this question is hard, because none of the normal rules seem to apply. Hope, waiting, and trying to learn more about the situation are the only forward steps that I can see at this point. |
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PeterClausFirstEssay 1 - 13 Mar 2017 - Main.PeterClaus
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“Trump: Where do we go from here?”
-- By PeterClaus - 13 Mar 2017
Why?
I think this is an important question for some obvious reasons, and because I don't fundamentally don't know the answer to it. Also so much of what is important and what we should work towards as society such as better free education, better healthcare, and a more economically just world feel so deeply beyond the pale, in terms of what we
can achieve.
Overton Window
The political situation that currently exists, is part of why I've felt resistance or annoyance to several of the ideas that we discuss in this and my other classes. The foundations of the commerce clause are interesting and important in their own right, but seem incredibly immaterial if we have a President who may not believe in unfavorable judicial review. Yet we spend so much more time on the former. Likewise, things that we've talked about here, such as “free software, free hardware, etc” seem less important in the year of our lord 2017. In the abstract, I mostly agree with many of the theses put forward. However, we are living in a country where the basic idea that someone can be a Muslim and an American is an issue that there is active disagreement on. This makes some of the issues that we discuss feel like trying to find a better couch while the house is on fire.
Resisting Despair
In terms of my answer to the question, resisting political despair is the first thing to address. An idea that I often hear repeated when discussing Trump on the Internet, is that “Nothing Matters.” This refers to the fact that nothing Trump did as a candidate was able to dislodge the support that he ultimately had. And also refers to the fact that now, no matter the scandal his core will support him. It also increasingly seems that the Republicans will support him no matter what as well, in order to scavenge for whatever power and political influence they can. This is deeply disheartening both to someone who still wants the political process in America to be an answer to our problems instead of violent revolution, and because if “Nothing Matters” then the situation feels deeply hopeless. Resisting this urge is important, if we go quietly into the night and admit there is nothing we can do, then suicide or leaving the country are really the only options.
Unique Uncertainty
First, I am aware of how uncertain the current day feels in a way that is unique in the time that I have been politically alive. First, this is because of the how completely unprecedented and totally wrong everyone was in predicting Trump's rise and victory. If everyone I view as an “expert” on the subject got it so deeply wrong, what should I look at to figure out how to move forward? How do we figure out how to fight this thing, if what we believe our the fundamental principles of how to interpret the current political world are, are in fact so unreliable. I'm also equally suspicious of anyone who claims to “understand it” now. This is Monday morning quarterbacking at best, and more likely deluded and intellectually self-serving.
Second, I've never felt that the range of possible outcomes from the US government were quite so wide. I fully believe that not only could Trump start a war over perceived slight, but that there's really nothing off of the table that he could credibly do. I think it is equally plausible that I could wake up tomorrow and find that Trump has been impeached or resigned, as it is that he is going to instruct the Attorney General to prosecute President Obama for wire tapping Trump Tower. This wide swing of uncertainty is both terrifying for someone who would like to know what tomorrow is going to bring, but also make analysis of the situation, and planning to move forward a non-starter.
The Future and How Fascism Comes to America
I do think Trump could be how true fascism comes to America. I don't think Trump himself is the ultimate dictator/Hitler/fascist parallel. Of course, as I've just said I don't know that with any certainty. I think what is scary is what Trump may have opened the door to. I believe he won't be our first fascist President is because he doesn't believe in anything but himself. He doesn't have a vision of how the world should be, there are no ideological ends that he wants to meet. Trump's only true allegiance begins and ends when he looks in the mirror. That being said, he certainly has inspired a sizable portion of America to believe in his cult of personality, and the false hope he has promised them. I also don't think that this is some complete political fluke.
Populism has always had a voice in America, and I worry that unless we address the economic concerns of the rust-belt, and the other areas that have turned to Trump they will continue to look for more and more desperate solutions. Further, if the Republicans are able to continue to work against the interests of those who vote for them, while stirring up a xenophobic fever about undesirables, you have a mixture that is perfectly made for a fascist solution. It feels very plausible that someone else could use the same messaging to the same groups, and it seems much easier to do this because so much of the political cannon of acceptability has already been broken. With Trump opening the door, I really could see someone like Alex Jones running for President, with the same paranoid style but an evil iconoclastic ideology to match.
Conclusion
A conclusion for this question is hard, because none of the normal rules seem to apply. Hope, waiting, and trying to learn more about the situation are the only forward steps that I can see at this point. |
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