America is in upheaval, both natural and man-made. It is experiencing a variety of natural disasters, from the devastating fires engulfing Los Angeles, to the Arctic cold descending on the northeast, and the cyclones barrelling in from the Gulf of Mexico.
While these could be categorised as natural disasters, they could also be due to climate change – the result of human activities that destabilise the natural environmental balance.
The man-made upheaval comes in the form of Donald Trump – the newly inaugurated President of the United States of America – who wants to Make America Great Again (MAGA).
Trump wants to make America the world’s richest nation, having the best of everything, leading in commerce, industry, the military, technology, and beyond. He seems eager to establish an American Empire, with himself as the self-styled Emperor and Master of the Universe.
He demands that nations pay homage to him and submit to his dictates – or face dire consequences. He wants the world to kneel before him. To achieve this, he has struck an adversarial and threatening stance, imposing sanctions, tariffs, military interventions, and outright land grabs.
He has declared his intention to absorb or annex Canada as the USA’s 51st state and to take over Greenland, Panama, and Gaza. He wanted to seize Gaza and expel the Palestinians (ethnic cleansing) from their homeland, forcing other Arab countries to accept them. He seems to plan to develop Gaza into a Riviera for Israelis, Americans, and other Zionist sympathisers, including Britain and its European allies. And it seems the Palestinians have no place in this new Gaza.
If that is the case, this is outright invasion and ethnic cleansing, reminiscent of the British Balfour land grab of Palestinian territories to establish the illegal state of Israel in 1948. Such aggression violates international law, condemning an entire people to a life in exile against their will.
Trump’s excuse – that Palestinians would have a more comfortable and peaceful life outside Gaza – is nothing more than a pretence, given that American and Israeli forces have demolished the territory under the ruse of defending Israel.
Trump’s high-handed land grab of Gaza is part of the plan for a Greater Israel, starting with Gaza and extending into Egypt, Jordan, and even parts of Saudi Arabia.
His actions defy international law because Trump has no respect for the rule of law. His sanctions against the International Court of Justice for issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity are a blatant expression of his disdain for justice.
Likewise, his act of pardoning thousands of convicted felons who stormed the Capitol on Jan 6, 2020 – at his instigation – is an act of condoning lawlessness. He himself is a convicted felon who, alongside his predecessor, vetoed UN Security Council resolutions and ignored all UN General Assembly decisions against Israel and US interests.
Such actions are not based on ethical and moral principles or international respect and engagement but on political expediency.
Trump’s way of making America great again is by taking an adversarial stance against friends, foes, and even his own people. To achieve this, he is establishing an oligarchy controlled by his billionaire cohort – not for the benefit of ordinary Americans, but for his ultra-rich cronies.
To this end, he has shut down various government agencies and cut federal funding indiscriminately, without considering the social and economic impact on common Americans. He justifies this (along with tech billionaire Elon Musk) as a move to create an efficient, lean government tailored to the interests of oligarchs and corporate czars.
Trump’s MAGA plans, with their adversarial and threatening stance, have caused furore and upheaval within and outside America. His MAGA policies have ignored their social and economic impact on ordinary Americans, and this will eventually take its toll on the country itself.
The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the writer and do not necessarily represent that of Twentytwo13.
