[asher]

The president-elect will now need the same skills in order to ‘come down that mountain’ without antagonizing each and every side of the discussion, of the nation. He’ll have to convince the liberal camp that he didn’t mean everything he said in a literal sense, while at the same time keeping his ‘angry mob’ satisfied that he will do enough of what he promised them.

I’m not sure why that’s the case. That assumes Trump wants to govern, and he wants to govern the majority of the populace. I don’t see clear evidence that is the case.

I agree with the general comments that we can’t assume how Trump will govern based on his hate- and fear-stoking campaign. But there are clear warning signs in the formation of his advisors and names being floated for cabinet positions. Yes, he’s a wild card. And that may be both the greatest concern and greatest opportunity to break the status quo. But he’s also woefully ignorant of how government and governance work and so will quickly surround himself by so-called expert advisors. There’s a void there that will likely be filled by the military-industrial complex (which is very good at scaring/keep elected officials in line) and his stupid friends like Rudy Giuliani.

The other thing that we can likely assume is that 1) Trump will be as corrupt in office as he’s been outside of it; 2) he will try to deregulate as much as he can; and 3) he sees the environment as the equivalent of a golf course. All of these are deeply worrisome.

All that said, those of us who understood that Limits to Growth were inevitable and upon us saw that there was a high probability of disruptive events. So we can’t be too surprised with this outcome.

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