One cannot help but be bemused when one listens to political leaders and philosophers as they encapsulate how the rest of us want to be governed.
Take America for example. Of the most quotable quotes of the recent presidential election, none has become more indelible than Donald Trump’s rallying cry of “Make America Great Again.”
In trumpeting this slogan, his underlying message can be interpreted to mean three things. Firstly, the U.S. was founded on the desire for political independence. President Trump continues the wariness of many U.S. presidents in the potential political power of the United Nations. Secondly, for Americans, is the importance of being self-reliant in defence. The U.S. has been foremost in the world in military power but its successes in waging war have been unimpressive since the Korean War. The inability of the U.S. military might to keep foreign conflicts off shore, culminating with the airline crashes into New York twin towers and the Pentagon itself, have caused individual Americans to lose faith in the ability of the military establishment and their own law enforcement agencies to keep them safe from harm. They are now arming themselves at a record pace and the torch of the Statue of Liberty itself has been dimmed. Thirdly, is the American destiny of economic self-sustenance for all its citizens. Employment stability has become a dream rather than reality to too many.
In 1992 a presidential candidate called Bill Clinton said during his campaign – “It’s the economy, stupid.” Hillary ignored the message, Donald didn’t. And now we have a U.S. president who has decided that economic self-sustenance means bringing American businesses home and having Americans preferentially buy products and services, which are American made.
Unfortunately for President Trump, the world moved away from this approach in 1947 when President Harry Truman signed the UN sponsored General Agreement on Tariffs and Trades with 22 other countries including Canada (and China). This agreement was updated in 1995 with the creation of the now 164-country membership of the World Trade Organization. The WTO is the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations. The goal is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their businesses on a global scale. At its heart, the philosophy of WTO is that no country should discriminate between its trading partners and it should not discriminate between its own and foreign products, services or nationals. President Bill Clinton signed on behalf of the U.S.
All other international trade agreements signed since then have been done underneath the umbrella of the WTO. So as President Trump proceeds with his America for Americans policy he will need to decide first if he wishes to withdraw from that organization. All else is sophistry.
Which brings us to North Korea. The first Supreme Leader of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, Kim Il-sung, adopted the fundamental principles of Juche (‘self reliance’) as the guiding idea for the North Korean revolution. These principles are political independence, self-reliance in defence and economic self-sustenance. Sounds familiar?
One looks forward to the outcome of the first meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong-un, the first Supreme Leader’s grandson.
Alan Murdock is a local pediatrician.
