trza

Well-known member
He is moving the goalposts, he is a one man Overton Window, he is playing games with the other guys in the race, he is breaking through the political news and taking over the daily social media chit chat beyond the partisan media, he is making world leaders react to him......
 

sufi

lala
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v37/n20/deborah-friedell/tycooniest said:
I have made myself very rich,’ Trump says (over and over again). ‘I would make this country very rich.’ That’s why he should be president. He insists that he’s the ‘most successful man ever to run’, never mind the drafters of the constitution or the supreme commander of the allied forces. Bloomberg puts Trump’s current net worth at $2.9 billion, Forbes at $4.1 billion. The National Journal has worked out that if Trump had just put his father’s money in a mutual fund that tracked the S&P 500 and spent his career finger-painting, he’d have $8 billion.
Thought that was interesting, not that it would make the slightest difference as Trumpism seems all about pop, not stats
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
Ahaha, that reminds me of a similar story about some ghastly Australian woman who inherited a multi-billion-dollar mining corporation and loves banging on about how poor people are only poor because they're lazy. The article gave the estimated value of the company when she'd inherited it and the slightly greater value it has now - I worked out that it had actually depreciated in value while she'd owned it, taking inflation into account. I'll post it here if I can find it...
 
Last edited:

luka

Well-known member
She keeps plotting to take over fairfax media, the rival to Murdoch's Australian newspapers
 

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
As awful as Trump is (and he is), its sort of fascinating being alive at a time like this, if you're lucky enough to (at least feel like) an observer alone. The distortions of reality wrought by the media and latterly the internet are extraordinary. America seems like the hub of the madness, perhaps because it dove headfirst into the media machine first?
 

Leo

Well-known member
As awful as Trump is (and he is), its sort of fascinating being alive at a time like this, if you're lucky enough to (at least feel like) an observer alone. The distortions of reality wrought by the media and latterly the internet are extraordinary. America seems like the hub of the madness, perhaps because it dove headfirst into the media machine first?

that, and we also have a lot of stupid people here who are easily led by a demagogue.
 

trza

Well-known member
is the host of the uk version of the apprentice the same as trump? do people in scotland like trump? is this boris guy from uk politics like trump? is this like berlusconi?
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
is the host of the uk version of the apprentice the same as trump? do people in scotland like trump? is this boris guy from uk politics like trump? is this like berlusconi?

I can't imagine anyone I know or would even spend 5 seconds in the company of would think of him as anything other than an absolute fucking embarrassment. Sure, the Right in this country has 'characters' like Boris, Farage and so on but Trump is like the next level of the next level. Perhaps some EDL/Brittun Ferst lunkheads agree with him about teh Muslams, but even then, they'd probably be put off by his notable Anglophobia.

And Scotland is generally to the left of England politically so I think you'd had to go a very long way to find a Scot with anything good to say about him.

Alan Sugar is (I believe) actually a self-made man, in distinct contrast to Trump. He's kind of a dick but is obviously not stupid and doesn't come out with wilfully outrageous claptrap, that I'm aware of anyway.

Edit: Bozza on Trumpy-poos.
 

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
There's something outrageously vulgar even about Trump's appearance that I don't think would 'play' in the UK. The doctored hair. He looks like a Harry Enfield/Paul Whitehouse version of a politician or investment banker from the 80's.

Obviously you can't generalise about an entire culture, especially one as huge as the U.S.'s, but I think there's more of a taste for brashness ''over there''. Our nearest equivalent to Trump (in terms of a political 'personality') is probably Boris Johnson, who is also brash but in a very British way: self-effacing, ostensibly bumbling and clumsy, liable to drop a baby before he can kiss it on the campaign trail.

To carry on with the stereotypes - as a culture I think the British rather despise self-aggrandisement. We're eager to knock anybody who gets big for their boots off their perch. Also, there's this lingering respect for ''class'' - not in the sense of social standing, necessarily, but in terms of ''civil'' behaviour. Whereas in the U.S. I get the impression that there's a lot more value placed on success (/money).

Saying all this, it's not as if British people aren't fascinated by Trump (and by American culture in general, obv.). He makes good TV, because he's despicable. I just don't think he'd have any credibility as a politician here. He hasn't really in the U.S., though, has he? He's like a sideshow to the main event of the election, and unfortunately has helped make Jeb Bush, e.g., look like the sensible option.
 

luka

Well-known member
He's well ahead in the polls though so he's making credibility look academic, completely superfluous. He can't be president but maybe he can win the nomination
 

luka

Well-known member
It's been on the cards for a long time. Reagan was seen as a symptom of the same trend. A presidential system is more vulnerable to a cult of celebrity but we're not immune to it either
 
Top