Franziska Fink – Pike & Hurricane

The China Dream – A Utopia of Chinese World Hegemony?

Franziska Fink — Wed, 27 Oct 2021 16:08:28 +0000

These days it is easy to fall into a bad – or even a hopeless – mood. One just has to open a newspaper to be immediately reminded of the desperate state our world is in. Michail Schwanetzkij, a Russian satirist, famously coined the phrase “Crisis is our normal state”, and, unfortunately, he was not joking for once.

Trade wars, the Taliban in Afghanistan, a rise in populism, Covid-19 – to name a few – the worsening of the climate crisis lingering in the back… The world as our parents used to know it, is falling more and more apart at its seams. The postulation that each kid will once have a better life than their parents, a premise long uncontested, does not hold validity anymore these days.

But there is another promise, another vision of world order – pledging peace, prosperity and harmony – this time coming from the East. China has ambitious plans to restructure the world as we know it. Recently, the voices of Chinese politicians have become louder and adopted a more assertive tone, in propagating a promising new world, with China at its centre. Xi Jinping does not leave out any opportunities to proclaim the realization of the “China Dream”: “We must make persistent efforts, press ahead with indomitable will, continue to push forward the great cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and strive to achieve the Chinese dream of great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”

Xi’s ideas are often said to be associated with the book China Dream: Great Power Thinking and Strategic Posture in the Post-America Era in 2010 by Liu Mingfu, a retired Chinese colonel. In his best-selling book, Liu tells the story of how China will reassert its righteous place as the world’s dominant power and what life under Chinese hegemony would look like.

The “China Dream” and the possibility of a global Chinese hegemony could sooner turn into reality than one might think. China has been consistently and carefully rising among nations in the past thirty years. Starting in the 1990s, China began experiencing double-digit GDP growth. Even at its lowest GDP growth of 2,3% in 2020, the year of the Covid-19 related financial crisis, the Chinese economy is still expanding, making it one of the only G20 countries to not go into recession. By comparison, while the USA still has a higher GDP than China, its annual growth rate has been unstable and never exceeded one digit. The latest estimation is that the Chinese economy is on course to surpass the GDP of the US by 2028 or 2029.

Drawing on its economic advantage, China is developing and modernizing its military. By 2049, right on time for the 100th anniversary of the PRC, the People’s Liberation Army should be transformed into a “world-class” military.

All of these ambitious goals strive towards one thing only – the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Among Chinese decision-makers, the Western discourse of “China’s rise” is a sensitive issue, because in their eyes, China is not “rising”. It is simply reasserting its rightful place as a major power, as it used to be centuries ago. This narrative is derived from China’s past, ancient texts and cultural virtues. Texts by philosophers like Confucius and Mencius introduce the possibility of a different model of leadership, that of ‘true kingship’ or ‘humane authority’, known as Tianxia. It is a form of leadership that does not rely on hard power, but rather on cultural attraction and “winning the hearts of the people”, as well as on voluntary submission. So when Chinese politicians and key strategists speak of the world’s and China’s future, they are often referring to this narrative reassuring that China’s rise will not threaten the stability of the existing international system and in fact, will actually lead to greater global stability. This is because China will behave very differently than the US, as it will mainly rely on political power that is rooted in virtues and personal morality of the leaders.

However, Chinese officials are often accused of “selectively remembering” Chinese history to serve their political objectives and that they purposefully reconstruct China as an overly benevolent center of East Asia. Adversaries, such as scholar Teufel-Dreyer claims that “supporters of the revival of tianxia as a model for today’s world are essentially misrepresenting the past to reconfigure the future, distorting it to advance a political agenda that is at best disingenuous and at worst dangerous”.

Leaving all of this aside however, if it came true, what would life under the Chinese Dream look like? Amongst the consequences of the rising China narrative is a view on ‘Otherness’ that advocates conversion rather than coexistence. The best way to understand the establishment of a harmonious world is with the Confucian idea of “cultivating the self, regulating the family, governing the state, and pacifying the world”. This means that a wang ruler (sage king) “brings peace to the world” by first “cultivating his own moral value”, then the moral values of those he rules over.

Another influential ancient philosopher, Mozi, presents an even more radical approach, based on his notion of universal love. Mozi notes that all people have different opinions; therefore, when individuals act purely out of self-interest and rulers act only in the interests of their own nation, conflict arises. The emperor, if benevolent, unifies the opinions of state leaders and through them all the people. Yet, this involves not just a radical reordering of people’s preferences but the construction of new identities, such that all become part of “one world, [with] one dream”. This process of “harmonizing the world”, requires hence the complete erasure of difference in the world. It requires the creation of new identities such that all belong to the new harmonious world order, leaving little room for those who may not wish to belong.

By Franziska Fink

Related articles:

A Vision for the World with Chinese Characteristics

One Belt, One Road – China’s Path to the West

Photo credits:

“Xi Jinping at the EP” by European Parliament is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

US National Archives & DVIDS – GetArchive | PH1 WINSTON C. PITMAN, USN, Credit: U.S Navy

“Confucius” by JayPLee is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

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The Power of Memes: More than Jokes

Franziska Fink — Sat, 10 Jul 2021 11:00:57 +0000

No one really can explain how they have developed, and everyone will define them differently. Yet, they have altered our discourse within the digital arena fundamentally, and by that subsequently created a whole new way of how (online) communities are formed: Memes. Images, usually accompanied by a brief and well-pointed text, are basically digital jokes, and the uncontested form of humorous communication across all of our social media platforms.

Memes exist in all imaginable formats, serving all kinds of humor and satire in regard to… well, everything and nothing. Which is what is making this entire online phenomenon so particularly hard to explain, especially to non-digital natives. “What are you laughing at?” is a question commonly asked by parents when their kids are scrolling through the latest memes plastered all over their Instagram feed. But when these poor parents then take a look themselves, instead of a smile, bafflement spreads over their face, followed by the innocent question what those “memes” are and why they seem to be so entertaining?

In this lies the whole essence of how memes function and how they create a novel sense of belonging. Because they often serve a particular form of humor, that itself is intertwined with specific events, groups and topics, they are exclusive in the way that not everyone can relate. Not everyone (not just your mom) gets the joke. But if you do laugh, you automatically belong to a community that shares more or less the same perspective of the world or, at least, has the same humor and interests, as general as those might be.

In contrast to what the general public might think, the concept of a meme was not introduced by a 13-year-old Influencer, but by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins. Dawkins however did not come up with the online memes as we know and love them today, the word “meme” rather originated with his 1976 publication The Selfish Gene, a book about evolution in which Dawkins uses the term to refer to cultural entities. According to his initial definition, a meme is the cultural analog of a gene: “Like genes, memes spread, and, in their spreading, they take on a life of their own. Genes make up organisms and memes make up cultural agglomerations of organisms.”

Funnily enough, Dawkins’ 45-year-old definition also perfectly describes the memes that are nowadays generated, uploaded and shared millionfold in our social media feeds as well as their way of how they contribute to the forming of our identities.

The ancient Greek saying “Show me your friends and I will tell you who you are”, means in 2021 “Show me the Instagram accounts you follow and I will tell you who you are” (obviously, there is a corresponding meme for that!).

This observation has not gone unnoticed in academia either. Elizabeth Cantalamessa, a scholar working on memes at the University of Miami states that “memes work with ideas, including complex socio-political ideas […] They can be a way of orienting oneself in the world.” This also includes any form of political orientation. Cantalamessa mentions in this connection the rise of intersectional and feminist meme communities.

The memes that originate from communities like these differentiate themselves by using them not just for internet humor but to address complicated issues of race, class, gender, and politics. The virtual communities consuming these memes then use them to build a sense of belonging and unity among their members. What is crucial to understand however, is that when members create such content, they not only express group identity and experiences, they are much more “creating a polyvocal discourse in which various ideological standpoints are expressed”, as Ryan Milner, an Associate Professor of Communication at the College of Charleston, writes and by that partake in norm formation which also finds application in our analog world.

This transition of norms from the digital to the real world is captivating because it openly challenges the way norms have been traditionally created and spread. Finnemore and Sikkink, scholarly coryphées in the field of international politics, have long held the most popular explanation of how norms emerge and spread. They describe the “life cycle” of an international norm to have three stages: emergence, cascade and internationalization. Finnemore and Sikkink’s theory implies that a norm usually emerges among dominant norm makers and is then distributed within the system until it reaches a universal acceptance.

Memes however are now democratizing this process, dethroning the dominant norm creators and allowing every ordinary person with a smartphone to participate in the process of norm formation. It does not even require them to play an active role and create memes themselves, it suffices if they share them in their network and help them gain popularity and thus, leverage.

Such new and participatory forms of digital technology have hence facilitated a dramatic shift in minorities’ accessibility to public discourse. They have enabled virtual public spaces to become signiﬁcant sites for collective identity formation, on which especially marginalized groups have found a place to voice their interests and to create narratives that deviate from the dominant hegemonic line (Gal and Kampf).

So, memes are definitely more powerful than the average consumer might think. Regardless of their power, they should not be overthought too much. Sometimes, you just need a good laugh and that is what they are here for as well

Related articles:

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Photo Credits:

By Asterfolio on Unsplash

By Leon on Unsplash

By Karsten Winegeart on Unsplash

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The Battle of the Grandmasters

Franziska Fink — Tue, 23 Mar 2021 17:10:56 +0000

Whilst reading a newspaper, one will often stumble upon catchy headlines such as “What Is the End Game of US-China Competition?” (The Diplomat), “Russian lawmaker on US-China power game: Don’t play us ‘as a card’” (Nikkei Asia) or “Erdogan’s great game: The Turkish problem on the EU’s doorstep” (The Financial Times). Each of these examples makes use of a metaphor depicting politics as a game of some sort. Of course, those headings are phrased as enticing as possible to win the reader’s interest. But by the same token, they subtly (and, most likely, unintentionally) reveal a core feature of political theory and practice.

It is not by a whim of nature that state leaders, transnational corporations and even whole nations are repeatedly referred to as “players” within the discourse of global politics. There is even an entire political and economic theory which is built around the analogy of politics as a game, the classic game theory. Scholars of International Relations, for example, make frequent use of this theory to showcase how international conflict and other political phenomena occur as a result of decisions made by people.

This politics-as-a-game allegory is even further underpinned by one of the oldest and most successful games known to humankind. Chess, which used to be especially popular among the Shahs of Persia and has since enjoyed great renown as a sophisticated leisure time activity of known politicians and state-leaders (Napoleon, Queen Elisabeth II, Willy Brandt and Jimmy Carter to only name a few), is currently enjoying a revival even outside political circles (which, to be fair, might have to be accredited to the less sophisticated leisure time activity of us mortals watching The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix, an exceptionally well-made show that follows the life of an orphan chess prodigy, Elizabeth Harmon, during her quest to become the world’s greatest chess player).

Chess is often described as a battle-game, during which both players are attempting to beat their opponent by taking down the king. But the king is of course very well protected and in order to get him into a position from which he cannot flee anymore (to put him in checkmate), you need to move around your pieces on the board tactically and follow a thought-through strategy. It is important to think long-term and often it is an enduring, nerve-racking process during which many victims and losses will occur.

Basically, chess is a miniature version of world politics. This might explain its frequent use among journalists, since the usage of chess terminology is an easy yet helpful way of breaking down complex events into vivid game metaphors. This comes in especially handy when trying to make sense of geopolitical issues.

Even though the Cold War was officially frozen for good by 1991, a new tension between the East and West has become more and more visible. With the difference however, that the Soviet Union has now been replaced by the new warily observed opponent of the US: China. Since 2013, China has massively invested into the establishment and expansion of its intercontinental trade and infrastructure networks. Within the framework of the One Belt, One Road initiative (BRI), China is subtly yet determinedly reaching for a shift in the balance of power among the world’s political players in its own favour. What on the surface seems to be nothing more than an infrastructure project, is actually an immense use of soft power executed by the Chinese state.

To translate this into the world of chess: If the US hegemony was the black king on the chess board, even though still well-protected by its many pawns of economic and military superiority, the white army, China, would be bringing its figures in a seemingly innocent, yet threatening position …

One of the many “points of attack” of the BRI that China is working on can be found in Nicaragua. Through a country that is rather rarely mentioned in the major international headlines, China is building a canal with the purpose of connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean. This is neither a new nor a groundbreaking project, since it has already been realized in close proximity to Nicaragua. The Panama Canal has the exact same purpose and has furthermore already been in place since 1914. Why are the Chinese building another one, you ask? Remember: in chess, no unnecessary moves are made. They all have a purpose and follow a grand strategy. In this case, it is to pose a direct threat to the US which is a great ally of Panama. Together, the American and Panamanian marine are securing the Panama Canal. So even though the canal itself is an internationally neutral corridor, its passage depends on the benevolence of the US.

Of course, as an ambitiously ascending superpower, China does not put up with that and instead simply builds its own canal.

Yet, Central America is not the only arena where the two world powers are settling their disputes. China’s massive BRI investments in Africa, for example, have been given much more attention in the international press coverage. It is nevertheless crucial to maintain a global perspective, in order to keep track of all the moves the two grand masters are making during this enthralling game of East versus West.

Related articles:

A game of chess at the Greek-Turkish border

Between waters: the dilemma of the Nicaragua Canal

Photo credits:

Putin vs Obama by Svenn Sivertssen (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-76052-0335 by Ulrich Kohls (CC-BY-SA 3.0)

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Circular Economy – Interview with the founders of “sveeka”

Franziska Fink — Fri, 22 Jan 2021 18:48:06 +0000

Climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic are just the latest examples of fundamental threats to our current world order. Even though threats are usually seen as something negative and frightening, they might also bring some positive aspects with them. Often, they are merely mirroring the malfunctions of our world, highlighting all that is disastrous, wrong or ineffective within a system. Yes, climate change is slowly turning our earth into a degraded and inhabitable planet, and it is true that the corona virus is responsible for millions of deaths and a complete turn-over of our lives compared to as we have used to live them. But nevertheless, in all their dreadfulness, they have the potential of changing our world to the better. By inspiring creative and innovative minds to come up with solutions of how we can not only fight threats but avoid them altogether through the creation of a stronger, more just and more sustainable system.

These days you often hear politicians, economists and leaders of civil society claiming that the world after Covid-19 will be an entirely different one. Especially in economic terms, the voices calling for a fundamental system change are becoming louder and louder. Many people are suffering from the socio-economic effects the pandemic has brought upon them and which the system has failed to prevent. Millions of people all over the world lost their jobs, their home, and presumably a good deal of their social life and contacts, which resulted in yet another plague: a growing mental health pandemic.

How can we reorganize and rebuild the structures of our world then, to better deal with such hazardous threats such as climate change and pandemics in the future?

Even though Sweden might have not been the most exemplary model to follow in terms of its management of the Covid-19 pandemic, the country might be on the right track when it comes to reimagining of how a sustainable political economy could look like.

Earlier this year, Sweden announced that it is in the midst of transitioning to a circular economy.

At the core of the nation’s strategy is a vision: “A society in which resources are used efficiently in toxin-free circular flows, replacing new materials.”

But for effective systematic and sustainable changes to actually occur, a simple top-down approach will not be enough. Initiatives from both the state, everyday citizens and the business sector are needed for a fundamental and wide-ranging transformation.

Pike & Hurricane had the opportunity to talk to alumnis from Malmö University whose startup is a telling example for what a business model within the circular economy could look like. Katha, Lissy and Ellen are three friends that got to know each other during their time in Malmö. Together they founded sveeka, a startup that makes sustainable postcards from grass paper.

Pike & Hurricane: Tell us a bit more about sveeka and how you came up with this unusual idea.

sveeka: One of us (Katha) already knew about grass paper before as it is being produced close to her hometown. She wanted to do something with it to raise awareness for this great alternative paper.

When we were brainstorming for the first time about what could be a good product to start a business with, we decided on postcards as the most practical option. We didn’t need a big amount of money to get it going, nor a big storage space. The production was easy and also the shipping to our customer was quite manageable.

So that’s how we started with postcards!

Now for our Christmas edition we made foldable cards as well and we are looking forward to what the next year will bring…

P&H: Have you heard about the circular economy before? In what way did this influence your business concept?

s: We definitely heard of it before and especially Lissy is quite a fangirl when it comes to the concept of circular economy. We first got introduced to it when we did a field trip back in Malmö where we visited Repamera, a circular clothes repairing business whose founder also started the initiative Circular Monday (former white Monday).

When creating our products, sustainability was always included in our decision-making process but it never occurred to us that our product could be circular.

When we randomly got in contact with the Circular Monday team they reassured us that we are actually providing not only a sustainable but a circular product – and therefore sveeka can be a Circular Monday buddy alongside other popular companies like toogoodtogo, hejhej mats, Recup, wye and many others. As we are using grass and recycled paper for our postcards they are falling under the circular category of “reusing”.

P&H: Where are the buyers of sveeka postcards located?

s: Most of our customers are located in Germany, that is also where we have the most retailers selling our postcards. Nevertheless, we have also had customers from Austria, Sweden, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

P&H: Katha and Lissy, you are from Germany, Ellen is Dutch but grew up in Germany… however you started your business while you were all studying in Sweden, one of the first countries that has committed to transforming to a Circular Economy. Do you think there is a difference regarding mentalities of sustainability between Germany and Sweden?

s: Maybe Sweden is a bit more connected to sustainability as there is more nature around and people live more in the countryside and are doing outdoor activities, but you can see that Sweden is already ahead when it comes to the circular economy. For example, providing citizens with tools such as “smarta kartan” to live more sustainably and to use circular offers in a city is a great initiative that we haven’t seen in Germany in the same way.

In general, we are super happy to see that the circular economy is getting more known all over the world, including Germany, and initiatives like Circular Monday and new startups working within the circular economy are definitely a big reason why.

P&H: In your starting phase, sveeka was supported by Drivhuset, the Malmö University’s support team for student start-ups. How big of an impact do you think that had for sveeka’s success? Do you think you would have gotten similar support in Germany?

s: It was great to have somebody to talk to and to get honest and professional feedback for our ideas. If we would have founded the company officially in Sweden it would have helped us even more, as getting businesses off the ground is their daily business.

There are similar support organizations in some German universities but having Drivhuset already around, coming to lectures, holding events and reminding students to apply for grants and to take part in boot camps definitely leads to an entrepreneurial spirit at Malmö University which also encouraged us to just start our own business.

P&H: How is sveeka doing now? What is your vision for the future?

We are super proud that we have sold all of our Christmas cards and will now work on our next collection. We also started doing personalized design for companies and private people. Moreover, we are thinking about expanding our portfolio, but we do not know yet if that is going to happen already in 2021. After all it is our hobby, and we need to work our normal jobs next to it as well.

sveeka founders Katha, Lissy and Ellen (from the left)

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Nigeria: from recession toward sustainability

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A Society of Control: The actuality of Gilles Deleuze’s thoughts in the 21st century

Franziska Fink — Sun, 06 Dec 2020 18:19:33 +0000

Eighty-eight years ago, in 1932, Aldous Huxley wrote his infamous dystopian novel, Brave New World. Huxley tells the story of a futuristic World State in which all citizens are constantly happy, as well as content with the social order. They have been conditioned from birth by an overarching powerful state apparatus to accept the role they have been assigned to. Injustices such as owning less than others or having to do dull work are thus not perceived as discriminatory, but rather joyfully accepted. Moreover, the citizens’ entire perception of reality and truth is generated and controlled by the state. Of course, the mechanisms of control are hidden away from the general public and are only known by a small elite of so-called World Controllers. They govern, respectively dictate, with the best intent, namely for the purpose of creating social stability by brainwashing everyone into happiness: “Great is truth, but still greater, from a practical point of view, is silence about truth.”

Huxley’s World State shares many features with what Michel Foucault has termed a “disciplinary society”. Initiated by the systemic organization of vast spaces of enclosure, members of disciplinary societies can be constantly controlled as they move in between easily observable locations: from their home to school, to factories, possibly to hospitals and prison—all institutions that are placed under the state’s surveillance and, thus, subjects within those become easy targets to control. Foucault placed this kind of society in the 18th and 19th century, during a simpler time, when an ordinary person’s life probably did not entail more than going to school and later in life to work in a factory.

“I imagine Foucault terrified if he saw what kind of society we are living in nowadays.”

To people that have been brought up in a liberal democracy which cherishes plurality of opinions and ideas, this form of societal and political organization seems, unsurprisingly, repellent in its entirety. Not being able to express, not even being given the chance to develop, one’s own understanding and opinion of how our society should look, appears a drastic deprivation of fundamental rights.

I imagine Foucault terrified if he saw what kind of society we are living in nowadays. A society so complex and so intertwined with technology, yet nonetheless so young in regard to the proliferation of that technological hegemony, that there are simply no mechanisms in place that has the capacity to control these novelties. Yet, quite the opposite seems to be the case: We live in a society of technological control, so far-reaching that not even the godfather of this theory, Gilles Deleuze, could have imagined it.

“In contrast to Huxley’s World State members, people in our post-modern society of control are not controlled through psychologically conditioned beliefs, but rather trough the mechanisms of the “bubble” in which they move.”

While the individual in a disciplinary society was placed in different institutions of control, the contemporary individual living in a control society is in constant modulation, Deleuze states. With our phones, laptops, and tablets always within a short distance, we are constantly coerced in various forms of communication. On the one hand, this has triggered a new form of global interconnectedness and awareness. The revolution in information and communication technology spread power to the masses by creating a unique global space for human development. Local events can now instantly trigger global consequences, grassroots movements like Fridays for Future are only one telling example. Nevertheless, this new space can also be used for destruction.

In contrast to Huxley’s World State members, people in our post-modern society of control are not controlled through psychologically conditioned beliefs but rather through the mechanisms of the “bubble” in which they move. These are characterized and nourished by determinants such as our social environment, socioeconomic status and educational background, but also by our virtual interactions.

Our own personal truth and material reality is subsequently generated by algorithms which constantly provide us with the type of news we would like to see; disinformation and fake news determine election outcomes and people become more prone to conspiracy theories and dangerous movements.

“What is already clear, is that we will not end up with the benefits which the members of Huxley’s World State enjoy.”

What is unique about our contemporary society of technological control is that it appears as if there is no all-encompassing political agenda behind all of this. Of course, the technology is used by different political groups to realize their interests, whether this is done through the spreading of fake news about their opponents or through the hacking of foreign elections. But the ones who essentially developed—and are in charge of managing powerful and influential platforms like Facebook or Twitter—the actual puppet-players, seemingly have commercial benefits as their basis of interest, in contrast to sound political goals. The World Controllers imagined by Huxley or the ruling elites of disciplinary societies, exercised control predominantly for control’s sake. Yet, nowadays, thanks to the egalitarian mechanisms of the internet, everyone has the potential to become a powerful player and to use this control in their own interests. This automatically creates a kind of virtual anarchy, in which the means for control does not resonate with its ends.

Since this development is still so young, it is too early to predict how it will unfold. What is already clear, is that we will not end up with the benefits which the members of Huxley’s World State enjoy. Facilitated by a totalitarian state, they gain social stability, a great sense of community and a strong group identity. But they nonetheless pay for it with their rights of individual development and active political participation. In contrast, the post-modern version of Deleuze’s society of (technological) control in which we find ourselves, accelerated exactly these facets; it also makes us pay for it, in turn, with data, privacy and the complete dependency on our phones and laptops.

Neither of these alternatives sound too attractive to live with. What to do? After having discovered the perversion of the system in which he lives, one of the protagonists of Brave New World dealt with his newly gained knowledge by leaving civilization behind and fleeing into the woods. Sounds intriguing? Yes, but let’s all promise not to do a live-Instagram story of the beautiful sunsets we will find.

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Photo credits

Artificial Intelligence – Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Artificial Intelligence 2 – Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

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Delusive Donald

Franziska Fink — Mon, 02 Nov 2020 12:42:00 +0000

The next time people start talking about Donald Trump, I want you to conduct a little social experiment. As soon as you hear the name of the current US president, try to observe the change in the face of the person you are talking to. You will inevitably notice how they roll their eyes, how a condescending smirk scurries over their lips or how they give an amused shake of their head. Maybe someone will point out Trump’s latest ridiculous statement or how particularly orange he looked the other day.

What started out as an absurd event as Trump won the 2016 election and moved into the White House, underwent a rough, yet somehow subtle adaptation period in which the world more or less came to terms with the former reality show star stepping into the role of the “leader of the free world”. Nonetheless, even after almost four years in the most powerful position that one can hold, Donald Trump remains nothing but a joke to many. So do the people who marked a cross next to Trump’s name in 2016. This is largely due to non-US media coverage in which the president is often depicted as a kid that happens to have its playground on the premises of the White House, and which correspondingly presents his supporters as irresponsible parents who, first of all, brought this child upon us and second, now fail to be strict and hold it accountable for its misbehaviour. Moreover, they even seem to be proud parents and actively encourage all of his actions.

A person consuming regular news outside of the United States is thus very likely to succumb to this image of Trump. Given the fact that US politics are seemingly far away from the average daily life of non-Americans, this person will probably be amused rather than concerned. This exact point is where it gets dangerous. When Donald Trump is seen as something to only laugh or sigh about, rather than as the most powerful man in the world, a critical space opens up between a perilous delusion and reality.

The Two Sides of the Medal

Within the medical field, delusions are a pathological state of mind, characterized by “fixed beliefs that are not amenable to change in light of conflicting evidence”. Unfortunately, politics are not as clear as psychological definitions when it comes to “evidence”. We tend to obey the fixed belief that Trump has failed as a president. This belief is fuelled by current news, which show the United States as a nation more polarized than ever; this became even more visible in the outbreaks of the “Black Lives Matter” protests and in Trump’s response of sending national troops to fight against their fellow citizens. Additionally, the coronavirus continues to rage across the country, having left more than 200 000 people dead. Yet there has still not been a clear strategy implemented on how to best fight COVID-19 under the Trump administration. All of this does not look too well on the president’s record, further reinforcing his image of
ineptitude for the office he holds.

Nonetheless, this is only one side of the coin. Its backside is characterized by a significant block of loyal Trump supporters who have the power to heave him into the Oval Office for yet another four years. It is not that they are uneducated or blind to the events which are tearing their country apart. They simply see other aspects as well. Even though political measurements like the “Trump-O-Meter,” which track the actual implementation of Trump’s election promises, show a fairly different image (49% of promises broken, 24% kept), in the eyes of the president’s supporters, Trump has delivered, nonetheless. His most famous promise, to build a wall at the border to Mexico (and make Mexico pay for it), actually never exceeded the construction of 170 km out of the 800 km promised, as Mexico did not pay a penny and Congress did not agree to its funding.

Most of the immigrants who try to enter the US illegally come from the very poor countries of Central America. Trump hence declared states like Honduras “safe countries of origin” and made Mexico oblige to secure its borders more strictly. Within a year, the number of illegally picked up immigrants saw a decline of more than 80%. A big success for Trump, and not the only one.

His campaign motto “America First,” was underpinned by various actions, for example the withdrawal of American troops from Germany or Syria. Likewise, Trump pressured NATO member states to “pay their bills” and insisted on a fairer distribution of the alliance’s costs. Before Trump’s presidency in 2016, the US share of NATO budget amounted to 72%. Yet, while NATO’s total budget grew over the last few years, the US share declined to 70%. With these actions, Trump reacted to a popular feeling which the majority of US citizens share, namely being taken advantage of by the rest of the world.

Another crucial topic under Trump’s presidency is the economy. Under Trump, the country’s economy was thriving. He cut taxes and requirements and, in the end, even Democrats had to admit that they were profiting from Trump’s economic policies. Moreover, unemployment rate dropped to 3.5%, the lowest value in 51 years.

An unexpected Twist – The Corona Virus

Many analysts claim that, if the Corona virus had not occurred, i.e. forcing the global economy to shut down and accounting for a decline of a stunning 4.8% of the US economy, then Donald Trump would certainly be re-elected. COVID-19 has added an unpredictable twist to that assertion, because all of a sudden, Trump has to prove himself as a determined leader in times of crisis. This worked out semi-optimally with Trump refusing to acknowledge the danger of the disease in the beginning, downplaying the pandemic, and doubting the effectiveness of wearing masks to help contain the spread of the virus. The situation got devastatingly worse, with Trump suffering from Corona himself. The realization of the Trump campaign that this pandemic could hinder the re-election of the incumbent led to a series of disturbing and, if actually implemented, dangerous threats to democracy.

To mitigate the spread of COVID-19, many Americans consider postal voting. Regarding Trump’s currently low approval ratings (42,6%) and the related expectation that many voters will thus vote for his opponent Joe Biden, Trump continuously insisted on how postal ballots will lead to voting fraud and even suggested a delay of the election. On top of that, he has not yet confirmed a peaceful transfer of power in case he loses. Since Trump has so far kept his word on his most important promises, chances are he will keep this one too.

All of these are worrying developments. The Democracy Report 2020, published by the V-Dem Institute at the University of Gothenburg, actually measures global democracy based on hundreds of variables and has found the United States to be undergoing “substantial autocratization” in the Trump era.

Next time people start talking about Donald Trump, keep in mind that this man has the substantial support of loyal followers who embrace everything he says and does. Even when these words and actions are slowly turning one of the oldest democracies of the world into an autocratic regime. Do not succumb to the delusion that he is nothing but an angry orange joke which does not have to be taken seriously, but rather accept that he is a powerful president that tends to keep his word.

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Photo credits:

Trump, by IoSonoUnaFotoCamera, CC BY-SA 2.0

Donald Trump with supporters, by Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0

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