I’ve been watching the Netflix series Dirty Money. All the episodes so far have been very interesting, although I did still sleep through most of the one about maple syrup.
The latest one I saw was about Donald Trump. One thing I personally find hilarious is that he has basically dismantled the government ethics committee and is using the presidency to market the Trump brand for example with foreign dignitaries staying in his hotels most of the time.
The programme raised the interesting point that he has not proven to be a very good businessman and has gone bankrupt 6 times. He has however been very good at being a celebrity (he was apparently on over $1 million an episode for The Apprentice) and good at leasing out the Trump name to others (including some shady characters).
However the best Netflix programme about Trump is Get Me Roger Stone. Roger Stone is one of the most influential men in American politics. He apparently saw Trump’s potential to be a president in the 80s and advised him on the way to the White House. Stone is amoral and admits it. Which means he uses any means necessary to help his candidates get elected. That’s actual one of his rules about politics: ”To win you must do everything.” He has a bunch of other political rules like “Attack, attack, attack, never defend.”, ”Politics isn’t theater. It’s performance art. Sometimes, for its own sake.”, ”Hit it from every angle. Open multiple fronts on your enemy. He must be confused, and feel besieged on every side.”, ”Hate is a stronger motivator than love”.
One cool fact about Trump is that in 1999 he proposed a one-off 14.25% tax on individuals and trusts worth $10 million or more which would have raised $5.7 trillion and wiped out the US national debt. (Now that debt is over $20 trillion.) It’s difficult to imagine him suggesting that today perhaps because as one of his former colleagues said ”I saw him develop into this rather mean-spirited person”. Or it could have been primarily a PR stunt in the first place.
Both programmes illustrate the dreadful state of politics. The film Idiocracy is so funny because while ridiculous, it’s so true. (You can watch it online – I recommend it.) I personally think it’s a good thing Trump beat Hillary because although Trump seems to me to be out for himself he is relatively straight-forward. Hillary sounds very reasonable but her actions told a different story – one of war and US Empire-building.
In Trump’s own words: ”I think the only difference between me and other candidates is that I’m more honest and my women are more beautiful.”
I have to agree with him here. He is at least more honest than most politicians (probably because he doesn’t care much about offending people). Most of us are surprised he became president with his outspokenness and Tweets like ”Ariana Huffington is unattractive, both inside and out. I fully understand why her former husband left her for a man – he made a good decision.” But not Roger Stone – one of his rules is ”It’s better to be infamous than never to be famous at all”.
I think Roger Stone understands better than any of us that this is the is the secret to Trump’s success.
Adam Davies
www.rewardnetwork.se