Trump's America

 Patrick Cockburn in the Independent and in yesterday's i quotes Rudyard Kipling:

Every nation, like every individual. walks in vain show - else it could not live with itself - but I never got over the wonder of a people who, having extirpated the aboriginals of their continent more completely than any modern race had ever done, honestly believed that they were a godly little New England community, setting examples to brutal mankind.

It has to be said that this was from Kipling's short autobiography written late in life. His treatment by his neighbours in Vermont where he had set up their first marital home with his American wife still rankled. However, it is of a piece with his respect for other peoples, no matter what their skin colour. Although he clearly believed that to have been born British was to win first prize in the lottery of life, he was no white supremacist. He would have been appalled by Trump.

Trump's racist rants would be bad enough if they were confined to the US. (Perhaps, though, old world broadcasters like BBC, Channel 4 News and al-Jazeera should be more mindful of their own nations' records on racial exploitation when extensively covering the worst of America.) What is more dangerous, and where the rest of the world needs to take notice, is in his using xenophobic rhetoric in order to appeal to his core vote at home. From the Middle East to the Far East, he is stirring up conflicts and inhibiting free trade. It is going to make recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic - which he is also aggravating - all the more difficult.

One should have no illusions that a Democrat president will be any less tough in trade negotiations than Trump, but at least we can trust anyone who picks up on Obama's legacy will honour any international agreements.