So many commentators have said so much about the gloomy prospects for the Trump presidency that if the man manages to get through his inaugural address without stumbling over the long words - without perhaps letting slip the occasional wicked cackle - we'll be pleasantly surprised. There was even an item on the radio a few days back about the impeachment process - how it would happen if it was needed. Given the virtues that we would claim for ourselves - open-minded, liberal, rational, et cetera - perhaps we would do well to remind ourselves that the Trump presidency hasn't actually begun yet.
What strikes me most today - before the big Inauguration - is the wall of expectation. There was once a notion, and maybe there still is, that if everybody was gloomy about the prospects for investment markets, a "wall of money" would build up that had been withdrawn from such markets by nervous investors. If the news turned good all of a sudden, that wall would turn into a tsunami - the metaphor doesn't hold up - that would drive back into markets and turn any tiny upward blip into a significant upswing. Self-fulfilling.
So many commentators have said so much about the gloomy prospects for the Trump presidency that if the man manages to get through his inaugural address without stumbling over the long words - without perhaps letting slip the occasional wicked cackle - we'll be pleasantly surprised. There was even an item on the radio a few days back about the impeachment process - how it would happen if it was needed. Given the virtues that we would claim for ourselves - open-minded, liberal, rational, et cetera - perhaps we would do well to remind ourselves that the Trump presidency hasn't actually begun yet.
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What happens hereThis site is no longer updated weekly because I've taken to writing at Medium dot com instead. I may come back, but for now, I'm enjoying the simplicity at Medium.
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Mind you, if you get a sense of deja vu when reading my work, that may be because you've lived this life before. Where are we now? We're hurtling round the sun, held to the ground by a weak force that we don’t begin to understand, arguing about trade deals between the land masses on a planet mostly covered by water.
The dolphins must think us ridiculous. No wonder they only come to the shallow water to play with us, not to signal their most complex philosophies. More. Riddle. It takes two to make me, but when I'm made, I'm only a memory. What am I? Scroll down to find out.
Is that a catastrophe I see before me? Could be. There was a clear sky earlier, but now clouds are encroaching from the North. We could be in for a storm. More.
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Welcome. Thank you for coming. But am I the right William Essex? Click here to meet some more. Read My Shorts?
Here is yet another page of old blog posts and other writings. Sorry, but I need my metaphorical sock drawer for metaphorical socks. The link to the page is right at the end of the paragraph here.
Roads without end
Here is a passage from a review of the book The Road to Somewhere by David Goodhart. I haven't read the book (yet), but the collected reviews would make a worthwhile set of political arguments in their own right. More.
State of the Union
Several commentators today saying that they've lost confidence in the US. Making their point by talking up the glories of the past. After two weeks of this administration, they're not going back.
Were they wrong, and they've seen the light? Or has the US changed? I guess the latter is the intended meaning. But we should at least acknowledge the possibility... More. Categories
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