Ask A Genius 1200: The Slaughter of the Dems
Author(s): Rick Rosner and Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Ask A Genius
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2024/11/13
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: So, it looks like it was a complete slaughter against the Democrats.
Rick Rosner: As far as I know—and I haven’t checked in the last half hour—Harris isn’t even leading the popular vote. I thought it was impossible for Trump to win the popular vote.
I assume that when the West Coast votes come in, she might even it up, but she’s already lost two of the seven swing states, and four others are leaning Trump by a few percentage points. It’s bad. The Republicans have taken the Senate. I haven’t checked, but the Democrats were supposed to reclaim the House. I’m not sure if that’s happening.
JSo, Trump will be president, and he’ll pardon himself. He has floated a number of ideas, including deporting all undocumented immigrants, starting with what he calls the “million worst.” By that, he means he believes there are a million criminal undocumented immigrants in the U.S. From reading various cases, I know that “criminal” can be defined as something as minor as a DUI. That could get you deported under a Trump regime.
The infrastructure needed—police and immigration enforcement—to deport a million people would be significant. The question is whether he’ll actually do it or have the legislative power to do so. He’s not politically skilled, but with control of the House and Senate, he could push through some measures.
Will he try to replace some taxes with tariffs or implement a national sales tax? Carole and I will accelerate our plans to find a place to live in England. According to their immigration laws, we can stay for six months at a time. Maybe we don’t buy a place—maybe we rent.
Would that actually protect us from anything? It probably means you’ll buy less micro mosaic stuff since moving around to avoid an unpleasant regime is logistically harder when you have a lot of belongings to manage. What do you think about this entire situation? You’ve been in Ukraine, which, while not under a repressive regime, is at war with one.
Jacobsen: The first target here was largely women’s rights, starting with the Roe v. Wade overturn.
Rosner: There are extensive plans to make America more Christian-oriented in its laws. This is problematic because we should be focusing on tech and innovation. The best way to maintain our global standing is by selling tech—robots, AI, and other advancements—to the world. Yet, the Republicans want to de-emphasize education.
They don’t value education much. They push for defunding public education and redirecting those funds toward what they call “school choice,” which includes charter schools and Christian schools. You don’t necessarily get a quality education being homeschooled, attending a Christian school, or being in public schools that have had their budgets slashed by 30%. At a time when we should be prioritizing STEM education like we did in the sixties, we’re going to lose ground because Trump will roll back regulations related to climate change.
With climate change, maybe we’ll get lucky in some way, since birth rates are declining and people aren’t having as many kids. By 2060, the population might level out, and the per capita carbon footprint in the U.S. could decrease by 1% annually thanks to tech advancements and telecommuting trends. So, despite Trump doing nothing about climate change, our distractions—entertainment and social media—might indirectly help mitigate its impact. But having someone who supports ignorance running the country for another four years is terrible. He might also get the chance to appoint up to two more Supreme Court justices, since Alito and Thomas are in their seventies and may retire under a Republican president.
That could mean Trump appoints justices in their late forties who, with modern medical advancements, could stay on the bench for 50 or 55 years. Amy Coney Barrett, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh could be around that long too. It’s grim.
Jacobsen: Do you think the U.S. is moving towards becoming a more overtly Christian nation? Do you think we’ll become more authoritarian?
Rosner: Yes, Carole is worried about all the anti-Trump tweets I’ve posted. She’s concerned I’ve made myself a target.
Jacobsen: Do you think that’s a valid concern?
Rosner: But everyone will be a target.
Jacobsen: Everyone?
Rosner: Yes. With AI, the administration can analyze massive amounts of data.
Jacobsen: So, you’re saying someone in the Trump administration might be smart enough to use AI to identify enemies?
Rosner: That’s already been suggested. They’ll use it to identify enemies and go after them.
Jacobsen: I heard Vance said something about professors being enemies.
Rosner: Yes, J.D. Vance. He said, ‘Professors are the enemy.’ He framed professors as the enemy, and that’s enough to set the tone.
Jacobsen: Fill that label with any other group, and it’s alarming. Does that worry you?
Rosner: I don’t think it even needs more planning. If you were an American or lived in the U.S., would you consider relocating? Maybe to California or New York?
Jacobsen: It’s chaotic. Fundamentalist Christians may not be as thrilled as they think they would be. So, a lot of them—I’m sure there are plenty of good-hearted Christians who are appalled. Then say Christians in general, including Christian Catholics.
Rosner: You mentioned fundamentalists.
Jacobsen: Yes. Same category, but I do see them as a bit separate.
Rosner: Should we talk about anything else? Is there more to cover? Maybe there’s a silver lining: Trump is friends with a number of dictators, at least two of whom have nuclear weapons.
Jacobsen: Do you think that lowers the risk of a nuclear conflict?
Rosner: No.
Jacobsen:But could it even raise it?
Rosner: Because he’s impulsive? Because he’s 78 and not as sharp as he used to be? The people around him tend to be warmongers. He aligns with other authoritarian perspectives. He campaigned on the idea that during his presidency, the U.S. wasn’t in any wars and that the world wasn’t at war.
Jacobsen: That’s true, but he says a lot of things. We can’t take what he says at face value as a benchmark.
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