The contrast between Bush and Trump?

I found an interesting article about the Bush legacy (centred around facilitating a soft landing for the Cold War) and what has come after.

Essentially, the argument goes that the post-war architecture served us very well during the cold war, but needed updating after it. Instead, much of the western leadership has been clinging to the vestiges of those institutions, rather than revising, reinventing or reinvigorating them.

Trump, although from the same generation of Bush, is oblivious to the origin or purpose of post-war institutions. That gives him the freedom to question them, which is good and long overdue.

On the other hand, he's so dumb, he can't ask the right questions, or provide useful answers. Which is bad.

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/george-bush-and-our-world-order/

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Ynotisay · M

A very good take even though I tend to disagree. And that's outside the fact that I've read some of Levin's pieces and am familiar with is take on the world which isn't mine. (Although I do agree with his perspective on Trump).

In my less-than-educated position on the matter, it seems to me that reinventing/updating institutions would have served zero benefit given the realities that formed at that time and continue today. Both in the U.S. and beyond.

While there have always been the rich and the poor, following Reagan, (and the growth of the 'new' Russia) in my mind it all comes down to wealth disparity. The rich got massively richer, quickly, and the poor throughout the world suffered more. Even the middle class in the U.S. got their piece of the pie drastically cut.

So when you have generations growing up dirt poor, and have a relatively realistic enemy to 'blame' for that, short of government funding you're going to have resentment. Toss in religious and nationalistic ideologies (driven in many ways by the internet which really hadn't begun during the Bush era) and you've got a recipe for chaos.