Progress through subjugation of others is Donald Trump's style. Photo / AP
Progress through subjugation of others is Donald Trump's style. Photo / AP
WE CAN'T pretend that personalities have never played a major role in politics and diplomacy.
A glance at the last century and the history of major conflicts that wasted so much money and, more importantly, so many lives, and we see the world littered with big personalities and bigger egos.
In the past 30 years, these big egos have been less self-absorbed. They wanted to be seen as people with grunt achieving big things on the world stage for the betterment of all of us.
What bothers me most is that, with the new leadership brand of the United States, this will change.
We are seeing now a reversion to the peeing contests of the early-to-mid 20th century. In the last two years under the Trump regime we have seen comments which have been all about him and the tickling of his ego; progress only coming with the subjugation of others is Donald Trump's style.
First it was women, then previous US presidents, then the media, then any detractors, then other world leaders ... it scares and bewilders most of us. We have come to expect humility from leaders of the biggest powers despite individual flaws.
Arguing with Kim Jong-un over who has the biggest button; lying over who had the biggest crowd for their inauguration; walking away from the Iran nuclear treaty; and issuing orders for enhanced weapons manufacture just underline what a loose cannon we have leading our so-called free world.
The obnoxiousness internationally, though, only reflects a domestic policy which again is all about Trump.
After the last mass school shooting hit the headlines (and there have been more than one shooting per day involving four or more killed in the United States for years), Donald Trump pledged to raise the age for the purchase of firearms, remove the categories of military style weapons available and tighten background checks.
Last weekend, while addressing the National Rifle Association conference, he pledged the complete reverse.
It is so hard to consider that the biggest of personalities on the world stage in the past 30 years, such as Tony Blair, Bill Clinton, the presidents Bush, Barack Obama, Angela Merkel, Justin Trudeau or other leaders in Europe, most of Asia and the Pacific or Australasia would act in such a way as Donald Trump.
It is not that these other leaders are or were devoid of personality — they were full of it. It was not that they didn't have their character flaws — there are plenty we could name, and many had huge egos, as they were politicians after all.
But those world leaders were bound by common goals of a negotiated relative peacefulness and were happy to be measured by what they achieved as part of a collective. It wasn't Utopia by any means, but it was headed in the right direction.
Donald Trump wants to be the only guy in the picture and is happy to try and bully his way into supremacy. It is the behaviour of those who beat their dogs, whip their horses, and hate their neighbours.
It seems to have been a failed strategy of all of his ilk who have gone before and has not worked in any aspect of his life prior to coming to the presidency. Why on earth 50 per cent of Americans think he is the answer to their confused question, I have no idea.
I look forward to the end of the Trump tenure and the reinforcement that "good is great" and substance beats self-interest any day.
Chester Borrows
Chester Borrows served as Whanganui MP for 12 years and as a minister in the National Government.
