Jimmy Carter’s funeral showcased some interesting scenes. The fact that Bill and Hillary Clinton, George and Laura Bush, Donald and Melania Trump, and Barack Obama sat amicably in the same row makes you wonder about the maturity of our democracy. Could you, for instance, imagine Messrs Bilawal and Asif Zardari, Imran Khan, Nawaz, and Shahbaz Sharif sitting in the same row on any occasion? That was the good part of our times. Before we launch into the bad part, let us discuss an episode that seems to have stolen the show and triggered many liberal and leftist pundits: the cordial chit-chat between Obama and Trump.
On the face of it, it was just cordial banter. The former president and the president-elect were seated together, for Pete’s sake. Should they have refused to acknowledge each other’s existence? Of course not. But body language tells a lot. While Trump was paying full attention to Obama, something interesting was going on with Obama. While whispering rapidly and earnestly, he first tried to hide it behind a booklet. But obviously, the subject matter needed prolonged attention. After a lengthy exchange, which compelled the incoming First Lady, Melania Trump, to listen in closely, they seemed to decide to laugh about something. In these paranoid times, this is enough to trigger the left.
Remember, Obama might have been their leader for eight years, but he is among the privileged few. He is shielded from the harsh realities of life that an ordinary Joe faces. Not convinced? Try buying a luxury home in the Kalorama Heights neighbourhood of DC, and then tell me. We all carry some darkness in our souls. It is unclear whether Obama brought it with him, and all this hopey-changy song and dance was an act, or the world lost him to the dark side after he retired. But there is something going on with him. The fact that he put his name on the horror show called Leave the World Behind and the exquisite manoeuvres that he and Nancy Pelosi manufactured to bring down Biden are telling. Remember, had Biden run, won, and then quit, Kamala Harris could have been president for twelve years. If she won this time, she would have been an undisputed candidate for 2028. You see the trappings of a strategy already. As a private citizen, Obama is too close to big business and foreign powers. So, could he be conveying the concerns of some disaffected foreign power? Who knows? You have seen enough episodes of 24, House of Cards, Veep, and Designated Survivor to put two and two together. At least, left-leaning pundits have. Hence the reaction.
Perhaps it is time to take Obama’s advice and leave him behind. What matters now is the dawn of the new Trumpian age. And what an age it is likely to be. When you are ten days away from the inauguration and unsure whether you are sleepwalking towards an apocalypse or sprinting towards some enlightened revival, you should know how lost you are.
Don’t get me wrong. Trump is a gracious winner. Not great at accepting a loss and an instinctive counterpuncher, but very good with victory. Unless he feels he is being ambushed, he may behave magnanimously. Or at least his previous record makes you believe that. What should worry you is the way tech billionaires are behaving – especially Elon Musk. And the kind of elements all this ends up stirring.
It must sound ironic that when two out of three Economic Nobel Laureates of this year presented a passionate case for more regulation and stronger unions in the age of technological transformation necessitating a leftward turn, the US – and, by implication, the world – dove into the opposite direction. That is a testament to the confusing times we live in. And the power of the tech billionaires. They know what is coming, and they don’t have a solid solution for the problems caused by their experiments. Machines will take your jobs unless you take Musk’s advice and choose to let go of what defines you as a human. When tech displacement starts, the element of self-preservation kicks in. Like democracy, which is based on a citizen’s right to choose even if the choice takes you to fascism, capitalism thrives on selfishness, or as they call it, enlightened self-interest, even if selfishness takes you to socialism. So, before that day comes, consider the billionaires’ populist turn a bank run. They want to move their accumulations out of the meddling government’s reach. And for that, regulations will have to be suspended, cryptocurrency-friendly policies adopted, and the administrative state cut down as long as the time permits. But the expiry date of such an order – or disorder – is baked into its very idea. It will fall. What should you do in the intervening period if you care?
Here are a few thoughts: keep what you stand for close to your heart, bide your time, but don’t just sit there. Read and reread Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning, organise your thoughts into a body of work, and prepare. Prepare for the day when it all goes south, ready to pick up the pieces and rebuild from scratch. Also, in the meanwhile, it will not harm you to acquaint yourself with the idea of charisma, likeability, and mass appeal. It will also not hurt to develop comprehensive and enduring solutions. Doable, right?
Musk and other billionaires want to shift the Overton window permanently. Because they are racing against time, they invest heavily in normalising far-right elements. They may succeed or fail, but it is up to the good guys to find a strategy to prevail. The biggest question, then, is: can it be done quickly enough to halt permanent damage? And that too without money? Are there well-intentioned billionaires out there to bankroll something as crazy as this? If yes, then perhaps permanent harm can be avoided. Two communities who have been at the receiving end of fascism and colonialism and, therefore, could fight back due to their clout are being sedated by their populist elite. So, it will not be easy. And there is no sure-fire way to success. But with a lot of effort, dedication, and focus, the situation can be salvaged before it is too late.
Remember, it is critically important to have regulatory oversight in place before technology starts displacing jobs. Once you have a robust oversight mechanism, you do not need to worry too much about technology’s fallout because smart technology willingly helps you find solutions.
