Meg Lee Chin

In the final months before leaving office Barack Obama approved a 10-year, $38 billion package for military aid to Israel (the largest deal between the two countries in history). Then at the very last minute he sent $221 million to the Palestinians.

So I wonder, did Obama suddenly feel guilty and try to make last minute amends? Does it reveal his true feelings? The amount given to Palestinians is only half of one percent of the amount Israel is getting. So it seems a rather feeble gesture...

Much of what Obama did in office seemed against his principles. More than likely he was under pressure from the multinational corporations, lobbyists, globalists and the military industrial complex. His more humanitarian contributions toward social issues such as healthcare, women and gay rights were quite overshadowed by his non-humanitarian military actions and the historical increase in the wealth gap.

I suspect this wealth gap to be the real culprit behind the escalating racial tension in the US. Indeed Obama appears to have done more harm than good by perpetuating the march toward globalism and lending it an air of liberal respectability.

The democratic party was once the pro-union, anti-monopoly, anti-globalist party of the working people. But today the democratic party is firmly dedicated to globalization. Globalization is another word for monopoly on a global scale.

On the surface free trade brings prosperity to a nation. The corporations enjoy free reign and laissez faire capitalism across the planet. They can pick and choose where to get the cheapest labour forces. Mass migration adds to the influx of cheap labour. Labour becomes like any other commodity going cheap to the lowest bidder. Globalization undermines the unions and the working people pay the price as their jobs vanish oversees.

But the prosperity is a false one and limited to only the nations richest. This includes not just the CEO's and bankers but the media, celebrity and so called "educated" classes. These are the ones who reap the benefits of globalization while the plight of workers goes largely unnoticed.

Meryl Streep appeared to be addressing these stricken people when at the Golden Globes she scolded them for voting Trump. "you'll have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts". But Meryl should ask herself where she would be without these people to wash her clothes, clean her house, drive her car and watch her kids.

Obama though perhaps well intentioned was no match for the powerful special interests. He spoke often of compromise and indeed must have rationalized some of his deeds borrowing George Soros' philosophy that "if I don't do it someone else will".

Perhaps he believed in the inevitability of globalization and strived to balance the resulting impoverishment of the workers with welfare benefits. But there is a point where welfare benefits cease to become insurance and crosses over into charity. Charity merely appeases the oppressed.

Charity implies an imbalance of power. There is no need for charity when there is equality. Equality comes from a reasonable playing field where time and effort is rewarded with reasonable pay.

As a young woman I worked at a department store. Back then one could own a car, buy a house, have children, feed them, clothe them and send them to college with such a job. Today I can work at Walmart but I would probably have to apply for food stamps. The work would be the same. But the dignity would be lacking.

Capitalism at its basic provides motivation and incentive to strive toward work which benefits society. But predatory, unrestrained capitalism stifles motivation and incentive. When the playing field becomes too uneven the players give up the game entirely. Crime, racism, hostility, division and civil unrest soon escalate.

This leads to our situation today. So in walks Donald Trump. Though many of his humanitarian and social policies are deplorable, his abhorrence of free trade deals coupled with his plan to stimulate the economy seems to strike the right chord. America might have to suffer the embarrassment of a crude, ill mannered president. But for many, a financial policy resulting in restored dignity would go a long way toward easing the discomfort.

But although Trump promised no more foreign interventions he has made no moves toward scaling back military actions. He cancelled the $221 million in Palestinian aid and has stacked his cabinet with hard line Pro Israel supporters. This leads us wondering about his future plans for the Middle East.

Meanwhile our celebrities are wasting their ammunition protesting Donald Trump for his awful personality. But though protest itself is admirable, too much criticism seems focused upon his style and public persona. This inherent superficiality could dilute the effectiveness of any protest and drown the real issues in an ocean of pop triviality.

The other danger is in throwing the baby out with the bathwater and not recognizing that there were legitimate reasons to vote for Trump. Not all Trump voters are racists. To continually call them names ignores the real problem which is financial. It is only when the democratic party recognizes the reality of their globalist detour that they can begin to rebuild the party.

So now that we can all see where the Democrats went off course will they get back to their roots, change trajectory and offer us a decent candidate for 2020?