As you can imagine, the world of Formula 1 is somewhat lacking in news these days, thanks to the global pandemic of Covid 19 (aka ‘Corona virus’) – therefore TJ13 will occasionally publish stories on other topical subjects loosely related to motorsport and F1, in a series called ‘Off-Topic’.

What can be more loosely related to motorsport than the current situation we find ourselves in, and some question how on earth the world will be able to finance motorsport again once the dust settles.

Last week, I published a translated article from speedweek.com that rather pointed the finger in a rather unfavourable fashion at the USA and Donald Trump. The response from readers was somewhat divisive, more often than not accusing your humble Judge for endorsing the view, despite the fact that I had not written the piece.

If interested, you can read that article by clicking here.

 

In the interest of balance, today’s off-topic article sets out an argument coming from the other direction, and this time it has been written by yours truly.

 

 

Globalism and Trump

Two huge questions hang over mankind today.

1. Is Coronavirus really Armageddon?
2. Is Donald Trump insane?

Ok, I concede there are other huge questions looming over humanity. But I only have a couple of thousand words, so let me address the two above.

My instinctive response to question 1 would be a simple no.

If we trust the numbers published by the People’s Republic of Chi-NA, the first wave of this global pandemic only killed 3,318 Chinese citizens [at the time of writing]. To put this in perspective, Chi-NA’s population represents around 15% of the entire human race.

If we do the linear math, this would see suggest the maximum global deaths from CV-19 would be 22,120.

But hang on… there are now over 52,000 global deaths from this pandemic. 

Maybe this reveals the totalitarian state of Chi-NA was better equipped to handle such a crisis – far better than the decadent capitalistic western societies.

Alternatively, Chi-NA lied about their CV-19 numbers. 

Is this beyond the realms of possibility given the early oppression in December of those medics in Wuhan who tried to raise the alarm 5-6 weeks before Chi-NA admitted there was an issue. IMHO this deception alone gives credence to Covid-19 being designated as ‘King Flu’, as popularised by Donald Trump.

 

The watching world trusted Chi-NA’s CV-19 statistics and based their coping strategies on this information. Unfortunately, Chi-NA’s subversion of the truth is now reaping the whirlwind as national governments realise the rate of contagion and fatal outcomes are far worse than the Chi-NA epidemic data led us to believe.

Time out; let’s not get too down on Xi Jinping and his systematic human rights abuse programmes. The world does have other data by which we can compare CV-19 and its possible impact. 

 

The centre for disease control estimated potential deaths in the USA from flu during the 2019-20 winter season to be in a range whose upper limit is 62,000. (https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/preliminary-in-season-estimates.htm)

The WHO estimates that 290 000-650 000 respiratory deaths occur each year associated to seasonal influenza. https://www.who.int/influenza/surveillance_monitoring/bod/FAQsInfluenzaMortalityEstimate.pdf?ua=1ection 

Current CV-19 deaths globally stand at just over 52,000. Yet apparently mamy of the CV-19 deaths were inevitable anyway. UK reports suggest around 90% of CV-19 deaths were imminent due to serious health issues. 

Only time will tell whether this pandemic kills more people than the annual flu statistics, which pretty much go unreported year on year. What is certain is the incremental damage to the global economy from CV-19 over annual flu will be disproportionate by gargantuan numbers of government spend. Numbers that will take decades to repay.

 

Repaying the current debt governments are accruing will hurt their ability to spend on social programmes. In the last UK elections, Boris Johnston promised 40 new hospitals in five years. The cash for these has been spent in week 1 of the lockdown. The pertinent question now is, how many incremental non CV-19 deaths will occur over the next decade due to austerity imposed on government from the CV-19 spending. 

The world rulers are in a state of panic. Governments are prepared to toss the family silver out on a whim. The questions of risk/consequence/reward are not being addressed. We’re ‘all in’ and our hand is king high.

The exception to the herd of sheep, is Sweden. The blonde Scandinavians appear to have decided social exclusion is the most appropriate response to this crisis. Yes, communal naked sauna’s are forbidden. Yet, the Swedes are refusing to wreck their economy with a lockdown and just dealing with the incremental illness CV-19 is producing.

 

There are those who are questioning whether Sweden’s experiment will reap the whirlwind. Yet in reality is it not Europe and the USA who are experimenting? The complete shut down of western economies is unprecedented, and the long term results are unknown and frightening.

 

Human history reveals the perpetual and inevitable swing from liberalism to small ‘c’ conservatism and back again. Within each incarnation of this cycle, there are new phenomena. The loss of the powers of mysticism, modernism, post modernism, industrialization – and the latest post WWII obsession is with globalism, promoted as a world wide solution for peace.

 

However, globalism is coming under pressure from grass roots members of society in many countries. The Uk’s decision to Brexit the Eurocratic rule of Brussels is in part explained by a reaction to globalism.

This kind of reaction is frequently and flippantly described as nationalism. Those opposed to it frequently raise the spectre of Adolf Hitler’s Germanic totalitarianism, in an attempt to diminish and belittle the claims made by ordinary non-urban folk.

 

We could now muse the issue of globalism, and how the impending economic catastrophe derived from Covid-19 unmasks this world view as fatally flawed. 

So Let’s do just that.

To this end I reckon Donald Trump, despite his quirky or highly defensive communication style, in fact ‘gets it’. He gets we are at a turning point in human history with a swing from liberalism to small ‘c’ conservatism.

 

Globalism has failed the individuals in many societies, and a new focus on our individual community/nation’s interest is in fact inevitable.

Let’s be frank. Donald is a kick ass businessman (KAB). Love them or hate them, these characters are alpha male/female individuals whose focus is on ‘getting the job done’.

KAB’s are super confident in their ability to sort shit out. Some KAB’s have softer skills and can canvass opinion to appear to be inclusive and bring people with them on the journey of change.

 

The problem with this approach is that the KAB can get bogged down with political matters and struggle to persuade the masses to obtain acceptance of the change plan.

Other KAB’s see themselves as the expert project leader. They encounter difficulty when they are confronted regularly by ‘status quo’ characters who are resistant to change and challenge the new leader. These KAB’s will then self justify their viewpoint and try to kill the opposition. Ex KGB agent Vladimir Putin learned this lesson decades ago.

 

Trump won an election nobody thought he could win. Hilary Clinton was the latest version of Merican royalty. Previously this bloodline was embodied by the Kennedy’s.

Yet the world has changed. People are less inspired by political rhetoric and high ideals. They are lost in the inter-connectivity of the global economy and as such wish to see a reversion to more complete local economies.

 

In the UK last week, the NHS tried to place an order for 60,000 laptops so people could work from home – minimum spec i7 chips. The only place in the world who could deliver this order {in 6 weeks} was Chi-NA.

Is it not time we stopped buying technology from a totalitarian state who support worker poverty. As Trump advocates, it’s time to re-ignite our own manufacturing bases. The price point uplift to the retail customers is apparently around 5%.

Trump is not insane. He has understood the pulse of change. Those who believe the status quo established over the past decades will prevail are clutching to a world view quickly passing by.

It is time local economies re-establish manufacturing activity, even if the consumer premium is 10-20%. The value of the jobs for locals and the ‘buy local’ brands will far exceed the pennies saved by having the products made in Chi-NA.

Viva La Trump