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Three Questions from New Zealand [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-03-18
Three Questions from New Zealand
By Jules Older
I'm a YanKiwi. Born and raised in Baltimore, in 1972 we moved to Dunedin, New Zealand. That’s where we lived until 1986. Then we moved back to the US; first to Vermont, later to San Francisco. We re-emigrated to New Zealand in 2020, this time to Auckland.
What inspired our first New Zealand move was a love-hate combination: love of adventure and strong dislike of Richard Nixon. What brought us back to New Zealand was Covid-concern and disgust with the flaccid response to the disease by Donald Trump.
When we got here in 2020 and came out of quarantine, Kiwis asked us one question: “After San Francisco, don't you find Auckland boring?”
Our answer was no. No, not boring; in fact, way more interesting than when we’d left. A lively theatre scene. The brilliant Auckland Writers Festival. Restaurants cheffed by many of the world’s ethnicities. Long walks up nearby volcanic cones. Grocery shopping at our local Pak‘nSave with women clad in burqa, hijab, and the color-filled garb of the Pacific islands.
So, no. Not boring.
That was five years ago. Now, that original question has morphed into two new ones. The first is, “Can you please explain the American election?”
Again, the answer is no. How could American voters freely elect a liar — an obvious liar, not even a clever liar? A sexual abuser. A climate deni— no, someone who heaps scorn on the notion that the planet is warming, just as in 2020, he didn't believe in Covid. A serial divorcer. A hoarder of secret documents in his mansion’s bathroom. A spreader of blatant lies about women, about immigrants, about opponents. A convicted felon, an orange-painted … No, we can't explain it.
Then we add two puzzled words: And yet … He claims he wants to take over Greenland. And yet … He said Haitian immigrants were eating pet cats. And yet … He chose a clown who doesn't believe in smallpox vaccinations as Secretary of Health! And yet …
And yet… more than half of American voters said, He’s our guy.
Sometimes, we finish our non-explanation with this: “Trump did one good thing, though. He brought us back to New Zealand.”
The second new question weighs even heavier: “Do you think this election was a blip that will, in time, be corrected, or do you think it’s the kickstart of the decline of the American empire?”
Our response to this isn't No; it’s Don't Know. We hope for the first but take very seriously the possibility of the second.
The hope: If he screws up the country as terribly as we predict, maybe some of his devoted followers will wake up and feel the fire. Maybe.
The possibility: But that's assuming there is another election. Trump told a Christian audience last July, “Christians, get out and vote, just this time. You won’t have to do it anymore … In four years, you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good you’re not going to have to vote.”
If he keeps that promise, then yes, the 2024 election might well spell the end of the American empire. And the American dream.
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