A Promised Land

America as a Developing Country

Archives for November 2020

A Thanksgiving Like No Other

Grief, giving, ambivalence and blessings, all at once.

A Thanksgiving for Giving

For many Americans, this Thanksgiving arrives with pain, loss, isolation and hardship. Covid cases and deaths are skyrocketing. One in eight adults report not having enough to eat in the past week; the figure is one in six for households with children in them. The situation in numerous other nations is yet worse.

For folks much more fortunate, Covid and Trump’s legacy (even in defeat) still make this a time of grief and ambivalence. In view of the unprecedented plight of so many in 2020, it might be particularly appropriate for the more fortunate to mark Thanksgiving with giving to worthy causes this year. So, for those able and interested…

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Secret Trump Video: “I Don’t Want to Go”

What really forced Trump to agree to the transition.

You’ve probably heard that Donald Trump has finally allowed the presidential transition to go ahead. He’s effectively conceding the election, though he will never admit it and will doubtless fill his time until January 20 with an extended temper tantrum.

What you may not realize is how this decision came about. The shift came in a heated meeting with Vice President Mike Pence and Trump’s top aides, over the president’s strenuous objections.

This video shows what transpired.

Coup

We've been warned.

The First is One Too Many

I first witnessed a coup attempt in the Philippines on the morning of August 28, 1987, a couple of months after I arrived in Manila to work for the democracy-promoting, San Francisco-based Asia Foundation. On that day, a well-armed group of military dissidents nearly toppled the duly elected government of President Corazon Aquino. As tanks and armed personnel carriers rumbled by our office, my colleagues and I had no idea whose side they were on.

Just weeks earlier, a Filipino co-worker had proudly told me about joining the massive “People Power” demonstration that helped depose the country’s dictator in February of 1986. Now he and his fellow Filipinos began to look broken. How had so much turned so bad so fast for their democracy?

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The One Good Thing About Covid

The pandemic and about 45,000 votes saved U.S. democracy.

If Not for a Financial Meltdown…

The 1997-98 Asian financial crisis caused economic havoc across much of the globe, with Indonesia one of the hardest hit nations. But it triggered a chain of events that discredited the country’s corrupt, repressive ruler, Suharto, and led to his 1998 resignation after over 31 years as president. His downfall signifies a lesson America learned this month: how even a disastrous development can rescue a nation from dictatorship.

Suharto oversaw significant economic reforms and growth while in power. In other regards, his record was repugnant.

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