Carrot Man Curveball: Trump was a disaster. What’s next?
Wow. Undoubtedly, 2020 has been a year. For the record, I am not a Trump supporter. Never have been and never will be. Some consider Donald J. Trump to be the worst president in US History. In fact, we all kinda considered this possibility (and, in fact, I said these exact words) as reflected in a 2017 blog here. Worst president. Yup. Well, kinda. However, what I really want to talk about now is: What’s next?
The point of my article in 2017, is that no matter who is the President of the United States, people around the world have and have always had the choice to build and develop their own. For Jamaicans, Jamaica should be our own Option A and Option B. Luck favors the prepared.
Consider that there are seven billion people in this world. Where there are people, there is politics. Democrat. Republican. Progress. Prosperity. Socialist. Capitalism. Whatever. Should our deepest dreams rise or fall just because of who is in power?
The leaders who I admire the most are those who are wise enough and resilient enough to create businesses and brands that perform well and go beyond “basic employment” to create prosperous livelihoods for ordinary people irrespective of politics. We should aim to positively change lives irrespective of politics. If this is the goal, has Jamaica done better for its people and their livelihoods since Carrot Man was elected 2016? Are we better prepared or well-positioned for the next global shift?
CurveBall
That said, the Covid-19 pandemic is the real curveball. Four years ago, when I spoke about the possibility of Trump causing World War 3, I had no idea that WW3 would be a war against a virus. This health crisis has trumped many of us. We’re suddenly living in a surreal reality where a friendly hug or a business handshake…could literally be life-threatening 14 to 28 days later. And, Mr. Carrot Man surely isn’t helping. What’s next?
#BLM
Then there is the murder of Goerge Floyd at the hands of police. Roughly eight minutes and forty-seven seconds. Since then, huge protests have spread around the globe with the hopes of crushing racism. The global scale of this protest alone is more than many of us have seen in our lifetime. This is not business as usual. #BlackLivesMatter.
It’s been a busy year. Yet as I’m writing this, it’s only June. A perfect storm. Technically, we are barely halfway through 2020. It’s several months to go before Trump is voted out on Tuesday, November 3. Is he even going to come out willingly? What else is going to happen between now and then?
Real change has a price. Are we ready to pay that price and come out winning? What’s clear is that 2020 is a test of our values as human beings around the world. The goal should be to at least survive. If we can do that and still keep it together… we’ve won. The opportunities for transformation will keep coming. Right up until December 31st, 11:59 pm.
What’s next?