So, Trump made an aside in
a meeting, and the world went crazy.
Apparently, he considers countries in Africa and some in the Caribbean
“shithole countries.” This has irked most of the world who feel his comment IS racist. The African Union
has gone as far as asking for an official apology1. But before this unfolds any
further, I’d like to offer my two cents on the matter. I’d like to point out
that the following is not a defense of
Trump, but rather a detached analysis of the issue
from an anarchist perspective.
As an individual who has
been born and raised in Kenya, a 3rd world country in Africa, I do
not consider Trump’s comment offensive. The main
reason is that life in Kenya, and in many other countries like it, is shitty.
Corrupt, incompetent and despotic governments, trigger-happy
police, famines, and insecurity make LIFE
in such nations hell. In Kenya, almost
half the population is unemployed, taxes get looted, and being born poor means
dying poor. Unfortunately, this is not a
situation unique to Kenya. In most countries, prosperity comes at the
expense of peasants and hoi polloi who are conveniently shoved in the
background; exploited for the sake of progress, but enjoying none of the
benefits. Uganda has had Y. Museveni as the president for more than 30 years.
If you are an aspiring politician there, life is shitty unless you dance to the
tune of the self-imposed “Kabaka.” Since
the Arab spring, life has been shitty for ordinary folks in Libya and Syria. Right
now, there is someone my age in Sierra Leone living without limbs because back
in the 90s the RUF decided to take power away from people’s hands. That was
shitty! Let’s not even talk of the tribal wars that rocked Liberia back then,
or the villages currently being burned and looted by Boko Haram. If we stop
sensationalizing Trump’s comment, his point is evident.
However, this is not the
only reason I’m not mad at Trump. I don’t think his comment offensive because I
consider a country like the U.S. a shithole too. A majority of Africans and
Mexicans living in America are subjected
to some horrible things. If you’re poor in America, life is shitty for you too.
Even if you’re not poor, you risk being
shot at school, a music concert, a theatre or in the street by deranged
citizens and police officers. You can also be burned alive in the trunk of your
car for being gay like Kerrice Lewis2. How’s such a country not a shithole? Hell,
we saw millions take to the streets after Trump’s election to protest against a
“shitty” electoral process. So yeah, life in America can be shitty, and Trump
promises to make it a greater shithole.
Having established the
accuracy of Trump’s comment, I think it would be better if the world stopped
being a receptive audience to a megalomaniac. I can imagine Trump right now
saying “I’m the kinda guy that makes an aside in a meeting that creates global
waves. The world takes my words very, VERY seriously.” Well, that might be
accurate too, him being POTUS and all, but we shouldn’t make him overtly aware
of it. Anyway, we should look at what is shitty .i.e. the whole notion of
countries.
Granted,
nationalism got most “shithole countries” out of an even shittier condition of
colonialism, but the meme is slowly becoming degenerative. Like religious fervor, nationalism and love for the country have been responsible for much death
and misery in the world. People die for a country
the same way they do for Jesus or Mohamed. Powerful politicians lie to and take advantage of, citizens the same way
priests do to the laity. This is the
reason religion and politics are such compatible bedfellows. Trump’s comment and the resultant backlash have one
thing in common; they are all motivated by a sense of nationalism. Trump thinks
America is great, but so does every other patriot towards his/her country. As Schopenhauer once said “every miserable fool who
has nothing at all of which he can be proud adopts, as a last resource, pride
in the nation to which he belongs; he is ready and glad to defend all its
faults and follies tooth and nail, thus reimbursing himself for his
inferiority” (Schopenhauer, 2014). This is what Trump is doing, and it is wrong. We would be wrong, doubly so,
if we engage him with the same nationalist pretensions.
References
Schopenhauer, A.
(2014). Essays and Aphorisms. Westminster: Penguin Classics.
