This morning not many of us have slept well, who follow American politics. So expletives and repetition of campaign messages are the first thing I've seen on twitter, and I saw a lot of things.
However what will remain in my mind is what Jo Cox MP would do if she had not been murdered by a man with links to far right American organisations. Jo would focus on what "we" have in common.
"Don't mourn, organise"
As Greens one policy of Trumps we really like is his opposition to ISDS, a type of free trade deal which puts legal power in the hands of a handful of corporate lawyers. Justin Tredeau (Liberal Party of Canada, elected under a similar system) and most of the mainstream media support these deals. On most things the GOP stands for I disagree. It's been said that UKIP only oppose these trade deals because they involve the European Union. They would support it if it was the British state and the City of London behind the same ISDS type deal. Ultimately this is a campaign we can win with the solid support of the left, greens, and possibly some UKIP, though UKIP members of European Parliament did not vote to oppose the deal last time.
What does this opposition to NAFTA mean? For all of us it is about the world which we envision, that we wish to create. This is a world for people working in manufacturing and skilled jobs, not a corporate elite. When we win, we need to be talking about an Alternative Trade Mandate (ATM). This clear plan is backed by many fair trade charities and non governmental organisations. I would welcome a stripping of the language around this deal which is so technical and deliberately misleading. However as we move towards Trump's style of rhetoric this must not mean a lowering of critical thinking standards and it must not mean a rejection of experts and academic study. It is just that we have to connect with what what TPP, CETA and TTIP actually mean to you. For me the agreements threaten things which should not be marketised: education for the young, the broadcast media for democracy, and continuing the National Health Service at a time that Medicare in the states is being attacked by misogynists and vested interests. Here in Barnet it means the future shape of our Barnet Council services.
In his victory speech he called for America to put aside division get together. As his fake anti establishment mate Alex Jones describes Clinton's ideology as globalism I am still trying to figure out what that means and how the world can get together.
We are Green!
