Nick Pateras | Crippled America
BOOK REVIEW
Crippled America - Donald Trump
Vacuous catalogue of monotonous policy sound-bites and roaring self-compliments
It may prompt shock that this book made it onto my reading list, given both my political leanings and my disdain at the acerbic stench of the American election climate. Nonetheless, I bear a strong belief that exposure to viewpoints different than one’s own is possibly the best method by which to broaden and sharpen one’s intellectual arsenal. When Trump won the Republican presidential nomination, I felt it important to familiarize myself more closely with his policies and the workings of his mind, so studying Crippled America was a logical step to this end. I hope to do the same with Clinton’s Hard Choices soon as well.
On starting, I had to consciously practice an open mind in order to fairly critique the book’s contents, especially as it is structured capaciously by lending one chapter to each of a wide array of political issues. In doing so, I had to look beyond the book’s wording: the ghost-writer delivers a meritorious effort of capturing Trump’s simplistic and braggadocious tone, with one chapter alone featuring such quotes as “I’m rich. I mean, I’m really rich”, “There’s nobody like me. Nobody understands business like I do”, and “I’m a fighter. Knock me down and I come back even stronger.” As I strolled the pages – at a rapid pace, given the repetitive nature of some passages – it very much felt as though Trump himself was the original architect of the words before me.
“If you have laws you don't enforce, you don't have laws. This leads to lawlessness.”
One of my hopes for this work was to dive deeper into the rationale and details behind Trump’s ideas, particularly as it is commonly accused of him that his speeches are devoid of depth. This optimism was short-lived, as too often when some proper substance appeared to be forthcoming the book would revert to playing the role of megaphone for Trump’s overly-burnished ego. Despite this, many chapters gave me pause to think on major issues like healthcare and foreign policy. For example, Trump posits the U.S. should no longer police other countries, intervening only if there is a direct threat to American national security (predictably, he doesn’t suggest what would qualify) and even then that the U.S. should be somehow compensated if it lends resources to stabilize foreign regions. Another thought-provoking insight, this on immigration, was to recognize that Trump is largely a supporter and it is solely illegal immigration that he aims to curtail.
"I want good people to come here from all over the world, but I want them to do so legally."
Trump’s salient objective is to propagate that as an official elected by Americans, his first responsibility is to them and ergo their interests must be elevated above anyone else’s. It is a line worthy of consideration but also warrants challenging insofar as the book offers no order of prioritization between issues of education, infrastructure or the economy. Trump claims to already have every solution despite having never held public office, so one struggles not to see the Potemkin qualities in his shameless puffery. It is demonstrative of these issues’ complexities – and indicative of the caliber of this year’s candidates – that I remain curious about a potential Trump presidency. With this book though, Trump has accomplished absolutely nothing in combatting his image of being a politically-illiterate, self-interested demagogue.
-NP, August 2016