Some personal thoughts on broader effects of the U.S. election
Published in the Santa Fe New Mexican and the Gallup Independent as their leading OpEd the weekend of November 16th, following the election:
Appeared in the Santa Fe New Mexican and Gallup Independent as leading OpEd weekend of November 16th, and in the NMJJ November newsletter
by Diane Joy Schmidt
What resonates across the United States of America and Europe now, bringing a rightward swing and authoritarian governments to the ascendancy, is immigration. As used against the Other, a technique Jews are unfortunately very familiar with, the issue of immigration was employed very successfully by Trump to help him win the U.S. election. That is, if he really did win and voting counts are to be believed – while there are some tentative squeaks about a recount effort from Harris' campaign, they come off sounding like just being in denial, because nothing will be stopping him from taking office.
Going forward, the biggest driver of immigration is going to be climate change. This process, a feedback loop, is going to intensify rather than diminish, especially with dictatorial governments that deny climate change while expecting to stop migrations of people.
Wars, which increase migration, have started because of climate change. We’ve seen this over the last decade. In Syria, drought brought farmers to the cities, a precipitating factor in a civil war that sent millions into Europe. Now, apparently in reaction to those immigrants, recent elections in France, Germany, the Netherlands and other countries in Europe are seeing gains by right-wing parties that were unheard-of for years.
Wars also cause more pollution which causes more climate change which causes more migration...
Drought is a driver of migration from Central America. In 2019, when members of our Jewish community stepped forward to respond and assist busloads of migrants who were being bussed into New Mexico towns and cities, I wrote “Asylum Seekers Cared for by Jewish Volunteers in Albuquerque: A humanitarian crisis driven by climate change.” (New Mexico Jewish Link, Summer 2019). And, an Associated Press piece this week “Extreme weather drives migration."
Now we are hearing Trump’s cabinet picks: For the EPA, it’s Lee Zeldin, who is, according to the NY Times, “expected to gut climate regulations.” For Homeland Security, he's picked South Dakota governor Kristi Noem, who wrote that she shot and killed her 14-month-old dog because he wasn't picking up training cues fast enough, together with Stephen Miller (who last time around put families in cages and tore children away from their parents) as deputy chief of staff, and Tom Homan (former ICE head) to be “border czar.”
Next: His choice for Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, is an evangelical who welcomes settlements and advocates a hard line against Iran, announced even before his pick of Elise Stefanik for Ambassador to the UN. Marco Rubio for Secretary of State. Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to slash the government. Anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head Health and Human Services. Matt Gaetz, under investigation for sex-child-traffiking for Attorney General, Tulsi Gabbard, considered a Putin asset, for National Intelligence
Some may celebrate these choices.
I see a ghostly conductor waving a wand, and hear a march to the beat of an inexorable death wish. Skeletons on parade, wildly shaking their bones. I feel the dark pull of an undertow.
What to do? I’m afraid we will see the rule of law recede, for a time, as Trump’s ‘executive orders’ will be issued faster than any courts can respond. He's actually intimated that there won't even be another election.
How long will it take for us to find our footing again as a country? We will. We must. We will find our voices. But it will not be easy.
Diane Joy Schmidt is the publisher and editor of the New Mexico Jewish Journal.
The views and opinions expressed in this essay are the author’s own and not necessarily shared by other contributors and supporters of the New Mexico Jewish Journal.
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