TheNextReport

He's got us in his grip that old, archaic, monstrosity that we love so well, making us stare into that magic mirror. And we follow blindly once again, wondering if it even has more than a brake demonstrating our pitiable lack of intelligence. 

Fire in the streets! That became the rallying cry in France as its commitment to building a future based on combating climate change officially entered the French lexicon. The French call it Gilets et Jaune. What began as a local, weekend protest against a government plan to hike taxes on fuel oil has turned into the most serious challenge to the French experiment with democracy since Napoleon caught the last train to Waterloo. The French and Americans have had an unusual, symbiotic relationship ever since the two found common ground during the Revolutionary period. Now, with the American government under siege by the dangerous antics of a billionaire circus clown, some right-wing European politicians who have expressed an admiration for Mr. Trump have realized they have some big shoes to fill. The voices behind the fires are casseurs, adepts at breaking storefront windows and setting things ablaze. Now, back in the US, it has been announced that President Trump has given up. Afte

There I sat watching France and and The United States tearing themselves apart from the inside, thinking about the US led by a psychopathic circus clown, as big as a true challenge to its democracy. What's at stake in the shutdown was much more than the personal glorification of a crude, dangerous political hack, whose main interest is his bank account and securing his place in America's history book. The Trump presidency has taught us some harsh lessons about structural defects in the political system that has guided us for more than 200 years. Will the governing class of the United States be able to pull itself together to meet the dangers and opportunities that lay ahead? Stay tuned.

As we move into a new year, "courage" will be one of the key operating terms for the U.S. and other industrialized countries, seekimng a way out of. The threat of global, political extremism from both the left and right; the disturbing, ethno-centric turmoil coming from home and overseas; provide the seeds for action from bleeding governments sorely in need, seeking a way out. The questions scream through the headlines: Will we have the courage to finally surmount our stale, dual-sided mindset and beat back the partisan antagonism that has chained us for so long? Will we have the means and the will to withstand the damage done to an economy that is unable to see the benefits of adopting a green economic paradigm?