Why, as a Caribbean man, I’m so interested in American Politics
The policies enacted by the US government affected the global financial market and economy of my own country, the climate of the planet, and also promoted conflict in different parts of the world. [and] also indirectly affect how the people in my country vote.
A few years ago, just before the US 2016 election, I posted something on Facebook which was extremely critical of then candidate Trump. A white, conservative, male American acquaintance, who had previously visited Dominica once or twice, then responded asking why I was so interested in American politics, and not minding my own business and my “own corrupt government”. He seemed to be genuinely offended that I, a Dominican, was attacking this US presidential candidate (whom he supported at the time), while the government of Dominica had been previously embroiled in a scandal of spending millions of dollars to build a new “Presidential Palace”.
I responded to his comment, taking the opportunity to explain in detail exactly why I as a Dominican paid such close attending to American politics and cared so much about the outcome of its election. I explained to him how the policies enacted by the US government affected the global financial market and economy of my own country, the climate of the planet, and also promoted conflict in different parts of the world. I also explained to him how the economic effect his country had on mine could also indirectly affect how the people in my country vote, leading to the election of what he called the “corrupt Dominican government”.
It seems that my very detailed, point by point, fact based response to his comment offended him even more than my original post criticizing Trump. He deleted his comment, and with that I lost my very poignant response to why American politics matters so much to me.
But it is worth diving into why it matters. People the world over seem to be fascinated and entertained by American politics. It is quite a spectacle after all. But its more than just that. For over half a century the United States of America has boasted about being the most powerful nation in the world. They have the world’s largest economy (for now), a military many time larger than all other countries combined, and until recently had the most political influence and respect among other nations. American media also has unprecedented influence throughout the world.
There is a famous saying that when America sneezes the world catches a cold. No where is this more apparent than with the 2008 global financial crisis. US politicians enacted policies and laws that allowed American financial institutions to expand to unimaginable size (too big to fail) and gave these institutions the leeway to act recklessly, like stacking skyscrapers on top each other with no foundation to support the mega structure. When these American mega banks started to collapse, due to the consequences of their sanctioned risky behaviour, they took the rest of the world down with them. These giant dominoes toppled the entire board.
The effects of the financial crisis took a few years to manifest in Dominica, but when it hit, like most other places, it hit hard. The private and public sectors were equally impacted, as were ordinary citizens. But it’s not only the economy that was affected, as a country’s economy affects everything else. When people are desperate they do not make rational decisions. Economically disadvantaged persons don’t vote based on policy. They vote for whoever throws a few crumbs their way. And in a struggling economy made worse by the effect of policies and decisions made hundreds of miles away, people will vote for an administration that gives out money in its “Red Clinic”.
Fast forward to 2020 and the American sneezing analogy became quite literal. While the COVID-19 Pandemic originated in Wuhan, China before spreading across the world, most countries, especially China, have taken extraordinary steps to contain the spread of this disease. Except the United States hasn’t, and is now the epicentre of this deadly disease. The US president (the same one I criticized before his election) is on tape admitting that he lied to the American people and downplayed the severity of the virus, even though he knew how serious it was. The fact is that due to how interconnected the world is, and how dependant many countries, especially those in the Caribbean, are on American tourism, no matter what individual countries do to combat the spread of COVID-19 this pandemic will not be contained until the US gets their cases under control. Until the US stops sneezing the world won’t recover from its cold.
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