Jimmy Carter's Prophetic 1979 Warning Of Trumpism

[Purveyor]

By Star-Ledger Guest Columnist
By John Farmer Jr.

"We've always believed in something called progress. We've always had a faith that the days of our children would be better than our own.

"Our people are losing that faith ... "


Those are not the words of candidate Donald Trump at a 2016 "Make America Great Again" rally, although they sound a similar note. They were spoken on network television on July 15, 1979, by then-President Carter.

For those who of us who spend hours each day in disbelief over trending Twitterstorm of American politics, President Carter's speech of nearly forty years ago offers an uncannily prescient perspective on the urgent question: how did we get here?

President Carter warned of a spiritual crisis that he identified as toxic to American ideals. In describing that crisis, moreover, he might well have had the lifestyle and values of his 21st century successor in mind:

"[T]oo many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption. Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns. But we've discovered that owning things and consuming things does not satisfy our longing for meaning. We've learned that piling up material goods cannot fill the emptiness of lives which have no confidence or purpose."

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http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2017/07/jimmy_carters_prophetic_1979_warning_of_trumpism_f.html?%%STOP%%ath=%%eval%20lower%20$md5_email%%

[sandensea]

1. He did so again at his 1980 acceptance speech:

That is the future I want for all people, a future of confidence and hope and a good life. It's the future America must choose, and with your help and with your commitment, it is the future America will choose.

But there is another possible future. In that other future I see despair—despair of millions who would struggle for equal opportunity and a better life and struggle alone.

I see surrender: the surrender of our energy future to the merchants of oil, the surrender of our economic future to a bizarre program of massive tax cuts for the rich, service cuts for the poor, and massive inflation for everyone.

And I see risk: the risk of international confrontation, the risk of an uncontrollable, unaffordable, and unwinnable nuclear arms race.

[Cracklin Charlie]

2. Can we put President Carter in Trump's place?

Askin for myself.

[sandensea]

3. And Fritz Mondale in Pence's would be nice too.