Radicalism Rises From The Vast Sea Of Indifference

I was talking to Alex, my step-grandson, yesterday. He asked me my opinion of Donald Trump.

I answered that whatever one might say about Mr. Trump, he was not among the leadership who created the present atmosphere which is giving rise to radical views and expressions of anger.
That creation of despair and hate was created by the Bushes (Iraq, Katrina, Afghanistan), Cheneys (Iraq, war profiteering), Clintons (NAFTA), etc. who had not expressly conspired to undermine the well-being of so many citizens, but effectively have done so by their Indifference.

How many people did I hear and how many times did I hear it back 20 years ago that the USA was being transformed into a Service Economy, and the people displaced from jobs in industry would be retrained and get jobs in - oh, I don't know! Say, jobs in programming or what-not.
Back then they would not dare say that they would get jobs flipping burgers, for it would undermine their breezy assurance that all is well.

In reality, how these Times of Change play out is that there is Sound, Fury, and Suffering.
And in time, those who suffered are dead, and can no longer be a drag on the fun.
The rest of mankind puts their gear back on and plays the game.

A particularly interesting example of governmental Indifference is in New Zealand:

BBC
Christchurch earthquake: The battle to rebuild, five years on
By Michael Ertl BBC News 21 February 2016
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35612298

It has been five years since a major earthquake hit the New Zealand city of Christchurch, but thousands of residents are still waiting for their homes to be repaired or rebuilt.
Several residents have told BBC News that they are "in limbo" and face increasing financial problems after years of delays and disputes about insurance claims.

The insurance industry says a series of aftershocks, and difficulty in working with the government's earthquake agency, has slowed it down.

A magnitude 6.3 quake struck directly under Christchurch at 12:51 on 22 February 2011, killing 185 people and destroying or damaging around 170,000 buildings.

Tom Davies and his wife had to move out of their house in Christchurch's Mt Pleasant suburb when it was declared unsafe two years ago.

"We have cracks you can crawl through, roof leaks, a spring running through the basement, walls leaning downhill, asbestos and electrics that pose a risk of fire or electrocution," he says.

Mr Davies says that five years after the earthquake little progress has been made in settling the insurance claim.

New Zealand has a two-tier insurance system that deals with natural disasters.
The Earthquake Commission (EQC), a government agency, covers damages to residential homes of up to NZ$100,000 (£46,000; $66,000).
More expensive repairs and rebuilds are handled by people's private insurance companies.

The Davies family's claim was handed to its insurance company in February 2014 [sic: probably "2011" is meant]

"Five years on, we are no further forward," Mr Davies says.

Good example of indifference, eh?
The Indifference seems to be Globalized, too. Interesting.

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