World Leaders

This blog is about world leaders (current and recent), in terms of what kind of people they are. It attempts to paint a picture of how well or badly they are regarded in the world, and gives them a thumbs up, thumbs down, or so-so designation. I will try to be as unbiased as possible, and provide evidence as to why they were given their designation.

Nicola Sturgeon MSP  Good

First Minister of Scotland - 20 November 2014 - present

Nicola Sturgeon, who is also the leader of the Scottish National Party (which is currently the biggest party in Scotland, has the most MSP's in Holyrood) wants a fair and just society that benefits all, which includes free education (to teriary education level), universal health care, benefits and social security for the needy, equal rights for women, and so on. See SNP policies for more information.

She has also brought in ideas pioneered by other countries, such as the baby box introduced in Finland in 1938.

Further to that, she maintains that the goal of government should be the well-being of the people in society, rather than maximising the wealth (the GDP) of the country. An active, happy and equal society is better to aim at, since the GDP will also improve. See her TED Talk - Why Governments Should Prioritise Well-Being.

New Zealand, Iceland, and Scotland started the Well-being Economy Alliance, which intends to further policies of improving well-being, over growth of wealth.

Donald Trump   Bad

President of the United States of America - 20 January 2017 - present

Donald Trump came to power in very dubious circumstances, after losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election in the USA. He is by all accounts a racist, a bigot, a bully, rude, a hypocrite, a sexual preditor, and a xenophobe. He is also a bad businessman, crap deal maker, but can manipulate a crowd very well.

Racism: prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior

"They're sending people who have lots of problems and they're bringing their problems with us. They're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists, and some, I assume, are good people." - Candidacy announcement for President of the USA -- 16 June 2015

"Cumming District is a disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess." - tweet -- 27 July 2019

"Why do we want all these people from Africa here? They're shit-hole countries. We should have more people from Norway." Star TV -- 11 January 2018

Bigotry: An Oral History of Trump's Bigotry - The Atlantic (magazine) - June 2019

Bullying: Meet the (many) Small Business Owners Stiffed by Donald Trump -- Inc. (magazine) - June 2019

Sexism: prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination, typically against women, on the basis of sex

Actually, I couldn't find anything that Trump said that was outrightly sexist. Crude, crass, and ungentlemanly, yes, but not sexist. Hardly a resounding 'thumbs up'.

Manners: Wow, this guy is just rude.

Rude nicknames for his political opponents, insulting foreign elected officials, foreign leaders, domestic elected officials Not a nice guy to be around.

Lying: Too many to write here. Here's The Washington Post's tracker for starters.

Hypocritical: Just one example here - golf. Trump criticising Obama for playing golf. Trump playing golf way more than Obama.

Sexual predation:

"Grab them by the pussy, you can do anything" -- video (courtesy of the Washington Post). More discussion.

Ivana Trump (his wife), herself claimed that Donald Trump raped her in 1989. She subsequently retracted these statements.

Xenophobia: dislike of, fear of, or prejudice against people from other countries

Trump attacked Congress members and bid them, "Go back to your own countries", even though they were all United States citizens.

Bad at business: Trump would actually have been much richer had he invested in an index fund. In other words, his dad's money would have grown more if he had done absolutely nothing. His various business activities have actually lost him lots of money. Here's a list of some...

I tried hard to find any saving grace that would counter the above litany of horrors, but honestly, I couldn't. Trump is not 'making America great again', instead, he is fueling racism, bigotry and hate in the USA, and far from the deal-maker-in-chief that he claimed he would be, in reality he is weak, crap at international diplomacy, and a thoroughly, all-round, nasty man. The sooner he is removed from power, the better off the USA will be, and the safer the rest of the world will be.