Waneta Sunshine Rotary

This post might be considered a little politically incorrect by Rotarian standards, but here goes anyway. While I am not a fan of the Four Way Test it is a standard that Rotarians worldwide do hold themselves to. The Four Way Test:

• Is it the truth?
• Is it fair to all concerned?
• Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
• Will it build goodwill and better friendships?

The title question comes from a conversation that was ongoing with a distinguished Rotarian from below the the border. And there was a comment that President Donald Trump was not as bad as he seems. And before I could hold my tongue I replied. “Oh yes he is.” The topic of this conversation thankfully quickly petered out at this point.

Now the question over the last few weeks has been brewing in me, would President Trump make a good Rotarian by the the standards of the Four Way Test?

Is it the truth?

President Trump is not renown for the accuracy of his statements.

The graphs to the right can be found at Wikipedia and are from The Washington Post and Toronto Star respectively. OK, the Toronto Star does lean a little to the left. And the Washington Post as well. The Wiki article catalogues the numerous strange pointless misdirections that are repeated by Donald Trump. The Wiki entry gives some examples:
eg the inaugural crowd size, the Obama administration spied on his election campaign, his Electoral College win was a landslide, the hurricane Dorian map alteration. These are some of the more wholly unnecessary attempts at misdirection.

Is it fair to all concerned?

Is the separation of children from the parents of illegal immigrants fair? Whether other administrations have done this is irrelevant; the scale and callousness this separation was carried out, is unprecedented in modern US history, at least on the the US’s doorstep.

The tax cuts, while it is true that about 80% of the population did see a small decrease in taxes. But the top 20% of earners saw 60% of the tax savings, and the top 1% saw 17% (New York Times). Well I suppose the top 1% can feel better about their philanthropy. Is this fair to all concerned?

Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

The third test is similar to the second in some ways. And of course actions almost by definition cannot be beneficial to all; this is one of my concerns about the four way test. All is a big word. But that is for another time. Is Rotary socialistic by nature? Well I suppose the answer is, it depends. It depends on how we look at it. It definitely is wealth redistribution, taking wealth from the “rich” and having a targeted redistribution of that wealth to the needy. More capitalistically minded might see it as voluntary charity. I must admit I see, Rotary as socialistic (note the lower case) and I certainly hope it is.

The slow dismantling of the Affordable Care Act definitely has not been beneficial to all concerned. The percentage of Americans that do not have medical insurance has increased. A couple of Rotarian friends have told me their insurance premiums have increased recently and it has been difficult to get insurance anyway. Luckily they have means.

Regardless of this particular test, Trump’s policies have not been equitably beneficial to all. They have benefited those that don’t need it the most.

Will it build goodwill and better friendships?

This of course is where Trump fares notably poorly. The Trump administration’s tenure have seen really poor relations with its allies. Particularly with the West. The US has become a laughing stock, albeit the laughter is of the nervous kind. When you sleep with an elephant be careful when it rolls over.

Current examples abound. Take past Ambassador Yovanovitch, regardless of her performance and competency and whether or not she deserved removal, no Rotarian would publicly bad mouth her. Just imagine your club President bad mouthing a fellow Rotarian at a club meeting. Then there is the “shithole” countries comment. These countries include El Salvador, Haiti and Honduras. I know our club has donated to at least two of these countries. This remark could be simply part of his biases. To be fair we all have biases to some degree, I certainly do; but by and large, the vast majority of Rotarians can keep them in check.

How would an invited program speaker go down at a club meeting with this kind of behaviour? Just about every campaign rally of Trump’s I have seen there have been excerpts that have been totally inappropriate. Think back to the GOP debates and how he mocked his opponents.

This was (and still is) totally inappropriate behaviour for me. Google Trump’s mocking, take a look at how he mocks Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, and others. OK I get it, it’s politics, you don’t have to be “nice” to your opponents. But on the other hand you can be vaguely civil about it. Perhaps even be witty about your opponents’ weaknesses. Now I am not privy to the inner workings of how the succession planning for the Rotary International Presidency is conferred, but I would assume it is by and large civil, respectful, and makes for better friendships.

Not as bad as he seems

Well I gather President Trump can be quite personable in more private or social occasions. But for me, what he has shown publicly is totally un-presidential. I was disappointed with Hillary Clinton’s basket of deplorables remark aimed at half of the Trump supporters. I was even more disappointed with the crowds who cheered that remark. I am completely at loss when it comes to those that defend Trump’s inappropriate nonsense. But it did get me wondering about the other half who are intelligent, wealthy, erudite, principled. What could have persuaded them to vote for and continue to defend such an obviously unworthy person to hold this high office and represent the people of the United States of America?

Donald Trump may have got some things right, they escape me at the moment; but the way he goes about that does not work for me. My final question for Rotarians is, do the ends justify the means and do means meet the four way test?

Note … this is my personal opinion and not of the club or Rotary International. But it would be turning a blind eye to how Rotarians enable our leaders to behave.