Commentary
Trump, The Media, And The Problem Of 'Pretty Good'
- by Gord Hotchkiss , Featured Contributor, March 11, 2025
A number of years back, I was in China for a conference when, during a dinner thrown by the hosts for their international presenters, I was lucky enough to find myself sitting next to James Fallows, who was in China on assignment for The Atlantic. His dispatches back eventually became the book “Postcards from Tomorrow Square: Reports from China.”
It was my first trip to China, and I was stunned by the apparent contradiction of the most entrepreneurial society I had ever seen under the rule of a Communist regime. I asked James how China’s then leader, Hu Jintao, managed to maintain that seemingly impossible balance without widespread insurrection. He said something I’ll always remember: “As long as the Chinese people believe that their lives today are better than they were yesterday, and that they will be even better tomorrow, they will continue to follow their leader.”
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That same very simple equation is what populists, some of whom may eventually become dictators, depend on -- promising to make life better for their base. If you were Hitler, Mussolini, or Francisco Franco, that was easy to do. Each of those countries and their economies were fundamentally broken in the 1920s or 30s. You didn’t have to be a genius to make things better for the average German, Italian or Spaniard. Just getting trains to run on time was a pretty big step in the right direction.
But that’s not the U.S.A. Things there are (or were) pretty good. Perfect? Not by a long shot. But pretty good.
You disagree? The plain facts are that at no time in history have people eaten more, had more, did more or lived longer than right now. And that is doubly true for the U.S., which has about 5% of the world’s population but consumes about 20% to 25% of the world’s resources. Yes, there’s a lot that can be fixed (for instance, there are huge disparities in wealth and consumption), but things are pretty good. Especially in the U.S. of A.
So where does that leave a populist like Trump? Populists say that they -- and they alone -- can make life better tomorrow for their base. But when things are pretty good already, that’s a hard promise to keep. The U.S. -- and the rest of the world -- is a complex place that exists thanks to complex systems. The economy, financial markets, diplomacy, healthcare, immigration, education -- all of these things are complex. And because of this complexity, the problems that do exist are what are called “wicked” problems -- problems that have no quick or simple solution. In fact, they may have no solution at all.
Someone like Trump has no clue about complexity. He will spout inanely ignorant “fixes” and back them up with talking points that have no basis in reality.
Take Trump’s insanely stupid “tariff” solution he imposed just over a week ago. It wasn’t even 24 hours old when he started pulling it back because the U. S. economy started running off the rails. As I said a month ago, imposing a 25% blanket tariff is like doing open heart surgery with a hand grenade.
And this is a big problem for Trump. He has no idea how to keep his promise to make life better for people in a complex environment. It’s not just tariffs. The flurry of executive orders and the chainsaw massacre that is DOGE are similarly stupid solutions to complex issues. They are doomed to fail, which means the U.S. will inevitably slip backwards, rather than leap forward.
Trump will blunder from mistake to mistake, blowing up all the systems that made things “pretty good” in America. He is bulldozing through the complex international relationships that have enabled the U.S. to perch on top of the world order for 100 years, pissing off every other country in the world with the exception of one: Russia.
As the Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau just said, “Make that make sense.”
It would be easy to blame Trump. But I won’t. He’s just being Trump, just like a shark is just being a shark. It would also be easy to blame the Republican sycophants that are letting him do this. But again -- sharks will be sharks. They have evolved to swim toward blood.
No, to truly assign blame, we have to ask “why” a few times.
Why was Trump put in the position where he could do this? He’s there because 77 million Americans voted for him. And why did they vote for him? Because they believed he could make things better tomorrow than they are today. It’s a pretty simple equation.
Let’s ask why one more time. Why did they believe that Trump could save them? Ah! Now, we’re getting somewhere. Our media built this belief. They built it because there is no profit in saying things are “pretty good.”
The media thrives by creating conflict. And so they built the belief that things were fundamentally broken and needed fixing. They created the illusion that there are simple solutions to complex problems. They gave Trump the air he needed to breathe.
The media -- especially social media -- also planted the false notion that we deserve better than “pretty good.” It has fostered the nonsensical equation that all of us should have the same as the richest of us.
We are entitled to it. And if we don’t get it, somebody is to blame. No one stops to think that that equation is mathematically impossible.
That is what we have to fix.
There is no money for Fox News Channel and their spawns by reporting facts. If they report facts, their viewers flee because they do not want facts. They want and are getting a treasure trove of outraged opinion based on rumors, gossip and outright lies that the viewers have become accustomed to seeing now for over a decade on social media, courtesy of Moscow. Unfortunately, it's turning into a dystopian reality for the rest of us.
That is cable news in general none of them care about the facts CNN, MSNBC which is the worst in my opinion. If there was money to be made with down the middle and straight when it comes to news cable would do it but I guess money couldn't be made. The closest was CNN when they first came out in the 80s and the early 90s before competition with MSNBC & FOX News in 96. I don't don't watch a lot of news other than 1 or 2 hours depending on the day M-F 6 or 7 total in those 5 days.
I think it's grossly unfair to label CNN as a left wing," lying", news network, just because it covers all of the stories that develop in a fairly objective manner---usually giving spokespersons of both sides a chance to comment. Of course, it's obvious that many at CNN favor the Dems over the Republicans, and I am noticing that under the new management, the anchors and reporters are making an effort--I assume by direction---to broaden their scope in terms of subjects covered--with less of the Trump "fact checking".
It's also noteworthy that despite its low average minute ratings, that CNN has a wide reach---but a low frequency--due to the lack of truly engaging on-screen personalities and by not making it a point to have some conservatives in "star" positions--like in prime tiime--perhaps with equally interesting liberal "stars" to debate them.
Finally, CNN makes a nice profit---mainly because it still garners huge carriage fees that offset sluggish rating-driven ad sales. So it is possible for a cable news operation that more or less plays it "straight" to make money. But it's not likely that Fox or MSNBC could go the same route and also be huge money makers. They are basically a combination of news and "entertainment"---or "engagement"--- channels, with Fox having successfully carved out a niche for itself with conservative viewers that has proven hard to break. As for MSNBC, it's time for "Plan B" --but what that might be--and still produce profits---- remains to be seen.
Thanks for that CNN breakdown Ed. I agree on CNN - they are the closest to objective that I've seen in a primarily ad supported platform. I don't think I labelled them as "left wing - lying" - but there is definitely a bias there. That's fair - all news outlets have a bias and CNN's is the least noticeable. I am using Media in it's broadest sense - anywhere that people get their information from. I think all the comments agree that it is a toxic environment and lead to the situation we find ourselves in today. At the heart of it is depending on ad sales for revenue and profitability.
"The plain facts are that at no time in history have people eaten more, had more, did more or lived longer than right now. And that is doubly true for the U.S...but things are pretty good. Especially in the U.S. of A."
For the first time in decades, Americans are going to live shorter lives than their parents and are unlikely to be as wealthy as their parents. And Americans are obese and unhealthy from a very early age compared to the rest of the world. The U.S. has consistently lost its ranking (quite dramatically) in terms of healthcare and education and safety vs. the rest of the world.
That's not "pretty good" by any means. And when Americans were told for four years that "inflation is transitory" and "you don't know how good you have it, look at the numbers," 77 million Americans decided that one candidate's version of "pretty good" was not as appealing as someone else who wanted Americans to feel "great" and feel optimistic again.
It doesn't matter what anyone thinks about Trump and I remember that famous quote "People don't remember what you say, they remember how you make them feel."
The majority of Americans don't feel "pretty good," and when you say "The media -- especially social media -- also planted the false notion that we deserve better than “pretty good.” It has fostered the nonsensical equation that all of us should have the same as the richest of us." it illustrates that you are ignoring that America wasn't built on the belief that everyone will be rich - it was built on the belief that if you work hard and are an upstanding citizen, that it's at least possibility and you are given the opportunities to be rich.
America became America because its people want to be the best, not pretty good.
Gord, I didn't mean to accuse you of labelling CNN as lefty oriented---or masively lying--- in its coverage. This has been a very successful effort by the right wing to discredit any criticism by accusing CNN as well as MSNBC and, in fact, just about all of the news media--except Fox, NewsMax, etc. of "lying". A lot of "conservatives" believe it--which is why the polls show such a drop in the news services' collective rating re being trustworthy. As you say, there is inherent bias in all media reporting and this is certainly obvious in how much time is devoted to each story, which stories are ignored, the supposed "fact checking", and hostile interviewing that we see on our TV screens---frankly, from many sources, not just Fox. .
Dan - I have just one question - and I'm genuinely curious - where do you get your information from? What sources?
I can watch CNN from time to time they did the right thing in firing Jeff Zucker who ran it into the ground and getting back to where it was pre-Zucker being left of center being fair to all sides. I agree Ed that FOX News & MSNBC can't do what CNN does ratings would drop for both if they tried.
I forgot to say I don't like the tariffs either no one wins other than everyone paying for the higher cost. I don't have any products made in Canada or Mexico other than a couple of T-shirts that say made in Mexico.