America’s “Golden Daze”
By Frank F. Islam. Medium. February 12, 2025
In a democracy, every citizen, regardless of his interest in politics, ‘holds
office’; every one of us is in a position of responsibility; and, in the final
analysis, the kind of government we get depends upon how we fulfill those responsibilities. We, the people, are the boss, and we will get the kind ofpolitical leadership, be it good or bad, that we demand and deserve. 
— John F. Kennedy
The American people have spoken. The political leader they chose for the
nation in this past presidential election was Donald J. Trump.
At the beginning of his inaugural address on January 20, 2025, President
Trump proclaimed, “…my fellow citizens, the golden age of America begins
right now.”
We are not certain whether President Trump, in proclaiming a “golden
age,” was referring to his own age, the color of his hair, or of his skin.
Seriously, we believe that America was already in a “golden age.” As Mike
Dolan of Reuters reported a few days after Trump’s address, “In many
respects, Donald Trump inherited the golden age he claims to be ushering
in. All he really needs to do is not screw it up.”
Our fear, based upon Trump’s performance since returning to the
presidency, is that Trump will “screw it up,” and what the American
citizens will get is a golden daze instead of forward progress in this golden
age. The golden daze will be a state of confusion and uncertainty among
the citizenry about what is being done and how it will benefit them.
To a certain extent, some of what Trump has done is understandable.
Trump’s initial executive orders, and immediate follow-up actions, in areas
such as immigration and federal government reform are what many of the
voters who cast their ballots for Trump demanded. But reducing the rising
cost of living and improving their economic conditions, which was at the
top of the list of demands for the majority of the working-class voters who
supported Trump, has received scant attention.
Those citizens deserve better than that. They need to have their demands
recognized and addressed. They should not have to exist in a golden daze
of anxiety and bewilderment, wondering what will be done for them.
Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, the demands at the top of the
people’s list do not appear to be at the top of Trump’s list.
There is no official Trump’s list. But his initial executive orders/actions,
some of the participants at his inaugural address, and his first presidency
suggest what are high up on that list.
Near the top would be the settlement of past grievances — or what might
be termed revenge and retribution. Examples of this include, but are not
limited to: His stunning pardoning or commutation of all of those January
6 rioters who have been convicted of crimes. His removal of the secret
service security protection of John Bolton and Mike Pompeo, his one-time
allies, who Trump felt betrayed him. And of course, his trying to eliminate
civil service positions, and/or fire civil service employees in those jobs,
and replace them with his appointees.
The thrust of these actions is to transform the federal government to the
Trump government. Call that government a monarchy. Call it an autocracy.
Call it a dictatorship. Call it whatever you want, the defining
characteristics of the Trump government would be that it would be
subservient and accountable to Trump and Trump only.
As the tech billionaires (Elon Musk of Tesla, Space X and X (formerly
Twitter), Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Sundar Pichai of
Google) who had special seats behind the Trump family at the
inauguration ceremony demonstrate, Trump has other things on his list.
These business leaders were there because of what their businesses and
their money can do for him personally now, and what he can do for them
and their businesses while he is in the Oval Office.
Finally, further down on Trump’s list are items related to his supporters for
priorities such as elevating states’ rights, protecting gun rights, and
restricting abortion rights. Which brings us back to the needs and
priorities of the working-class.
During his campaign Trump put forward a number of ideas to improve the
economy for the working class, such as: eliminating taxes on tips and
overtime pay; temporarily capping credit card interest rates; lowering the
prices of gas and groceries; and replacing Obamacare with a better
healthcare plan.
Will he deliver on those ideas and promises? We doubt it.
As we stated in a blog posted in December of 2024 after Trump’s election,
“Given Trump’s performance during his tenure as the 45th president, it is
likely that he may not do much to benefit the working class.”
His executive orders and administrative actions early in his tenure as the
47th president, such as the temporary freezing of trillions of dollars in
grants and loans that support programs that deliver major benefits to the
working class, reinforce our skepticism.
As indicated in our December blog, however, “Past may not be prologue.”
The Trump administration could put forward and implement a
comprehensive plan to improve the conditions of the working class. A
“concept of a plan” will not suffice.
If there is no recovery plan for the working class, the golden daze will
persist. The question becomes what happens then?
Trump has demonstrated an exceptional ability to persuade and convince
others that his construction of reality is the truth, in spite of facts and
strong evidence to the contrary. He is a master of spinning what we would
call “the golden haze,” in which things are seen in a much better and
brighter light than actually exists.
If the “golden haze” prevails over the “golden daze,” there will be no
consequence for Trump. If it does not, and the golden daze persists,
Trump and his Trumpian colleagues will pay a price in the elections of
2026 and 2028, when the working class decides to invest its votes
differently than they did in 2024.
