A letter from Mariannka, an economist in Budapest, re Trump’s Save America Today program: 

“Why save America? And from what? After all, it is the country with the highest standard of living on Earth.”

Dear Mariannka:

Your point of view is well taken. This is in the title of the program. This is just political rhetoric, which I don’t necessarily agree with, but many on the right will. Similarly, the bugaboo of inflation no longer exists.

Maybe you didn’t notice in my English writing that Trump now wants to increase legal immigration—that every foreign graduate of an American college will be given a green card. This is an extremely reasonable proposition, and America has thriven on it for over two hundred years. 

Countries increase their wealth by (1) increasing the number of productive members of society and (2) increasing their productivity. It has to do with the fact that many, both on the left and the right, understand very little about the economy and politics. Thus, left-wing and right-wing candidates often limit themselves to accusing each other of “lying,” of trying to destroy American democracy and the latest thing—being “weird.”

So the title of the program corresponds to these concepts. Fortunately, the 20-point program contains sufficient substance. Still, Democrats will vote for Democrats and Republicans for Republicans regardless of the facts of the matter.

Thus, the independents will decide the elections—this is about 40 percent of the electorate. Democrats and Republicans need to focus on those voters.

However, in the grand scheme of things, the country’s economy and the country itself will be booming like no other as it has for 200 years through Democratic and Republican administrations, regardless of who is in power. The reason lies in the sound principles of capitalism of free enterprise. As you said, America is the country with the highest standard of living.

American voters, like voters elsewhere, do not really understand the economy and politics.

Thus, from time to time, American voters put the party in power on notice, throw out the incumbents, and for a change they put the opposition in power. They will never vote for the communists, as the Czechs voted in 1946, or for ex-communists as they vote for now. I have great confidence in the American voter in this regard.

Ivan Orisek
Forestburgh, NY