By S. Jayasankaran
The President of the United States isn’t worried about artificial intelligence (AI). Donald Trump thought it was also no match for natural stupidity. In which case, you could say he had, well, a natural immunity.
He also did not think AI was a clear and future danger. Neither were the wars in the Middle East or Ukraine, climate change, a possible nuclear Armageddon, or another Covid-style pandemic.
He had been invited to address the 80th Anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly. And so, he did. With some caveats.
First, he didn’t follow protocol, speaking for an hour instead of the allotted 15 minutes. And he was less than diplomatic.
If anything, he pulled out his primer on How-to-Lose-Friends-and-Aggravate-Everyone-You-Didn’t-Care-For-Anyway.
And what was the major threat facing humanity in the world according to him?
Going by his speech to UNGA, it was renewable energy.
The commander-in-chief was unambiguous about his disdain for climate change. He swept aside two centuries of data with a manly wave of his hand, dismissing the threat as “the biggest con-job ever” and “a hoax.”
He went on to assail the UN for pushing the “nonsensical notion.”
The Scottish philosopher Thomas Carlyle said “A lie cannot live.” The poor fellow clearly hadn’t met many politicians.
Trump, however, was of a different stripe. The news channel France 24 said Trump’s UN speech was “peppered with lies.”
Perhaps he thought the tv station meant lice and that the UN, having pushed the climate change poppycock, was also harbouring vermin!
Actually, he was furious with the UN. He felt he’d been “sabotaged” by the august body. It was an ingrate, he concluded bitterly, because he had single-handedly settled “seven wars in six months” and it didn’t even notice. Nor was he a shoo-in for the Nobel Prize.
The “sabotage” was three-pronged, therefore, thought through, and a Clear and Present Danger. His escalator had stopped mid-climb: his teleprompter had gone on the blink, and his mike had gone out.
Prime facie, it was the stuff of treason. His press secretary, Karoline Levitt, enthusiastically agreed, threatening “severe punishment” to Whom It May Concern.
The one thing the POTUS agreed with was his greatness. Don’t believe me? Just ask him.
Indeed, he revealed it to the entire assembly. He predicted ruin to Western countries which allowed unchecked immigration.
“I can tell you I’m really good at this.” he confided modestly to a surprised assembly. His bleak prediction: “All you countries are going to hell!”
He told them because he knew that he knew. And it seemed to be a person-to-holder thing.
While decrying the climate-change bunkum, he revealed: “Trump has been right about everything. I don’t mean to sound braggadocious but it’s true.”
He continued in a quieter, even admiring tone, “I have been right about everything,” he said as an awed smile crossed his face.
“My work here is done,” he thought proudly.
Not quite though. Before he left, he advised pregnant women to skip Tylenol – the US version of Paracetamol – if they didn’t want autistic babies. That was his genius.
The views expressed here are entirely those of the writer
WE