Wednesday, October 19, 2016

The US, Pluto and Donald Trump

The last time we had a Uranus-Pluto square - the late20s/early 30s - much of the real shit happened afterwards in the form of the continuing Great Depression and the Second World War. The current square finished (in terms of exact crossings) 18 months ago. It's hard to second-guess these transits, but it could well be that the real outcome, the major events, will be in the coming years.

So far we have avoided a Great Depression. The loose monetary policy that led to our Great Recession was eerily similar to the last square, but this time we bailed out the banks. It was unfair the way the bankers got away with it, but only some of them: most bankers were ordinary people doing their jobs. It's also worth remembering that the banking system performs a vital function. Ultimately, it was the western governments, blinded by free market ideology, and in the pockets of the financial system, that was to blame.


But there is still a huge economic shift going on, called 'globalisation', in which wealth and the means of production are shifting to hitherto poor but populous countries like China and India. And in the West we are feeling it. Hence Trump and Brexit.

Pluto reveals that which is hidden, and things get hidden because we don't want to look at them, and that means they often come out in a painful, disruptive way. But better out than in. One factor in the Brexit vote was the protest by areas in the north of England, whose 'inefficient' industries had been shut down under Thatcher, and which have never recovered. The reasoning behind the vote was that the EU represents the same sort of capitalism as is found in the UK, and what has it ever done for them? In fact, with the free movement of workers, things could only get worse from their point of view. I think it's hard to argue against this point, rooted as it is in hard experience. This doesn't make Brexit itself right or wrong. But it does mean that something that wasn't previously addressed has made its voice heard.


And it's the same sort of thing with the Trump vote in the US. There is a whole section of the population that has become poorer due to de-industrialisation and globalisation, and only Mr Trump is addressing that. Pluto is at the end of opposing the US Sun, and Trump is Pluto personified: unreasonable, unignorable, a powerful force, who even resonates with the Pluto myth of female abduction.


But he is there for a reason, which is a section of the population that has been ignored by politicians. And why have these people been ignored? It seems to me that to address their real grievances, the nature of the capitalist system under which we live would have to be addressed. And that ain't going to happen easily, US politicians being famously in the pockets of the big corporations. And with a heavy disguise of right-wing ideology to go with it.


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So what Trump stands for is a protest against the globalised capitalism under which we live, in which corporations can outsource to the cheapest country, regardless of consequences at home or working conditions abroad, and in which the gap between rich and poor is growing.


And I think this can be missed about Trump, because the man is so awful and so unfit to govern: there is something real going on, a move away from the free market capitalism of the last 35 years, towards protectionism. That, I think, will be one of the meanings of the Saturn-Pluto conjunction in Capricorn a few years down the line.

Protectionism, in which countries protect their own industries and products from cheaper products from abroad, has a bad name. It has a bad name because it stops the powerful countries from extending their reach. But 'developing' countries need to be protectionist. America itself was in the early days.

Brexit and the rise of Trump may be seen in 10 years time as the first fractures in the current globalising economy.

The US is at the end of Pluto opposite Sun, and in the middle of Neptune square Ascendant. So it's big stuff. The Neptune transit describes, for one thing, the susceptibility to an ideologue like Trump. But with Sag Rising, it also suggests some kind of search for meaning. The US will soon give way to China as the world's wealthiest nation. Being number one has been an important part of who America is for the last 100 years. So who will she be now? This is why Trump talks in terms of 'making America great again': it is a crude way of addressing that gradual loss of identity.

And in about 5 years the US will have her first Pluto return, in the 2nd House: a review of that incredible resourcefulness that quickly made her the world's wealthiest and most powerful country. America is still a young nation, she has only ever known success. And she still has that pioneering, survival-mode mentality that Pluto in the 2nd also describes. It will be very good for her to be knocked off the top spot, it may bring thoughtfulness and reflection and loss of naivety.

Back in January, before the American primaries began, I predicted that Trump would be the Republican candidate, and the next President. It looks like I was right on the first prediction, and wrong on the second. But assuming he loses, America will still be left with a lot of soul-searching, as is only right for a major Pluto transit. The rise of Trump has for many been a trauma, a shock. It shows how crude, how prejudiced, how gullible many Americans are, and how that constituency and all it stands for came so close to running the country. It also, maybe, shows how desperate many Americans are, that they would support such a man. Pluto opposite Sun has revealed a wound in the country that, once the dust has settled, will need to be addressed.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

How Pluto would only be represented by Trump goes beyond me.
In particular, since Hillary R. Clinton is a SCORPIO, she is involved in nepotism,covert activities, corruption, nefarious activities, etc. .... all very symptomatic of Pluto as well - in its worst embodiment.
Rather than writing a one-sided epitaph about Trump - a true reflection on both candidates and the situation with the establishment parties would have been more credible.

Anonymous said...

I am assuming that the writing is about the most dominant forces at the moment which is leading to the ongoing scenario - Trump has shown the weaknesses in America - Clinton is trying to paper old wounds to keep the status quo going with Bill Clinton sucking behind her like a limpet ... I am just astounded that Americans cant get a candidate who really can make some changes without money buying their way in ... guess they would be assassinated anyway if they tried.

Anonymous said...

I agree .. This is a very biased analysis. Don't count your eggs until they hatch, astrologer!

Anonymous said...

I agree that this is a very biased analysis not fit for a professional astrologer.

Anonymous said...

I apologize on behalf of my country for being irrational, credulous, undereducated, ornery, cruel, selfish and/or stupid enough to have let this man come this close to the White House. I know of people who will give up on our compatriots and just pick up and leave if he wins. With a serious chronic illness, lupus, I don't think I have a wide selection of countries which will accept me! Unfortunately, Trump's health care plan hands me a death sentence. I should go somewhere and ask for asylum and create a media event.

Anyway, I'm sorry. I've tried my whole life to gently educate others, but there is a large bloc, including friends of mine who know they are voting for my death, who would vote Republican even if the candidate were a sea slug.

I won't go into the reasons; probably bored readers enough.

Don't keep us the leader of the free world. We are too stupid and selfish.

It's possible
Le Hillary has Scorpio rising and there have been no Presidents with Scorpio rising. I had found the statistic interesting some time ago because I have Scorpio rising.

I've had very bad health my whole life. Some say it doesn't show in my chart in their opinion) so I'm really well and just don't know it, but as I sit here with a high fever I can only laugh at them. And that is exactly what some Trump voters are like. Hillary is Evil (often they have no reasons to back up this feeling) and Trump isn't all that bad. You can hurl facts at them but all that will happen is you will wear out your shoulder and your wrist.

--

October16, 1962, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, 8:52 am PDT

Anonymous said...

I apologize on behalf of my country for being irrational, credulous, undereducated, ornery, cruel, selfish and/or stupid enough to have let this man come this close to the White House. I know of people who will give up on our compatriots and just pick up and leave if he wins. With a serious chronic illness, lupus, I don't think I have a wide selection of countries which will accept me! Unfortunately, Trump's health care plan hands me a death sentence. I should go somewhere and ask for asylum and create a media event.

Anyway, I'm sorry. I've tried my whole life to gently educate others, but there is a large bloc, including friends of mine who know they are voting for my death, who would vote Republican even if the candidate were a sea slug.

I won't go into the reasons; probably bored readers enough.

Don't keep us the leader of the free world. We are too stupid and selfish.

It's possible
that Hillary has Scorpio rising and there have been no Presidents with Scorpio rising. I had found the statistic interesting some time ago because I have Scorpio rising.

I've had very bad health my whole life. Some say it doesn't show in my chart in their opinion) so I'm really well and just don't know it, but as I sit here with a high fever I can only laugh at them. And that is exactly what some Trump voters are like. Hillary is Evil (often they have no reasons to back up this feeling) and Trump isn't all that bad. You can hurl facts at them but all that will happen is you will wear out your shoulder and your wrist.

--

October16, 1962, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, 8:52 am PDT

Beep said...

I live in the US and in my opinion this is spot on. Trump is riding a wave of passion, anger, bitterness, cynicism that a lot of ppl didn't realize was there.

Oh and they don't get that we were circling the drain with a liquidity trap, moving quickly towards Great Depression Redux. They are angry that Obama bailed out the bankers (although they want Trump who has promised even MORE deregulation) and added to the deficit, in so doing saving our collective asses. They don't understand and they don't believe it was the only thing to do. One I know said, "well we just should have gone ahead and HAD a Great Depression". I felt like breaking into a rendition of "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime."

The leaders were angry white men but now Trump has got the momentum and a lot of others are lining up behind them in lockstep.

I think Hillary just might have Scorpio Rising because people are so suspicious of what she MIGHT have done while Trump Leo Rising turns the things he HAS done, which are the same or worse, into such an entertaining show that some ppl forgive him.

I thought the USA's Aquarius moon might dislike them equally but Hillary is being brought down by true enemies and that seems to be a Scorp rising kind of thing...I could be wrong.

I make enemies easily, and I'm a boring want to please Libra. It's the Scorp Rising, Mars in Leo. I MUST be up to something!

Election Day has some weird astrological stuff going on; wonder if anyone has been looking at it.

The moon has always turned out to be very important for USA stuff. We are an emotional, changeable and sometimes moody country. Remember the Cancer Sun.

Anonymous said...

I agree that this is a very biased analysis not fit for a professional astrologer.
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Anonymous said...

The Trump trolls were out in force, even though you told them long ago their idol would win. The mere hint that might not happen sent them into their usual s***posting.

Now that the election is over and he is president-elect, are you a good astrologer again? Have you received apologies from the Trolls? Flowers? Chocolates?

Wishing you a happy Christmas,
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