This is not something new. We were already witnessing the devolution of authority and power and moral authority as the result, even before Trump, of the breakdown of national governments. Whether it’s Brexit, or right-wing governments in Poland and Hungary, or anti-immigrant feeling in France and Belgium and Holland, or a crazy man in the Philippines violating civil rights, or Brazil with no national government at all. The election of Donald Trump is obviously a further sign of this kind of dysfunction. He is somebody who is in fact an enemy of national governments, an enemy of the intervention by the state on behalf of justice, redistribution, etc. [...]
I believe the vertical separation of powers is going to play an important role because in fact the blue parts of the American map are urban. It’s not East and West coast…it’s urban versus suburban and rural. Take climate change, for example—an area where cities have a very large role to play. About 80% of greenhouse gas emissions come from cities and cities also control about 80% of GDP. They can do a lot to combat climate change, whether or not Trump undermines the COP21 agreement. [...]
Already, Mayor Bill de Blasio in New York has a program that gives unregistered, undocumented immigrants the right to apply for a New York ID card and use it, even though technically they’re illegal. In Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti is another visionary, powerful mayor, Mayor Kasim Reed in Atlanta, Mayor Marty Walsh of Boston. I think you will find that, not because they’re brave—although I think they probably are—but because it will be in the interest of the democratically elected leaders of what in fact is a majority of Americans who voted against Trump. This is a place where you can have legitimate, democratic dissent, but more importantly, legitimate, democratic action on behalf of progressives—whether or the federal government wants it.
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