Not including the mistakes, he made not related to his presidency
● He never thought he would win in 2016. His win showed him that politics is even a greater joke than he presumed before. He just wanted to enlarge the marketability of the Trump brand recognition.
● “I have the most loyal people–did you ever see that? I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters, OK?” Turns out that he lost his base when he failed an insurrection and surrounded himself with losers, liars, and crackpots.
● He got free campaign publicity by making insane pronouncements, sometimes doubling down on them and sometimes following up with saying the opposite. However, he so strengthened the media. He branded them the enemy of the People (code for: of the Donald), and he was right there. Their truthful reporting about abortion, the insurrection, and the crazy candidates he endorsed for the midterms meant his downfall.
● “Nobody knew that health care could be so complicated.” His ploy to sabotage Obamacare backfired, resulting in more payments to low-income enrollees to the tune of $20 billion per year.
● He prioritized fighting unemployment over fighting the pandemic ‘to protect the economy.’ If only he had listened to fellow capitalist Netanyahu, who did the reverse and so succeeded in protecting Israel’s economy. On top of that, hundreds of thousands died unnecessarily.
● A $1.5 trillion deficit-enlarging tax cut benefitting the super-wealthy that stretched ten years would trickle down and super-charge the economy for all. Of course, it didn’t. Rich people hoard, don’t spend it.
● His ‘tougher’ trade negotiations ‘to protect US industries’ resulted in international trade wars that cost billions. US farmers could not export 40% of their harvest. They are part of his base, so he paid them billions of dollars, but he undercut the US’ ability to grow its own food.
● As soon as he was elected, he started his reelection campaign—now paid for by the state. Almost everyone predicted he would lose in 2016. So, when almost everyone predicted he’d lose in 2020, he didn’t believe it. When almost everyone predicted a red wave for 2022, he believed it. He still believes he can win in 2024. That would be thrice wrong in a row.
● He imagined he could please evangelical bigots on abortion and that women (and their allies) would take that sitting down. He was wrong.
● His rallying cry of “Lock Her Up” might actually come to haunt him. He believes, against all legal experts, that running again is his get-out-of-jail card. It rather seems that only death can do that trick.
Not included in my list are strategic, economical, and moral disasters he likely intended to inflict, like: Confusing many about what is true and what is fake news. Heightening divisions in society. Empowering tyrants and weakening allies around the world, so much so that Putin dared to invade Ukraine. Divulging and stealing huge state security secrets, and hiding and destroying his paper trail and phone calls. Enlarging military spending. Disavowing the Paris Climate Accords. Stacking local, state, and federal courts with reactionary judges, fit or not. Undermining democracy and empowering bigots. Cutting 750,000 Americans off of food stamps, and taking overtime pay away from eight million blue-collar workers. Reducing regulations that protect workers, students, and average citizens (exposure to sexual harassment, toxic substances, pollution, racism in and collapse of banks, student loan debt, etc.). Releasing auto manufacturers from rules to reduce car exhaust, the largest US source of greenhouse gas emissions.
About other deviations from his stated goals, it is unclear if they are the result of laziness, incompetence, or ill will because he never intended to do things like that. We can think of building a border wall, limiting immigration and foreign workers coming in, and delegalizing weed.
For more details (dates, amounts, numbers), I gladly refer you to this link.
MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. *
As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. *
This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2000 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog, to which one may subscribe too, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. *
Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. *
Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. *
Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. *
He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. *
He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. *
He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. *
His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. *
To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. *
His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1