Donald Trump is the Epitome of Mediocre White Man Syndrome
I think we’ve all known that guy. He’s had some moderate success either because he’s worked hard or — more likely — because he was given an opportunity he didn’t really earn. This guy thinks his success is due entirely to his natural talents and bristles at the notion that he had help, and if that weren’t annoying enough, he thinks his limited success in one arena makes him an expert in all of them, and he’s insulted when anyone dares to think otherwise.
This is Mediocre White Man Syndrome, and this is Donald Trump.
Donald Trump got his chance in business by getting a loan from his father. He was bailed out of failures by loans from his father. I don’t think anyone would begrudge a father helping his son or a son or a son seeking help at the start of his career. Just please, let’s not pretend getting bailed out is a success.
Trump Steaks. Trump Wine. Trump this, Trump that, the list of failed — and sometimes fraudulent — businesses is staggering. It’s surely unfair to expect every business to succeed. It’s probably unfair to expect most businesses to succeed, but all of Donald Trump’s businesses had tremendous advantages — name recognition, connections, etc. — and they all failed because Trump tried to do things extravagantly. He cared more about image than about getting the job done.
That’s why, even as business after business failed, he was a success at one thing: brand management. And that success is why he ultimate turned away from trying to make his own things and just lent his name to other people — for a fee.
The mediocre white man will ignore the help he has received. The mediocre white man will blame his failures on others. The mediocre white man will tolerate no suggestion that he can’t be successful at anything he attempts, even things he’s failed at before.
The mediocre white man knows everything, you see, so your complaints and criticisms are baseless in his mind. Because those criticisms are baseless, the mere fact that you would dare criticize him is an affront more terrible than anything he could possibly have done to you.
And that’s why, a day after Vice President-Elect Mike Pence was politely reminded that he should be defending the rights — and lives — of people regardless of color, creed, or orientation, the Mediocre White Man-Elect demanded an apology. The criticisms of Mike Pence, that he advocates torturing gay youth until they turn straight and that he’s so against a woman’s right to her own medical decisions that he almost single-handedly started an HIV outbreak, simply don’t count, you see.
