Hitler was a demagogue. Trump is a demagogue. They said and say the things that prey on the fears and resentments of people inflicted with the sense of unfairness derived from the real and imagined/realized realities of their current and past circumstances. Trump’s words are the wish-fulfillment of the restoration of American pride and projection of power for those who believe it is lost. Like Obama’s optimistic and pragmatic Hope, Trump offers the authoritative Will.
Trump has always been a brand builder, and his run at the presidency I’m sure was just an attempt to continue to build that brand. His pathology — the unwillingness to expand the scope of his perspective, to not let in doubt where it needn’t be, is what has made him survive and thrive with the strong economic foundation he inherited. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses, and within the scope of his campaign, Trump has a very focused perspective which is derived from his assessments of the social narrative of victimization, fear and resentment. He knows about control — it is what his entire life, and subsequently, brand name, is built on. Like the North Korean government, if you control the narrative, then you don’t have to actually deal with too much. The same way, if you rely on narrative and control, the focus can be diverted from macro problems to micro solutions, however ineffective they might be — looking busy is the same as being productive to many eyes.
I believe that there are a lot of Americans who are uneducated and gullible, and I think there are a lot of Americans who simply want to see a shake up, regardless of cost. A couple years ago I assumed Hillary would be the next president. There were no eligible Republican nominees, the Republican brand was in tatters, and Clinton was the strongest candidate in line for the Democrats. Trump isn’t a Republican. He isn’t a Democrat. He’s Trump. He’s pro-Trump. That ideology is the American dream — self-promotion, and people can relate to it. Demagoguery takes over, and the focus on repeated phrases and promises takes over. Who cares if the Donald is ignorant? — that’s what advisers are for! Delegation!
Maybe that’s how it will go, but when our fearless leader has no sense of direction for the nation, then where do the decisions fall? — polls and momentum. So here’s where we are:
How do we reclaim our pride? Expel/exterminate “the enemy”. Is that the Muslims, or the Jews? Should we allow dangerous anti-Trump rhetoric? Take a swing at the protester — I’ll protect you. We should be using the tools available to prevent unpatriotic speech — a practical form of terrorism — so let’s use the CIA — or is that the SS? How do we show our strength to the world? Dominate the Chinese — or is that Europe?
Trump is all about Pride, and the easiest way for a demagogue to build or convey that sense of pride is by creating divisions and creating an enemy to fixate on. That essence is not the American way, but it is the human way. It is the reflexive, basic human conservative instinct to build walls and protect “what’s mine”. When the sense of power is great enough, it’s time for conquest — to rebuild our sense of power and demonstrate our superiority. Trust no one except the ones most similar to me — eliminate the threats outside that category of humanity.
Conservatism is a result of fear. Liberalism is a result of hope. The same way animals seek the sense of safety (supply of food, protection from predators) before procreating, the human animal seeks security — economic and emotional. Once that security threshold is met, Liberals tend to ask, “how do we improve?”, Conservatives tend to ask, “how do we protect?” Both questions are valid, so long as they are rooted in reality, both present and future.
In today’s interconnected world, a prosperous America is a liberal America so long as that liberalism is pragmatic and intelligently applied. In times of recession or other economic and emotional slide downwards, conservatism is natural, but it is still a base instinct that may not truly be reflective of the practical reality. America is the land of opportunity — people just need to be educated on how to capitalize on those opportunities and not be a victim to the fear that feeds conservatism and protectionism — the philosophy that ultimately disconnects us from outside opportunity.
Now is the time where you look back and see the degradation of rights and privileges, the construct of surveillance and police states, the militarization of the police, the elimination of personal privacy, the moral outrage against the possession of guns and the disintegration of our foundation of individual liberties and say: “what happens when a demagogue inherits those tools, circumstances, and momentum and has over 50% of the voting population in a rabid fervor to execute his vision?”
Is that really something that can happen? Can Trump really be elected? Would he really take those actions? Who has the will to stand up to him?
On the individual level, when people cling to a sense of pride — when they seek a spiritual sense of purpose derived from sin — then things are going to get worse. Greed, Lust, Sloth, Gluttony, Envy, Wrath, Pride. These things are all perverse derivatives of Fear. They are the embodiment of excessive Fear — fixating on the Self through excessive love (narcissism) or not enough love (self-loathing). Fear is at the heart of both conditions even if we call it “self-love” because it prevents connecting with *others*. The pull of real Love cannot be felt in those states and they are effectively spiritually corrupt and difficult to reason with. You find Balance through humility and understanding — breaking down the walls that prevent you from connecting to others. Being balanced is the ability to connect with the Self as well as the Other. I am a proponent of Balance — it doesn’t need to be these massive curves/swings over time where we hit the bottom as much as we hit the top, and it doesn’t need to be stasis. Even Balance requires Balance.
The Romans, the Byzantines, the Germans — they grew strong and proud, built on conquest, and then they slowed, and they fell apart. They ballooned, and then popped. They made enemies everywhere, inside and out. The strength of their ideals and their culture disintegrated in prideful excess. The societal infrastructure wasn’t there to hold things together, even when the organizational systems had worked for centuries. What are the negative global perceptions of Americans? Corporate and Anti-Social Greed, Pornographic and Promiscuous Lust, Next-Gen Sloth, People of Walmart Gluttony, Keeping up with the Jones’ Envy, Drone-Strike Wrath, and Bully Pride.
That’s not America, and yet it is. It’s humanity in a nut-shell, but when you glorify and build on it, the void — the spiritual schism — will eventually consume what is built upon it. I’ve never been particularly religious, but as an observer of human nature, there are lessons to be learned. I’m not a doomsayer, but a seer (one with the imagination to see the potential futures) might justifiably warn of the patterns of history. Fear is still not the answer. A potential future that does not come to pass can still be truthful. Measuring something changes the relationship between the observer and the observed.
Perverted faith only leads to sin, which leads to destruction (often through “faithful” extremism). If you put your faith in a demagogue and his false promises, you’re going to have a bad time.
Measure. Love. Balance.
Just do it.