We Need to Talk About Donald
But first, I’d like to talk about freedom.
We are so free now.
Free to buy, borrow, and mold our image — with make up, artisanal accessories, and Instagram filters. Free to terminate relationships, carry guns, watch porn, have anonymous sex, make judgements, express opinions, pursue our careers, offend, cast votes, smoke pot.
Many of us have access to all of these things. We are so free.
We are free, but we are blind.
In our blindness we consume more, compare ourselves to others, try to fit in, try to make ourselves look good or feel good; eat exotic foods, travel, put our best foot forward; try to improve ourselves. And all the while we fear that we are missing out on more of the same.
As Theodor Adorno said when he spoke of the Holocaust, “blindness encompasses everything because it comprehends nothing”.
We are blind, and we are miserable. And in our quest for happiness we cling to money, status, sense of belonging; ideals; power; control; image; reproductive success; desire to win; and, as a last resort, fear, and the anger that grows out of it. That is where Trump is, and the blind people behind him.
They are blind, and we as a society are blind;
and the blindness I am referring to occurs when we fail to see our own, and others’, humanity; when we treat people, including ourselves, as objects; when we are ungrateful for what we have; when we are driven by guilt, shame, or sense of obligation; when we are unable to give love, and to receive love.
Giving and receiving love, and being grateful for what you have, is the only thing that can make you happy. Nothing else will. Nothing. Everything else is a delusion.
We as a society have forgotten how to love. The fact that Donald Trump comes so close to winning the nomination, is a symptom of that.
Do not blame others for this. Don’t blame angry white men, bankers, George Bush, Barack Obama, the media, the rich, or the poor, the unions, american capitalism, religion or the education system. Don’t blame others. Because Donald Trump is in all of us. Wake up and see, that if we don’t learn to love each other, this country will fall apart. A world without love is a scary place; and freedom means nothing when you don’t know how to love.
I have no doubt that Donald Trump has a mental health condition called narcissistic personality disorder.
It is a disorder caused by complex emotional trauma in childhood, especially emotional deprivation. As a result of this trauma, those affected fail to develop empathy, and become overly concerned with image, power, authority, superiority, and vanity, and become exploitative and entitled.
There is a rule called the Goldwater rule, that bars mental health professionals from speaking about Donald Trump’s mental health, because they have not personally examined him. Even so, some of them are starting to speak up because they are so worried about the idea of a Trump presidency. But as someone who lived the disorder and is recovering from it, I can speak about it openly. It’s terrifying. And it’s terrifying that people believe in him. I think this is a wake up call to all of us, in this country, to look at whoever is behind Trump, and understand what their needs are. Because this kind of thinking comes from trauma. Yelling at each other is not going to help. When you yell, you don’t listen.
Super Tuesday in next week. Chris Christie has just endorsed Donald Trump. I think there is no time like this weekend for us to discuss what Donald Trump’s wins in the republican primaries say about America. Those of you who are in Chicago and want to share and listen in person, please join me outside of the Trump Tower in downtown Chicago, today, Saturday, February 27th, from 2pm to 4pm.
