STRIFE, FEAR, GREATNESS, AND THE MYSTERY OF TRUMP

STRIFE, FEAR, GREATNESS, AND THE MYSTERY OF TRUMP

STRIFE:

The universe is not favorable for life. Unimaginable cold, unfathomable heat, deadly radiation, crushing gravity, poisonous elements — they all abound.

Even mother earth tries to kill her children. She sends us ice ages, volcanos, earthquakes, windstorms, floods, droughts, and meteors, while her “red of tooth and claw” children try to kill each other.

Every living creature, from viruses (living?), through plants, through animals, all have enemies, living and inert, that threaten the delicate, interconnected web we call “life.”

Survival has required a constant struggle, life vs. anti-life. To survive, fragile life must defeat vigorous anti-life in a battle that continually is lost, or rather, continually almost is lost, every second of every day. We stand on the point of a needle.

Yet, here we are, we humans who have struggled best, survive.

We survive partly because we have the best brains, joined to marvelous hands, and voice boxes for the best communication, and among animals, we are large. We survive partly because good fortune has spared us the worst the universe has to offer.

But mostly we survive because nature has given us the tools to become the greatest killers this planet ever has known.

We are social animals, but we use our sociability to facilitate our killing. We kill them all, from viruses to bacteria, to whales, to fellow sapiens. Even our pleasures, our games, involve a ritualized form of killing called “winning.”

Evolution is based on strife, the survival of the fittest. We are programmed for strife. Throughout history, humans never have been without war.

The vast majority of our games are selfish, competitive, killing games. We win and the other side loses. In essence, we survive and they die. Only the genes that compete best are allowed to fight another day.

Our species is so enamored with strife, we not only wage war, we enjoy watching it. From Roman gladiators to today’s boxers, to all spectator sports, we become emotionally involved in the battles and the victories and defeats.

Watch the passionate fans at an American football game, and you will see bloodlust in action. Even flag football or touch football are not enough. It has to have crushing tackles and broken bodies to titillate the hoi polloi.

Some of us do exhibit compassion and charity, but scientists will tell you the ultimate purpose of charity is to effect species victory. Helping even the weak, the aged, or the ill assures their knowledge will not be lost — beneficial for a society’s survival.

And this is the important point. Though as individuals, we are efficient killers, and killing eliminates competitors for resources, as a society, we do not spend our lives killing. We need our family, friends, and neighbors to find and create resources, and for defense.

Those who show no compassion, and solely are ego-driven, seemingly would have a personal survival advantage, but because they do not contribute to species survival, they often are punished by the species, directly via physical attacks or indirectly via various forms of shunning.

TRUMP

Millions voted for Donald Trump. Why does he appeal to so many people?

Before he became president, he had failed in businesses where failure is nearly impossible: Gambling casinos and real estate. A casino is a guaranteed money-printing device, and real estate generally had increased in value for more than 60 years.

Repeatedly, Trump had been bailed out of his foolish predicaments by his father, only to fall into bankruptcy, yet again.

He was a Democrat who decided to switch parties to one that would accept is morals, a thrice-married womanizer, who never stopped cheating, a notorious liar and con man, whose reputation was so bad he still today is unable to obtain loans from any American bank.

His money kept him from Trump University and Trump Foundation prison.

He has cheated everyone, not only lenders and investors, but also swindled his workers out of their salaries.

Yet he was elected by the self-proclaimed “party of law and order.” During his four-year term, his prime accomplishments included giving tax breaks to the rich, attempting to destroy health-care insurance that protected millions of people, eliminating consumer protection laws, and hiring incompetent agency heads whose main efforts were to sabotage the primary missions of their agencies.

History will find him wanting.

He was impeached by the House of Representatives, and narrowly saved by the Senate, and was voted out of office. But, still he received more than 70 million votes.

Why?

Trump is a pure warrior. Lacking all compassion and human kindness, he is a psychopath, totally devoted to personal victory. He lives for strife.

He deems anyone, who exhibits even an ounce of kindness and mercy, a “loser,” the single worst epithet he can imagine. For a soldier who dies or is captured or wounded fighting for his country, Trump has only one question, “What was in it for him?”

He cannot imagine doing any unrequited kindness; everything must accrue to him, personally.

Seeing acclaim go to someone else is anathema. Trump has fired people whom he thought received more credit than him. His favorites are those sycophants who give him glory for everything good. (See: Mike Pence)

Trump preaches strength and patriotism, while he himself is a weak anti-patriot, who fearfully avoided the risks of battle by claiming heel spurs.

He admires dictators, the more brutal and unforgiving the better. Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-un, Rodrigo Duterte, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud — murderers all — are Trump favorites.

In rising to power, he has followed Hitler’s playbook.

FEAR

The most powerful human emotions are fear and hatred. They are so closely related that the former breeds the latter.  It is almost impossible to hate someone of whom you have no fear.

Tyrants understand this, thus we see the use of scapegoats, which generates fear and loathing among the populace.

Trump’s scapegoats are Mexican “rapists,” Muslim “terrorists,” the “fake” media, black “thugs,” “extreme” leftists, socialists, whistleblowers, Barack Obama — all the people Trump fears and thus hates — and these are the people he has taught his followers to fear and hate.

When people suffer fear, they seek protection. They are more likely to buy guns. They are more likely to join cults like the white supremacists, that are based on fearing people of color.

When people are in fear, they look to a strong leader who will protect them. Trump feigns strength. He promises to protect his followers from the people he himself fears and hates.

We live in fearful times. Many people are impoverished or fear poverty. Many people are jobless or fear joblessness.

Many people fear the “Godless” left, who “kill babies.”

Bigotry is a representation of fear. Trump’s appeal is to bigotry, hatred, and fear.

Trump’s most ardent followers are America’s most fearful people.

Compassion and generosity require the courage to give of oneself — the courage to overcome the Gap psychology that urges us to distance ourselves from those “below” us on any social or economic scale.

And so, despite all his flaws, Trump has retained much of his base. And he will retain them until a principled leader arrives to assuage the fears we all suffer to some degree and teaches us we can be both compassionate and safe.

GREATNESS

Trump promised to make America great, again, then proceeded to make America small.

He promised we could cower safely behind his Wall, though a great people does not cower or need a wall. His promised wall only told the world and us that we are weak.

America was great when we followed Franklin Roosevelt and gave our lives and fortunes against the Axis oppressors.

America was great when, under Harry Truman, we instituted the European Recovery Program (Marshall plan), that gave billions of our dollars to war-devastated European nations.

America was great when under Harry Truman we didn’t wreak vengeance on Japan, a nation that had attacked us. Instead, we made Japan an ally and helped its people recover.

America was great when we followed John Kennedy and courageously flew the dangerous path to the moon.

America was great when we instituted Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society.” to unselfishly help the poor and the weak.

Those were unselfish times. Those were compassionate times. Those were great times.

Those were NOT “America first” times.

Had Trump encouraged the wearing of masks, he could have saved well more than 100,000 Americans. Despite all his other failings, he could have been great, for that alone.

Instead, his personal insecurities caused him to fear looking weak. So he discouraged mask-wearing to prove his strength, and our families, friends, and neighbors died.

Trump poisoned the GOP and drained its strength. Today, it is an assemblage of toadies, fearing to say anything that will crack the ego of the bully.

The bully is not strong. Continual strife is not strength. The weak are those who most fear looking weak.

Trump is a weak man, supposedly diminished by his tyrant father. When Americans begin to understand Trump’s weakness, we will not fear to welcome a wise and compassionate leader, and the age of Trump and fear will end.

Only then will America become great, again.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell

Monetary Sovereignty Twitter: @rodgermitchell Search #monetarysovereignty Facebook: Rodger Malcolm Mitchell …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

THE SOLE PURPOSE OF GOVERNMENT IS TO IMPROVE AND PROTECT THE LIVES OF THE PEOPLE.

The most important problems in economics involve:

1. Monetary Sovereignty describes money creation and destruction.
2. Gap Psychology describes the common desire to distance oneself from those “below” in any socio-economic ranking, and to come nearer those “above.” The socio-economic distance is referred to as “The Gap.”

Wide Gaps negatively affect poverty, health and longevity, education, housing, law and crime, war, leadership, ownership, bigotry, supply and demand, taxation, GDP, international relations, scientific advancement, the environment, human motivation and well-being, and virtually every other issue in economics. Implementation of Monetary Sovereignty and The Ten Steps To Prosperity can grow the economy and narrow the Gaps:

Ten Steps To Prosperity:

1. Eliminate FICA
2. Federally funded Medicare — parts A, B & D, plus long-term care — for everyone
3. Social Security for all or a reverse income tax
4. Free education (including post-grad) for everyone
5. Salary for attending school
6. Eliminate federal taxes on business
7. Increase the standard income tax deduction, annually. 
8. Tax the very rich (the “.1%”) more, with higher progressive tax rates on all forms of income.
9. Federal ownership of all banks
10. Increase federal spending on the myriad initiatives that benefit America’s 99.9% 

The Ten Steps will grow the economy and narrow the income/wealth/power Gap between the rich and the rest.

MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY