14 June 2023
Friedman on Trump
The people who heroize Donald Trump cannot be convinced otherwise with examples of the Donald’s duplicity and despicable behavior. They support him exactly because he gets away with outrageously sticking his thumb in the eyes of the traditional leaders of society.
Trump has assumed a prominent role in today’s careerist Republican Party precisely because he is believed to have marshaled a following of reliable voters who can turn election results in favor of iconoclastic government office seekers. Like Trump, the objective of these politicians is to advance their own material wealth or popular esteem, even at the expense of the general welfare.
Politics is only one of the ways to pursue the goals of wealth and esteem. Business, science, literature, academics, etc. are the usual fields that reward superior accomplishment directly with their respective currencies. The typical political reward is power. However, the substance of power may be as ephemeral as editorial influence or as concrete as monetary wealth or political dominion.
Donald Trump does indeed seek power in his political career. However, he doesn’t seek it only for power’s sake. It is for the purpose of satisfying his solipsistic craving for universal acknowledgement that only he knows best.
Perhaps we’ve not learned too late that there are enough voters in the country who share the same view of themselves. They are a force to be reckoned with in any democratic election. It is not reasoned arguments like Thomas Friedman’s essay in the 6/14/2023 NYT that will directly deflate Trump’s demagogic airship. Perhaps his alarmism can at least inspire the invention of a strategy for fixing America’s broken political system.
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