The Baser Instincts Of Trump
It Affects His Followers As Much As It Does His Opposers
The baser instincts of Donald Trump (and his in-group) which has pervaded the stream of consciousness in America today, under the fear and loathing of others, are a preemptive strike against humanity. In seeking to purge our society of those who are considered disloyal to the travesty of his presidency, and thus the country, in their faulty framing and false narratives, opposers are left to feel detached from a democracy they desperately want to believe in.
Let us say that in this unusual time around, Donald Trump has accomplished a remarkable feat which required only a peripheral background check. It required only an astonishing prerequisite in terms of his honed in skill: anti-intellectualism. This trait is usually not something that would land you a callback let alone an interview for a prestigious position. I guess it is best to think of it more so as a personality contest won by a brutishly snobbish, and proud anti-intellectual. It is indeed a sign of the times.
The baser instincts of Donald Trump and his supporters are indelibly etched and exposed to us all in this undignified, yet prideful approach of President Trump and his governance.
In contrast, dignity can live inside us regardless of our successes and failures. We don’t have to prove anything to anybody — or even to ourselves[…] We can experience the dignity of living with integrity, regardless of the outcome.¹
It is more than just a mortifying disgrace to have the blind lead the blind in this undignified manner of rule and acquiescence. The dangerous pride that has manfested can only be a harbinger of a terrible fall from grace.
Pride prevents us from acknowledging our human vulnerabilities. This shame-driven pride makes us too uncomfortable to say, “I’m sorry, I was wrong, I made a mistake.” When pride rules, we believe we’re always right. This makes it difficult to sustain intimate relationships; nobody likes being with a know-it-all.¹
And yet Trump supporters unabashedly do like being around this know-it-all president.
Trump has admittedly said so on a number of occassions, just how much better he is at knowing everything better than anyone.
- Campaign finance: “I think nobody knows more about campaign finance than I do, because I’m the biggest contributor.” (1999.)
- TV ratings: “I know more about people who get ratings than anyone.” (October 2012.)
- ISIS: “I know more about ISIS than the generals do.” (November 2015.)
- Social media: “I understand social media. I understand the power of Twitter. I understand the power of Facebook maybe better than almost anybody, based on my results, right?” (November 2015.)
- Courts: “I know more about courts than any human being on Earth.” (November 2015.)
- Lawsuits: “[W]ho knows more about lawsuits than I do? I’m the king.” (January 2016.)
- Politicians: “I understand politicians better than anybody.”
- The visa system: “[N]obody knows the system better than me. I know the H1B. I know the H2B. … Nobody else on this dais knows how to change it like I do, believe me.” (March 2016.)
- Trade: “Nobody knows more about trade than me.” (March 2016.)
- The U.S. government system: “[N]obody knows the system better than I do.” (April 2016.)
- Renewable energy: “I know more about renewables than any human being on Earth.” (April 2016.)
- Taxes: “I think nobody knows more about taxes than I do, maybe in the history of the world.” (May 2016.)
- Debt: “I’m the king of debt. I’m great with debt. Nobody knows debt better than me.” (June 2016.)
- Money: “I understand money better than anybody.” (June 2016.)
- Infrastructure: “[L]ook, as a builder, nobody in the history of this country has ever known so much about infrastructure as Donald Trump.” (July 2016.)
- Sen. Cory Booker: “I know more about Cory than he knows about himself.” (July 2016.)
- Borders: Trump said in 2016 that Sheriff Joe Arpaio said he was endorsing him for president because “you know more about this stuff than anybody.”
- Democrats: “I think I know more about the other side than almost anybody.” (November 2016.)
- Construction: “[N]obody knows more about construction than I do.” (May 2018.)
- The economy: “I think I know about it better than [the Federal Reserve].” (October 2018.)
- Technology: “Technology — nobody knows more about technology than me.” (December 2018.)
- Drones: “I know more about drones than anybody. I know about every form of safety that you can have.” (January 2019.)
- Drone technology: “Having a drone fly overhead — and I think nobody knows much more about technology, this type of technology certainly, than I do.” (January 2019.)
Just to recap, this know-it-all knows his base well and has said a few times that “I love the poorly educated. We’re the smartest people, we’re the most loyal people,” before he took office. And yet, he makes sure he describes himself as a person standing above those poorly educated people.
[M]y uncle was a great professor and scientist and engineer, Dr. John Trump at MIT; good genes, very good genes, okay, very smart, the Wharton School of Finance, very good, very smart — you know, if you’re a conservative Republican, if I were a liberal, if, like, okay, if I ran as a liberal Democrat, they would say I’m one of the smartest people anywhere in the world — it’s true! — but when you’re a conservative Republican they try — oh, do they do a number — that’s why I always start off: Went to Wharton, was a good student, went there, went there, did this, built a fortune — you know I have to give my like credentials all the time, because we’re a little disadvantaged.
[Author is now taking a deep breath, and…sighing!]
When the Mueller report concluded and was handed to a Trump loyalist in AG William Barr, the president then took to Grand Rapids, MI., for a rally or his exoneration party. There he repeated the usual witch hunt claim that the Democrats and the fake news are trying to overturn the results of the election that he won fair and square. But let me remind you that the special counsel investigation was launched by Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein — his very own appointee, and the investigation was led by lifelong republican in Robert Mueller. If this doesn’t make any sense to you, it is because it is not suppose to make any sense to you, just his supporters.
Once you grasp that for Trump and many of his supporters, corruption means less the violation of law than the violation of established hierarchies, their behavior makes more sense.²
Many continue to offer specious arguments about the risk reward of serving under a malevolent and inept administration. They feel justified in their fallacious reasoning that a careerist legal politician like AG Barr actually legitimates the Trump administration and therefore even-keels the ship. These ill-conceived notions sufficiently reveals how this contingency of motivated ignorance with belief insensitivity in tow, act on and are drawn to the baser instincts of Donald Trump, which many obviously share no matter how credentialed and regardless of party affiliation.
To beg the question “Why Barr, a career professional would risk his reputation?” is as invalidating as it is irrelevant an argument to make.
Is it not possible to conceive of someone who is wealthy and stupid at the same time? Can someone be proud-fully trapped in being poor? Can a clergyman be spiritual yet covetous? Can someone be a snobbish anti-intellectual?
Humanity has come a long way and there is much to appreciate and a plethora of knowing that shouldn’t be taken for granted, but yet most insist on doing just the opposite. Since the blind is truly leading the blind in our country, I can conceptualize and fully grasp how the baser instincts of fascist societies brought ruin and depravity alike to the masses through some faux identity expressed as nationalism.
I can now fully grasp how German and non-Germans alike contemplated a “Final Solution” and carried out deplorable course of actions that culminated WWII. I can now see how the vanity and insanity of tribalistic laws and violent acts of terrorism in the United States could legitimate a concept as diabolical as slavery.
Baser instincts, baby! no smarts required. Just baser instincts.
