It is not like we didn't know who he was before we voted him into office. In fact, virtually everybody in this country knew who he was. Many believed his campaign for president was not really a serious attempt to be president, but merely one more of his many publicity stunts... a promotional exercise to build sales in his business world. One can legitimately question whether or not he himself seriously believed that he was running for president.
That things in general were so very bad in this country, caused many people to favor Trump and his outlandish performance against the establishment politicians... and recognizing this, Trump played to the crowds in that fashion. That he was as much the 'establishment' as anyone else was not a disconnect for most people. Things were bad and people wanted change... and Trump portrayed himself as so unorthodox as to be able to deliver that change.
Trump is a showman and we fell for the show as much as one falls for a fictional character in a novel or movie. Now, we are dealing with the real life actor behind the show, and that's the truth !!!
Sorry, Folks,
But Donald Trump Is Everything We Deserve
We pretend we don’t, but we do.
from Common Dreams by David Macaray
The main reason (besides the grinding repetition) why I can’t bear to watch comedians do their self-congratulatory Donald Trump shtick is that their phony indignation is based on the premise that this guy is somehow unworthy of being our president, which is ludicrous. Trump is not only worthy of being president, he’s perfect for it.
Consider: The U.S. is, first and foremost, a nation of dedicated consumers. The world knows this, we know this, and Trump knows this. Indeed, there’s nothing we Americans won’t consume if it's properly advertised and promoted. And say what you will about Trump, but the man is, first and foremost, an accomplished salesman and promoter.
"We pretend to be surprised that we have elected a shallow, dishonest, narcissistic bully as our president."
Consider: We Americans don’t form long queues outside of poetry or literature readings. There’s no shame in that. We simply aren’t a nation of poetry lovers. But we do form long queues outside of Best Buy, beginning at midnight, waiting for the store to open so we can purchase the newest technology. That’s because we’re a nation addicted to buying stuff on sale. And Trump is a brilliant salesman.
Consider: We idolize rich people. Because that seems vaguely and uncomfortably "unchristian," we pretend we don’t, but we do. We tell our kids that money "isn't everything," but we don’t even believe it ourselves. We are in awe of Wall Street because Wall Street is rich. And Trump is rich.
Consider: We idolize TV celebrities, and Trump was a TV celebrity. He had his own show. We idolize glamour, and the Trumps are glamorous. Wife Melania and daughter Ivanka are exotic beauties. Granted, that is more a tribute to recent advances in plastic surgery than the generosity of Mother Nature, but exotic beauties nonetheless. And as much as we pretend to respect "authenticity," we don’t. Plastic is good.
Consider: Unlike much of the world, we Americans despise intellectuals. We pretend we don’t, but we do. We hate know-it-alls, we hate smarty-pants media types, and we hate "deep thinkers." We don’t want to be reminded of how ignorant we are. We like brevity and plain talk. We like certitude. We hate nuance, ambiguity, and self-doubt. Arguably, not counting Ronald Reagan, Trump is the most anti-intellectual president since Andrew Jackson.
Consider: We Americans respect muscle, strength and power, which is to say, we prefer war to peace. We pretend we don’t, but we do. If that weren’t the case, our defense budget wouldn’t be so absurdly bloated, and we wouldn’t have been engaged in all the military adventurism that has defined us since the end of World War II.
Consider: We Americans are a narcissistic people. We pretend we aren’t, but we are. We don’t have to be tied down and water-boarded to blurt out the fact that we think we’re the greatest country in the world. Not only the greatest country in the world, but the greatest country in the history of the world. If that ain’t narcissism, what is it?
And yet, for all this, we pretend to be surprised that we have elected a shallow, dishonest, narcissistic bully as our president? As Kurt Vonnegut wrote in Mother Night, "We are what we pretend to be. So we must be careful about what we pretend to be."
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License
David Macaray, a former union rep, is a Los Angeles-based playwright and the author of “It’s Never Been Easy: Essays on Modern Labor” and “Night Shift: 270 Factory Stories.” His latest book is “How to Win Friends and Avoid Sacred Cows: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About India But Were Afraid to Ask.” He can be reached at Dmacaray@gmail.com
But Donald Trump Is Everything We Deserve
We pretend we don’t, but we do.
from Common Dreams by David Macaray
The main reason (besides the grinding repetition) why I can’t bear to watch comedians do their self-congratulatory Donald Trump shtick is that their phony indignation is based on the premise that this guy is somehow unworthy of being our president, which is ludicrous. Trump is not only worthy of being president, he’s perfect for it.
Consider: The U.S. is, first and foremost, a nation of dedicated consumers. The world knows this, we know this, and Trump knows this. Indeed, there’s nothing we Americans won’t consume if it's properly advertised and promoted. And say what you will about Trump, but the man is, first and foremost, an accomplished salesman and promoter.
"We pretend to be surprised that we have elected a shallow, dishonest, narcissistic bully as our president."
Consider: We Americans don’t form long queues outside of poetry or literature readings. There’s no shame in that. We simply aren’t a nation of poetry lovers. But we do form long queues outside of Best Buy, beginning at midnight, waiting for the store to open so we can purchase the newest technology. That’s because we’re a nation addicted to buying stuff on sale. And Trump is a brilliant salesman.
Consider: We idolize rich people. Because that seems vaguely and uncomfortably "unchristian," we pretend we don’t, but we do. We tell our kids that money "isn't everything," but we don’t even believe it ourselves. We are in awe of Wall Street because Wall Street is rich. And Trump is rich.
Consider: We idolize TV celebrities, and Trump was a TV celebrity. He had his own show. We idolize glamour, and the Trumps are glamorous. Wife Melania and daughter Ivanka are exotic beauties. Granted, that is more a tribute to recent advances in plastic surgery than the generosity of Mother Nature, but exotic beauties nonetheless. And as much as we pretend to respect "authenticity," we don’t. Plastic is good.
Consider: Unlike much of the world, we Americans despise intellectuals. We pretend we don’t, but we do. We hate know-it-alls, we hate smarty-pants media types, and we hate "deep thinkers." We don’t want to be reminded of how ignorant we are. We like brevity and plain talk. We like certitude. We hate nuance, ambiguity, and self-doubt. Arguably, not counting Ronald Reagan, Trump is the most anti-intellectual president since Andrew Jackson.
Consider: We Americans respect muscle, strength and power, which is to say, we prefer war to peace. We pretend we don’t, but we do. If that weren’t the case, our defense budget wouldn’t be so absurdly bloated, and we wouldn’t have been engaged in all the military adventurism that has defined us since the end of World War II.
Consider: We Americans are a narcissistic people. We pretend we aren’t, but we are. We don’t have to be tied down and water-boarded to blurt out the fact that we think we’re the greatest country in the world. Not only the greatest country in the world, but the greatest country in the history of the world. If that ain’t narcissism, what is it?
And yet, for all this, we pretend to be surprised that we have elected a shallow, dishonest, narcissistic bully as our president? As Kurt Vonnegut wrote in Mother Night, "We are what we pretend to be. So we must be careful about what we pretend to be."
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License
David Macaray, a former union rep, is a Los Angeles-based playwright and the author of “It’s Never Been Easy: Essays on Modern Labor” and “Night Shift: 270 Factory Stories.” His latest book is “How to Win Friends and Avoid Sacred Cows: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About India But Were Afraid to Ask.” He can be reached at Dmacaray@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment