**“Demagogues thrive when we’re cynical about truth.” (Michael Signer in a recent interview on the podcast “On the Media.”)
"The truth is like poetry. And most people hate poetry." (The Big Short)
trumpery: "attractive articles of little value or use; practices or beliefs that are superficially or visually appealing but have little real value or worth." Also at Merrier-Webster dictionary and "The Relic Master"
Tracking Donald Trump since he became a presidential candidate, I’ve become more and more worried. Not about Trump himself, but about the enthusiastic response from the American electorate.
To Trump, and certain elements of the media, high poll numbers are the legitimizing factor of his candidacy even though his popularity comes mainly from Republicans who respond to polls. Even so, today's political climate speaks more about the state of the American public’s psyche, than about any specific issue Trump raises.
A friend recently wrote me that at the museum where he works there are eleven TV sets, each tuned to a different cable news channel. All but one feature non-stop Trump. The lone exception, Al Jazeera, has little time for Trump - an indication that to the rest of the world there are more important things to think about than the antics of America's political clowns.
There will always be unsuitable candidates for public office, and some of them will even rise to prominence. But in the end, the public makes a more sober choice. Usually. This isn’t to say there haven’t been bad presidents. But none could be categorized as demagogues. What’s troubling is that the public seems so ignorant of the implications of its infatuation with this bloviating outlier, and his competitors for the Republican nomination. It's troubling because history shows how badly things can go when the public allows a demagogue to become a leader.
I once worked with someone whose parents lived in Germany during the time of the Third Reich. She tried to excuse the German people (including her parents) from complicity in placing Hitler at the head of their country by claiming that most people didn’t realize the extent of the evil that was going on. But if you read detailed histories of that era, such as Shirer's "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich," it’s hard to believe any German didn’t know what was going on. Hitler’s vilification and victimization of the Jews, for instance, was a loudly proclaimed policy from the beginning. And his war on democracy in Germany was a major plank in his campaigns for leadership.
By his own account, he realized that after two failed attempts, a violent overthrow of the government was impossible. But a takeover by democratic means was much easier. And a major tool in capturing the leadership was the clever and extensive use of propaganda (aka the media). He manipulated public perceptions so that the people would willingly give up their democratic freedoms. The rest is horrific history.
I have believed for a while that more than ever something similar could happen here. Trump is a master manipulator of public perceptions, a self-promoter and fake populist. Making fun of him won’t derail him. Neither will calling him names or even criticizing him. Attention must be focused on the danger of the public’s own infatuation with this demagogue. The public needs to awaken to its complicity in this attack on its own fundamental interests.
Who or what can cause this awakening? I don’t yet see any clear indication. Whoever or whatever it is has to be a good student of history and good communicator of that history. Is it hopeless to expect the media to be that informed voice? It's hard to be hopeful. The recent film, Spotlight, chronicles one of the last great media victories in the fight against public cynicism and institutional corruption. This kind of investigative journalism happened early in the 21st century. By now, it appears that voice has been all but silenced.
To Trump, and certain elements of the media, high poll numbers are the legitimizing factor of his candidacy even though his popularity comes mainly from Republicans who respond to polls. Even so, today's political climate speaks more about the state of the American public’s psyche, than about any specific issue Trump raises.
A friend recently wrote me that at the museum where he works there are eleven TV sets, each tuned to a different cable news channel. All but one feature non-stop Trump. The lone exception, Al Jazeera, has little time for Trump - an indication that to the rest of the world there are more important things to think about than the antics of America's political clowns.
There will always be unsuitable candidates for public office, and some of them will even rise to prominence. But in the end, the public makes a more sober choice. Usually. This isn’t to say there haven’t been bad presidents. But none could be categorized as demagogues. What’s troubling is that the public seems so ignorant of the implications of its infatuation with this bloviating outlier, and his competitors for the Republican nomination. It's troubling because history shows how badly things can go when the public allows a demagogue to become a leader.
I once worked with someone whose parents lived in Germany during the time of the Third Reich. She tried to excuse the German people (including her parents) from complicity in placing Hitler at the head of their country by claiming that most people didn’t realize the extent of the evil that was going on. But if you read detailed histories of that era, such as Shirer's "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich," it’s hard to believe any German didn’t know what was going on. Hitler’s vilification and victimization of the Jews, for instance, was a loudly proclaimed policy from the beginning. And his war on democracy in Germany was a major plank in his campaigns for leadership.
By his own account, he realized that after two failed attempts, a violent overthrow of the government was impossible. But a takeover by democratic means was much easier. And a major tool in capturing the leadership was the clever and extensive use of propaganda (aka the media). He manipulated public perceptions so that the people would willingly give up their democratic freedoms. The rest is horrific history.
I have believed for a while that more than ever something similar could happen here. Trump is a master manipulator of public perceptions, a self-promoter and fake populist. Making fun of him won’t derail him. Neither will calling him names or even criticizing him. Attention must be focused on the danger of the public’s own infatuation with this demagogue. The public needs to awaken to its complicity in this attack on its own fundamental interests.
Who or what can cause this awakening? I don’t yet see any clear indication. Whoever or whatever it is has to be a good student of history and good communicator of that history. Is it hopeless to expect the media to be that informed voice? It's hard to be hopeful. The recent film, Spotlight, chronicles one of the last great media victories in the fight against public cynicism and institutional corruption. This kind of investigative journalism happened early in the 21st century. By now, it appears that voice has been all but silenced.
As with the German populace in the ‘20s and ‘30s, general apathy and cynicism about the truth combined with the thrills of an exaggerated nationalism and xenophobia contribute to Trump’s popularity. Many Americans are impatient with the governing process and prefer the quickness and finality promised by a reality show President ("You're fired"), as opposed to the relative slowness of a process that copes with the complexities inherent in the separation of powers instituted by the Constitution. Unconsciously they don’t really want a President, they want a dictator, someone to make all the decisions and to keep them entertained but a little paranoid all the time. It’s that vulnerability, exacerbated by the media, that could lead to the unthinkable.
I'm increasingly concerned that super-nationalism is so close to the surface. And close to home. The other day I happened to glance out the window and saw our next door neighbor folding up a stepladder after having installed a flag holder and American flag on the light pole between our properties. When I lived in California, flag displays in my neighborhood usually indicated Republicanism, a thumb in the eye of the prevailing liberalism. I didn’t have the guts (or the clothing) to go out and ask him what that was all about. I suspect it was a response to the Paris attacks. Was it supposed to mean that he thought we were under attack now? Troubling to have this kind of nationalism be so close! Georgia is one of the states that announced its unwillingness to admit Syrian refugees, more signs of xenophobia that make me feel like a stranger in a strange land since moving here.
When the second Trump sign went up in my neighborhood, I promptly joined the county Democratic party organization and attended a holiday gathering. Pretty low-key. I’m hoping things will liven up after the new year and 2016 campaigning starts in earnest. In the meantime, I’m still listening for a strong voice to emerge that won’t just be about this or that candidate. But about the quality of the public’s psyche. Only a public made aware of the dangers of demagoguery can put up the resistance needed to neutralize the steady march toward the unthinkable: a US dictatorship.
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