It is increasingly astonishing that many millions of U.S. citizens appear committed to voting for Donald Trump again this fall. Many of us who have been aware of the way in which this con man and grifter has been lying and manipulating the system to his benefit and the nation’s significant detriment are continuing to scratch our heads trying to figure out if there is anything that can be said or done to wake these people up to the reality of what they’re falling for.
One of the better indicators of this reality is the test question of whether anyone would want to raise their children to be like Trump. Who could say yes to that, we wonder? Trump’s entire anger-fueled campaign is focused on the alleged crimes of his opponent and the allegedly corrupt “system,” and not at all on who he is or what he will do to benefit our lives. One would have to concede that he has a capacity for a kind of evil “charisma,” a special capacity to sway the thinking of some people, even large numbers of them. As has been pointed out, when someone has this kind of capacity and puts it to a selfish self-interested use, it constitutes a profound threat to the kind of democracy that our nation’s founding fathers sought to forge, and, above all, George Washington recognized this threat.
Studies have demonstrated that dangerous capacity is centered on an ability to inflame the sensation of fear in others, whether one-on-one in abusive relationships or in front of large numbers of people. Does two things: it recruits some to emulate it, and evokes a sensation of fear in most that grips persons at a subconscious level to warn their inner selves against crossing, opposing, or even daring to be complacent about what is being said to them. The listener justifies acting on the basis of this fear with superficial arguments provided by the speaker or his team.
As our editor’s column elsewhere in this issue points out, the Russians have been masters at using this manipulative capacity to meddle in the affairs of the U.S. and other democracies, and too often this is totally overlooked by our defense, civil order and other social institutions because of its apparent subtlety. But because of it, seemingly out of nowhere reality-defying mass movements erupt that threaten democracy from within and nobody is able to figure out where they came from.
The important question concerns an effective antidote. How do you quell deep, existential fears? In principle it is with the calming and peace-inducing alternative combination of reason and compassion. These are balms to the inner torments of fear and anger. These and puppy dogs are our best tools: facts, pro-people policies and good, not cruel, laughter; not cynicism or assaults on the decency and merits of our core humanity but embolden the better angels of our nature.