Publicly trumpeting oneself as a “stable genius” not only reveals a false sense of superiority; but also a misunderstanding of both the source of mental stability and the nature of human genius. Words do matter and can be unintentionally revelatory. The word stable connotes specific qualities such as “trustworthy and reliable; constant, steadfast and virtuous." Those are not attributes that Donald Trump can legitimately claim for himself, nor are they qualities that he seems to value in his allies. He recently lamented the lack of a legal defender like Roy Cohn. The same Roy Cohn who was said to live in a "matrix of crime and unethical conduct" and who championed McCarthyism: “the practice of making public accusations without genuine evidence.”
Trump claims the mantle of genius in the narrow and self-serving sense of someone with a high level of measurable intelligence. Yet, the oldest sense of genius comes from the Latin, where it means “the spirit that is already there.” In that older, wiser view, the genius is a person’s inner spirit and genuine way of being. In that sense, each person born, regardless of gender, place of origin or economic status has some genius. Each person has something genius to offer; each can be seen as a genius insofar as they are genuine and true to their inner nature.
And there lies the rub, for genius can be misused, it can become perverted and be used for the wrong reasons. At the start of the presidential campaign, Trump reportedly told his aide Sam Nunberg: “I can be the most famous man in the world.” That desire might fall under the banner of “be careful what you wish for.” More than failing to become known, a person who seeks fame at any cost risks being known for the wrong reasons.
The opposite of fame is not simple obscurity, but infamy, which means becoming famous in the wrong way. Infamy involves a subversion or perversion of the true spirit in one’s life, an undermining of the aims and purpose of one’s innate genius. Those who live in infamy become well-known; but do so in the wrong way. The true sense of fame involves more the quality of one’s life than the quantity of one’s renown.
Whereas genuine fame would involve a revelation of one’s natural genius, infamy involves a public fall into disrepute, discredit and ultimately disgrace.
Rather than widespread notoriety, infamy marks a person as “notorious,” an example of how inner gifts can be wasted and abilities misused, as genius becomes blindly self-serving rather than used for the good of others. Infamy proclaims the underside of fame, the shadow side of power and the hollow shell of seeming success.
The intense hunger for fame is driven by an equally intense lack of self. Those who are hollow and empty inside cannot fill the hole that accompanies narcissism with any amount of popularity or fame. Thus, despite having risen to the highest office in the land, Donald Trump continues to act out the kind of deep insecurities that accompany a false sense of self and a desperate pretense of superiority. His need to exaggerate the height of Trump Tower, the amount of his wealth and popularity, and level of his intelligence are all indications of how unstable the foundation of his self-worth truly must be.
It doesn’t take a genius to see the writing on the wall. The operative word when it comes to the destiny of Donald Trump is more likely to be infamy, than the epitome of genius and stability.
Another word comes to mind, an old word that stands for an exaggerated interest in luxury along with the neglect of principles that should govern human conduct. Trumpery is an old French word that means, “practices or beliefs that are superficially or visually appealing but have little real value or worth.” Literally, trumpery involves things that are “showy but worthless, either delusive or shallow.”
This is more than irony, as the sample phrase showing the use of the old French word sounds the warning about: "that trumpery hope which lets us dupe ourselves." The verb form gets to the root of the matter and to the essence of the problem: to trump means "to concoct with the intent to deceive." The words themselves tell the story and it is not a story that will end well.
This is not a matter of politics as usual, nor is it an issue of patriotism or loyalty. Rather, it is a situation of infamy in the making. As history attests, the unholy quest for fame, fortune and power often ends in scandal, villainy and disgrace. Those who support and defend Trump in order to derive benefits from his endless quest for fame and fortune and power are not simply in denial or blinded by loyalty to the presidency. Rather, they are part of a coalition of trumpery and they will also likely live in infamy by the time the whole tale has been told.
Michael Meade is a storyteller, author, and scholar of mythology, anthropology, and psychology. He is the author of The Genius Myth, Fate and Destiny: The Two Agreements of The Soul, Why the World Doesn't End and The Water of Life: Initiation and the Tempering of the Soul. Meade is the founder of Mosaic Multicultural Foundation, a nonprofit network of artist, activists, and community builders that encourages greater understanding between diverse peoples.