Their willingness to jeopardize everything in exchange for settling a score of some perceived injustice against them. (because everything is about them)
It’s obvious that for most Trump voters he‘s a reflection of themselves. His narcissism, his entitlement, his resentment, his intransigence, and the juvenile way in which he conveys all of that. These human traits which are typically reviled, for a Trump voter are his assets because in him they see themselves and they get a kick out of imposing themselves on the rest of the world, regardless of the consequences to themselves or anyone else. In other words, it’s not just that they have no compunction pulling the lever for a supremely unqualified and undeserving con man, it’s the fact that this is precisely WHY they pulled the lever in the first place. History and future be damned. Like some pre-pubescent way at getting back at everyone else who dares to try to make the world a better place.
That. The satisfaction they obviously get out of burning it all to the ground. The glee with which they’re perfectly willing to set a match to something that millions of people died building and protecting. The ease with which they’re willing to betray their fellow citizens without a shred of self-reflection and then turn around and question the patriotism of others. That’s what gets to me.
My 2-year old behaves this way sometimes. The only difference is I expect he will grow out of it one day and develop some emotional maturity, something which I have no hope for when it comes to an adult-in-size-only wearing a MAGA hat.
These sentiments of mine extend to the juror in Manafort’s trial who graced our news feeds last week. I don’t care that she wanted to convict on all 18 counts. Fairly and reasonably delivering justice is the bare minimum of what’s expected out of a jury. You don’t get a participation trophy for simply showing up and doing what you’re supposed to do. As Chris Rock might say, “What do you want, a cookie?!”
This is also why I have no patience for people like Arlie Russell Hochschild, J.D. Vance and Emily Calandrelli who always try to sell us on this nonsense that we should be more compassionate and understanding towards these intolerant people. Why? Because they’ve had it hard.
These poor, poor people are the same people who call their perceived enemies "libtards," "snowflakes" and "cucks" without the slightest provocation.
The same people who chant "Lock her up" and get giddy when Trump daydreams out loud about firing football players who dare to exercise their 1st Amendment rights.
The same people who have been voting against their own best interests for decades, to the detriment of the entire world, and then turned around and blamed everybody else for their problems.
The same people who blame Blacks, Mexicans, Jews and liberals for their problems because they can't be bothered to take a shred of personal responsibility for a single thing, despite constantly passing judgment on others.
The same people who's egos are too fragile to accept things as obvious as the existence of global warming and white privilege.
The same people who carry the water of oligarchs, decrying “class warfare” every time anyone makes even a meager attempt to level the playing field, completely ignoring the fact that the oligarchs declared a silent war on us decades ago. (because they’re too cowardly to just come out and say it)
The same people who betrayed their fellow Americans when they elected a treasonous con man to our highest office.
But, according to people like Hochschild, WE'RE the one's who are being unreasonable. We haven't quite gone out of our way enough yet to try to understand THEIR problems. WE need to be the one's to bend over backwards to understand why they are the way they are.
Don't you know? It's not their fault they're this way! It's the coal industry. It's opioids. It's lack of opportunity. As if these problems don't exist everywhere else. As if there's something particularly unique about these people that makes them victims OTHER THAN their intelligence (or lack thereof). As if, if the tables were turned, these people would hesitate even for a second to label us stupid.
I wonder if people who continue to make this asinine argument ever heard of the phrase, "what's good for the goose is good for the gander." The other commonality you’ll find amongst people who make this argument is that they NEVER offer a solution. It’s always characterized as, “this is the way it is and it’s not their fault and you should be nicer to them.” Because maybe if we’re nicer to fascists they’ll stop being fascists? Please.
People like Hochschild who are essentially advocating for lambs to walk ourselves to our own slaughter are complicit in Trump’s rise to prominence. I’m reminded of Martin Niemöller’s poem about the Nazi’s:
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
Bending to the will of Trump voters is tantamount to a betrayal of humanity, because they have none.
THIS is precisely why I have a hard time forgetting and forgiving. If you don’t take your country seriously enough to take care of it, you don’t deserve to be taken care of by it.
