America's Trump Dilemma

First, please don't call him "president-elect." Maybe "presumed electoral appointee" or "Mister Trump." Thank you.

At this point his newly appointed administration seems to be comprised of beady-eyed little men, small in every sense of the word, and mean and shrewish, power-hungry soulless women, all sworn destroyers of lawful societal gains painfully acquired over the last 150 years. The distorted campaign lies are over, and the disassembly of democracy awaits January 20th to begin in earnest.

Media talking heads, news anchors, and privately owned networks are all sugar-coating the constant stream of ethical insults emanating from the fascist revolutionaries - is there no honor in this new Amerikkka?

There should be enough data to compare the 2012 vote to 2016, precinct by precinct. Then run a formula to spot anomalies. If the Democratic vote declines by (say) 10% in any jurisdiction - look for vote suppression - go out to neighborhoods and interview, look for valid voters routed to provisional ballots. Another possibility: look at the percentage of Trump votes compared to the number of registered Republicans, calculate the percentage of presumed crossover Dems and compare to historical norms - if a precinct shows a higher than average crossover, look at balloting procedures. Diebold machines preset to favor Trump, debit Hillary? Poorly designed paper ballot? Alt-right volunteers misreporting local results? What about more votes cast than the number of registered voters?

But there's no time - mere days until the "Electoral College" selects our next president. There are multiple reasons to disfavor "the Donald" - but what about the cadre he has aroused? The breadth and depth of middle US rejection of federal power, the 60+ years of fifth column propaganda from John Birch Society, Cato Institute, Koch Brothers, Rupert Murdoch etc. resulting in a potential army of rednecks, neo-Nazis, survivalists and racist cops who were poised to revolt if the pre-election polls were correct and take the "lib-tards" to task if (shudder) a Clinton should be elected again. They were readying to oppose, deny, obstruct and commit atrocities if their guy didn't win. So having won the theoretical electoral vote (by minus 2.8 million popular votes) imagine the furor, hate, vitriol and violence that would be unleashed if the present Pyrrhic victory is snatched away December 19th!

The opposed personality types and opposed philosophies involved in our country's perpetual political seesaw have borne a smoldering resentment toward each other since the first settlers hit the eastern shores of the US. This deep, inherent tension flared into horrible violence with the secession of the Confederated States. The defeat of the Southern rebellion merely marked an end to armed conflict - the enmity continues.

Perhaps God's gift of free will has doomed us to centuries of struggle - autonomous individual versus communal consciousness: "I'll get mine, you get yours" versus sharing and compassion. Planet-wide, unscrupulous seekers of wealth and power connive to achieve their own elevation, play upon our fears, create enemies that they alone are qualified to save us from. And then, due to the nature of the human mind to seek collaboration and find validation and easy answers, the manufactured scapegoat becomes agreed upon, an object of hatred and derision.

And there are other power seekers who would subvert the intentions of the Good Samaritan - play upon the sympathies and dreams of their constituency with the same goal: to control elements of destiny for personal enrichment and aggrandizement. They have no need to demean their opponents, merely shrug, condescend, suggest that if their critics were capable of logic, reason, possession of factual information, they would come around and see things differently.

The aggressive and war-like personality against the peace-loving pacifist type - ''twas ever thus." The Democrats are up against their own nature - mustn't rock the boat, be careful of the precedent you might set - we can't overturn the results of a certified election...

Well. (that's a Jack Benny "well!")

The Democrats and the nation are damned if you do, damned if you don't. Accept the tarnished folly of 2016's unprecedentedly puerile election process, accept the subterfuge of innuendo, voter suppression, foreign interference and disingenuous FBI complicity - or risk civil unrest, perpetual legislative gridlock and a cementing of the divide between conservative and liberal factions should enough "faithless electors" be found.

Most likely we will hand the keys to the corporate fascists. The new regime will up the ante, betray us all, accelerate the transfer of wealth to the few controlling families. And they will concentrate most of their destructive power against their perceived enemies: those who are college educated, liberated females, artists, people of color, those who won't turn against familial and community mores to support the new orthodoxy. And there will be collateral damage to the underprivileged who misread the import of the struggle and voted for the red hat. When the jobs don't return, when their friends and relatives lose their health care, can't afford to rent a home, let alone buy, when interest rates go up, taxes increase, the invisible rich will get invisibly richer and the right wing media will convince the beleaguered masses that their increased woes are due to the prior policies of the Clintons and Obamas.

And there will be warfare, for war means money for munitions manufacturers and purveyors of petrol - war will rally the populace to face external problems and ignore the domestic transgressions of the new conservative fascist ruling elite.

This is such a tragic juncture. If we embrace the Trump governance our lot may very well be a surveillance state, loss of personal liberties, continued economic collapse of our households, and we will be sold devastating popular wars in the guise of patriotism.

If we manage to refute the machinations of the RNC - their vote suppression and Koch inspired statistical analysis that led to leveraging the electoral vote - if we convince the Electoral College to bar the door against the demagogue in accord with Hamiltonian principles and the original intent of the electoral college, then we risk revolt and the possibility of a second Civil War.

Personally, I have no appetite for war external or internal. But having been born to this planet Earth I am forced to witness all manner of atrocity. And having lived some 73 years at this writing - I can't speak for you - but I know this for myself: when the end draws near, all one has left is one's personal integrity. The weight of conscience dooming your spirit/soul to rebirth, to do it all again and try to get it right the next time - or the knowledge of living an honorable life, setting oneself free to rejoin the pool of Godliness - unless you choose (for some crazy reason, like too much altruism?) to come back and help those in this sphere who remain ethically challenged - and there are many.

So, no matter what lies ahead, do what you know is right. Speak when you encounter ignorance. Refuse to accept that which is unfair or immoral. Don't remain passive when learning of distant atrocities - it was the silence of the "good Germans" that doomed those forced to wear the Jewish star and the pink triangle.

The economic disasters of 2007-2008 have been somewhat mitigated and while we achieved a post-meltdown equilibrium that has been less than idyllic - the stable economy and low interest rates of the past four or five years are soon to become the "good old days."

While "divine guidance" is an imperfect and human way of describing a marvelous and righteous serendipity of events, that phrase was indeed employed to describe the improbable victory of the Colonies in our war of Independence, and the confluence of great ideas that came together in the form of our Constitution and Bill of Rights. In the trying times ahead it would do us all well to go back and study the writings and philosophies that formed our great nation.

I fear the effect of the dark forces latent in the American psyche, now unleashed by the machinations of those who call themselves "conservative." They seem hell-bent on destruction rather than conservation. We are at an impasse with opposing points of view, both sides seeking to educate - or punish - the other. The larger spectacle will play out as it will. The forces are already in motion. At this juncture all that is left for the individual is "to thine own self be true."

And for God's sake - don't be silent.         Federalist Paper no. 68

Divided We Stand

The demographics of discontent and distress must be understood and addressed if we are to continue the American Dream - but just what is that dream?

I'm writing this one week post-election, 2016. The coup is damn near complete. We will have a fascist government installed and we will suffer division and pain. With right wing majorities in both houses of Congress, a neo-conservative beholden President offering Supreme Court judges and a spiteful cadre of newly emboldened white supremacists, misogynists and anti-intellectuals coming to the fore - the fabric of the nation is under stress.

The great documents bequeathed to us by the founders of our democratic republic are only as good as the people see fit. Thirty-three red states, and it takes thirty-four to ratify changes to the Constitution. And if police and military both throw their weight behind so-called "alt-right" directives, the letter of the law will easily become subverted by political bias.

How did we arrive at this precipice? There are both legitimate and illegitimate reasons. Fact-finding will follow, and some blame-placing is in order as well! The sad fact that remains is that millions of people in America and quite likely billions of folk around the world are feeling grief, fear and uncertainty as an amateur takes the helm of the earth's greatest ship of state. And he got there by invoking populist techniques, inciting retrograde philosophies, speaking with bullying sarcasm and dog-whistle racism to great numbers of tired, frustrated voters suffering the stagnation of globalization and corporate thuggery.

There is a great irony here in that the people who elevated our reality show strong-man into the cat-bird seat stand to lose the most from the changes complicit in the radical right agenda. The "loyal opposition" will be hard pressed to utilize every check and balance available to the minority position to halt the dismantling of a hundred fifty years of hard-fought gains under the broad umbrella of human rights. What of the new president's debt to the "evangelicals" who would be quite pleased to take away a woman's right to choose what to do with her own body, who would not hesitate to start a "holy war" in the Middle East because of their belief in a coming Armageddon?

So the president-elect has made himself a Faustian bargain, with outre constituencies ready to hold his feet to the fire. And there will be other actors vying for power, creating unholy alliances, exacting their own petty vendettas, acting petulantly out of derelict attitudes and dislike to dismantle programs and institutions that are intended to offer aid and succor to the needful.

Ultimately, while some of the "squeaky wheels" will get their wish - in the name of "smaller government" people will lose their health care, an attempt will be made to end the Social Security program, military spending and offshore adventures of empire will increase. And while we are fighting those squabbles between red-faced and blue-faced partisans, corporations will become even bigger bastions of impropriety and white-collar pillage. Globalization is not a tide that will retreat. And in the name of "deregulation" - ostensibly to unfetter businesses from the restraints of caring for the environment - we will at the very least doom future generations to fight an even greater battle to save the oceans and the forests, to restore the precious balance of nature.

The "nyet-kulturnies" are celebrating and yet they have poured gasoline on their own funeral pyre. One doesn't build a better life by dismantling and destroying. We are all one humanity - to divide into competing nation-clans is folly - we should be unifying to improve the lot of every human being. It's nothing short of a sin to elevate oneself at the expense of another, but how can one counsel the sinner when they are feeling a great justification? And now we come to the crux of the matter. In order for our nation and our planet to survive we have to understand the point of view of those who oppose us, and common citizens need to unite against their true oppressors.

There is something very basic in the schism between Democrats and Republicans, left and right, neo-liberals vs neo-cons. Not long ago there was a university study probing the psychological makeup of the two major parties. The conclusion was startlingly direct and simple: Democratic-leaning folks came from families that co-operated, shared responsibilities, solved grievances with meetings and discussion, whereas Republican personalities were quite content with top-down management, essentially patriarchal families where the father was the boss, the judge, the commander. Of course there are exceptions, and differences in degree, but these findings point to something very basic in human nature.

Inside a political party there are strategists who use every modern tool they can to analyze trends and capitalize on the aspirations and fears of various identifiable sub-groups in the electorate. Because the "game" is to get as many electoral votes as you can to insure victory, resources are concentrated in areas that could swing in your direction while ignoring states where your party is historically well outnumbered. But those areas that are focused on will be subjected to every ploy and dirty trick - voter intimidation, sub rosa partisan tampering, late vote-counting according to district demographics, negative ads, false news articles, rumor, innuendo, wise-cracking ideological henchmen in the media. Of course both sides do this - and of course both sides know the core guidelines for managing opinion - which is dangerously close to brainwashing and can be charitably described as propaganda.

So if it's a given fact that we the people are being played like a violin by propagandists and psychologists, ultimately we are being duped. This whole business of getting fired up for your candidate plays upon some basic human needs. The marketing mavens refer to the "lizard brain" - primeval in motivation and response - subliminal cues are tools to control our psyche. We are sure we are thinking for ourselves, but are we? We are divided, and perhaps the co-operative family versus the strong central figure is a reality, a basic world view we are carrying into every situation. But we need to accept some basic differences between us, accept left-leaning socialism and knee-jerk conservatism as home base for different personality types.

The biblical concept of loving your enemy is the key to our survival as a species. Of course it can be as simple as I love you, you're made out of the same stuff, I respect you, but "you drive me crazy!" Our current plight is not trivial, however. Millions of Americans are distraught, their tears are flowing. There is sadness that the final glass ceiling has yet to be shattered, fear that one's parent will be deported, a sense that black lives don't matter. There is gloating and a sense of vindication from those who are despised for their bigotry, their para-military love for weaponry, their very life-style. And there are an even greater number of Americans who don't fit either of the descriptions just offered.

When we look at the numbers in a general sense, there are 300 million (plus) US citizens, roughly 240 million eligible to vote. With 132.5 million votes cast - 61.8 million for Hillary Clinton, 60.8 million for president-elect Donald Trump - we see that the Republican candidate has a little over 25% support from eligible voters, and if those too young to vote follow the pattern of 18-25 year old voters, it's a safe bet that the conservatives have the full support of less than a quarter of the country. And what percentage of Trump's support belongs to neo-Nazis, what percent to rabid racists, survivalists, misogynists? Not very much. While whites with reprehensible attitudes abound, they are statistically a minority, albeit a sadly dangerous minority if they are armed and feeling put upon!

Nevertheless, here's our source for hope. Citizens of goodwill far outnumber the ideological partisans, but we are divided by profit-seekers who use the basic facets of our humanity against us. Whether it's a "non-profit" playing on our sympathies, empathy and concern for those of unfortunate circumstance, or an organized campaign playing on insecurities and fears to achieve hidden agendas - both "left" and "right" are being manipulated. If we can back off from the dogma we've assimilated as the "information age" has expanded to the all-pervasive news feeds we experience today - slow down and start talking to our neighbors - we will find that we all want a lot of the same things. And places of fundamental difference usually boil down to someone trying to tell somebody else what to do.

We need to get some dialogue and a sense of compromise restored to the general populace - and then hold our legislators responsible to We the People - before the original design of the representative government is taken away from us. There are mean-spirited, misguided, traitorous men and women who would, as the saying goes "hurt all mankind just to save their own." This may sound crazy, but in a way Donald Trump is "just a patsy." The more malevolent forces are all too happy with the power he has given them by virtue of his election. At some point, probably sooner than later, some real takeaways are going to go down. Before long Republican voters will begin to feel the pain - perhaps not a pain of betrayal - but a realization that things just got worse instead of better. That's when we will begin to heal our rift and instead of family infighting we can pull together and fight the real enemy.

And who is the real enemy? In a sense, it's untrammeled, unbridled lust for profit, corporate capitalism. It's love of money in the choice of what news story to run - don't offend the advertiser. It's elections that hinge on applying a "war chest" to offices and ad campaigns. It's cynicism in the institutions that serve us - banks, utilities, law enforcement - protectors of property, not respecting the populace. It's the families at the top of the pyramid who are insulated money-grubbers with no sense of indebtedness to the society that elevates them.

And how do we fight these enemies? First with a sense of common decency, love for our neighbor, and a new found ability to put aside philosophical differences and restructure the richest nation on the planet. We should be able to eliminate inefficiency, cut graft, re-think things like pork-barrel politics, eliminate "earmarks" on legislation, cut defense spending, take excess profit out of health care, repeal "Citizens United," require corporate profit-sharing with employees, limit CEO salaries, do away with offshore tax shelters, and increase benefits for the citizenry. Let's control the mad quest for the buck, decrease the perks of power, instill a sense of fairness and respect for the least of those among us - for Christ's sake!

Alas, it's going to get worse before it gets better. But when the red hats get their comeuppance - we are all going to be suffering. And it will take real work, prayer and education to get the citizenry on the same page, facing the same way. Left and right, black and white and the rainbow in between - abandon the learned attitudes that separate us and get ready to establish common goals outside of the obfuscating pap our political parties have been feeding us. We should hope the unfathomable destructiveness of the "alt-right" becomes obvious before doing irreparable damage to our country and our allies, before inciting even more enmity toward the US, before irrevocably harming the planet.

Yes, it will get worse before it gets better - don't gloat and say "I told you so" - give no "chickens come home to roost" speeches. Instead, let's get smart, drop the old political posturing, learn from events, teach each other, and bond together because surely there will be a backlash to the insanity of the neo-cons. The good people of this Land of Liberty can only save it by pulling together and fighting the common power brought to bear against us - the corporate monoliths and all the institutions that conspire to separate us from our birthright as free human beings.

Women Hold The Key To The Future

No longer content with the status quo, a majority of Americans are feeling bitter, unhappy, pessimistic about the minority control the moneyed power brokers have over the US economy, federal budget, and priorities. Unless we find a way to change things there will be no more middle class, no retirement savings or Social Security for our grandchildren, reductions in healthcare, the end of Planned Parenthood, continued subjugation of native and minority populations, a stripping away of hard-fought gains in education and workplace rights...

But, on the positive - visualize a world where women are listened to, even sought for their insights and wisdom - a world that realizes a brain has no gender and consciousness has nothing to do with genitalia. Let's share a vision where women simply step outside of the distraction, diminishment and oppression offered by the dominant society and begin working together like never before to not only call attention to all the problems suffered but to craft solutions.

With a concentration on reaching people of compassion and higher mind, becoming part of a larger movement where women use all the modern tools of communication, crowd-sourcing, grants, television, YouTube videos, etc. to simply bypass all the barriers - thousands of intelligent, caring women who are sick and tired of the struggle for recognition and empowerment could begin building a new and better world without waiting for the unenlightened power structure's acceptance.

The future won't be exclusively female - as "male friends of a soul-sister" there will be many allies of the opposite sex who understand - but we need a new movement for full access to education and human rights for all women and girls everywhere, as in Alice Walker's concept of democratic womanism, the Dalai Lama's belief that the western woman will save the planet, and Michelle Obama's initiative, Let Girls Learn.

The Civil Rights movement came close to building a coalition of blacks, Chicanos and egalitarian whites before the deaths of Malcolm X (a different man after his "hajj"), Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy changed the course of history. Women working together could create an alliance of over half of all "mankind" - and the best way to do this would be by quietly, consistently forging new methods and alliances for change - until it moves from open secret to common knowledge that the intelligence, organization, drive and vision capable of healing and improving human life on this limited resource of Planet Earth is vested in the matriarchal ethic and point of view.

We must move beyond the testosterone infused attitudes of kill or be killed, to win someone else must lose (zero-sum game theory), to be successful one must conquer. Rather than tilting at windmills like Don Quixote, work around the roadblocks and entrenched attitudes. No need to defeat anyone. Concentrate on building, helping and creating systems that favor cooperation, education and financial advancement through team-building and concern for others. Let it start with females until the movement becomes so powerful and effective that there is no counter-argument. Let young girls from grade school forward teach their brothers and other young males to love and respect and help other humans. Break the tradition of older males passing on misogyny and brutality to their sons and younger brothers.

Yes, I'm bitterly disappointed in the state of the planet. Growing from an innocent child to a world-weary adult has been a sad journey, illusions and ideals shattered one by one. Although at times tempted, I have never felt that violent revolution could solve anything. So much better to build rather than destroy! But then the realization that we need revolutionary change but lack a means to accomplish it leaves one depressed and disheartened - immobilized. A door closed - but - another one opens!

Reading the concluding paragraphs of a recent Bloomberg article on female solidarity offered a sliver of hope, catapulted me into a vision of a possible future. In a unique twist, there was no smooth wrap up from the author. Instead she revealed that the moneyed, suited women at the conference stopped tapping their mobile devices, many moved to tears by an eloquent plea - that beyond their aspirations and their intellect, they were all capable of empathy and compassion - and that's the ray of sunshine that gives me hope, the impetus for this writing. http://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-feel-good-female-solidarity-machine/ (Start two paragraphs above Michelle Obama's picture near the end of the article.)

I've been puzzling over 40 years on the great dilemma of our times - the need for revolution, a non-violent pervasive change of heart, mind and spirit - but with no effective method in existence to date. And in a flash of insight the answer presented itself: the future we want lies in our tomorrows, with women leading the way!

As a corollary to this enlightenment, I see now that all people of high mind and compassion need to get behind Hillary Clinton for president. I think Bernie knows (as we all know) that the office of president has been straight-jacketed by the Republican puppets of the uber-rich. And when the time comes he will become a passionate supporter for Hillary's campaign, content that he at least brought some light to the concerns of "small s" socialism. And electing Hillary will inspire women and girls planet-wide, helping to fulfill the nascent promise (thus far ignored) of the Age of Aquarius. The mystics, the seers, those who see Jesus as the avatar of the Piscean age all recognize that change does not come instantly or smoothly with any regularity. Indeed, the prediction is for "perturbation at the cusp." The dark forces are offering Trump, and the death throes of male domination - colonialism, imperialism, sexism, Isil - centuries of erroneous thinking are creating waves. But these are only the ripples caused by the collision of epochs - love will prevail. And who better than the women of this planet to lead us? Those who bring and nurture life, those who instinctively "help ever, hurt never," you are our hope, our benison, our guides.

Trump as Hitler - the Donald and der Fuehrer

Trump as Hitler... An illogical rant coming from a leftist resentful of the political ascent of the moneyed big-mouth real estate mogul from Manhattan? Or perhaps a warning rooted in an understanding of human nature, and the malleability of our collective conscience.

First, I want to establish my concern for the state of the American body politic. The heinous attack on New York - September 11, 2001 - may prove to be the seminal event that will characterize the 21st century as an epoch fraught with fear, distrust and irrationality. Although American foreign policy and CIA intrigue have promoted acts of violence and foreign incursion for over 60 years - Guatemala and Iran 1953, Cuba 1959-1962 etc. - the war of aggression against Iraq that followed 9-11 was unprecedented in scale, poor judgement, and popularity! The initially small outcry of concern over president G. W. Bush's inept leadership was characterized as unpatriotic and there was even some consideration of sedition laws - a mark of despotism and dictatorship. Perhaps trying to "get even" for the eventual crescendo of criticism that later dogged the Bush presidency, Republicans mounted a campaign of ridicule and disrespect against the succeeding Democratic president, derisively referred to as Mister Obama - they couldn't even address him as President. The result of these two diametrically opposed presidencies is an ever widening gap between "conservatives" and "liberals."

I place these words in quotes because their meaning has changed from their classic definition. "Conservative" has become a rallying cry for anti-establishment sentiments that in reality fit the dictionary definition of radical! And a concentrated effort from self-termed neo-conservatives has turned the word liberal into a pejorative: "What's the definition of a liberal? Someone who'll give you the shirt off someone else's back..." The well-orchestrated conservative movement has co-opted the alienation and disgust of an increasingly impoverished blue-collar worker class and married it to the haughtiness and imperialism of the cynical rich by appealing to feelings of disenfranchisement, re-defining the words and achievements of liberals, and (dirty word!) socialists. The nation has no dialogue now, only flag-waving, sloganeering and appeals to bigotry through coded dog-whistle discourse.

The present schism between sarcastic regressionism and frustrated altruism can only be healed by a review of the principles of the Enlightenment that were refined and incorporated into the Constitution and Bill of Rights by the more erudite founders of the United States. How ironic that the freed U.S. colonies in turn became a colonial empire, and in spite of our rhetoric of equality we had to fight a great Civil War to break the shackles of slavery, a scourge which reverberates in inequalities still suffered today. We have an inability to review our history and learn from it, and control of school curricula is an untouchable sacred cow almost immune to thoughtful revision. It seems more important to propagandize our youth than to teach the art of critical thinking! And mass culture is more intent on turning a dollar than any attempt at providing unbiased information and rational discussion.

So we are now ripe for the ascent of the demagogue. A beleaguered citizenry has no time for thought, parroting the attitudes of elders and talk-show manipulators. Even though unemployment has been cut in half, taxes have decreased, millions of people previously denied health care now have it, rapacious bankers are kept in check, clean energy and automotive industries are prospering - nevertheless - with stagnant wages and the constant tirade against "big government" there is a poisoning of our national pride, and the modern artifact of 9-11 is constant fear. The negative phenomena carry too much weight - bad news sells - and those who crave power will fan the fires of negativism for their own benefit. Termed "agnotology," spreading confusion and deceit to strengthen one's position is a classic ploy of the power seeker, a la Hitler.

Speaking of the devil, Hitler was one of the first demagogues to sense the power of technology and use it to further his desire for dominance. The public address system was invented in 1908, and in 1919 Woodrow Wilson was the first president to use it in this country. But the decorated stadium with an array of distributed loudspeakers adding a touch of magic to the occasion - shocking and impressing a naive populace - that was a hallmark of the Third Reich. It doesn't require a lot of insight to see that Donald Trump is a master at the use of broadcast media in today's America. He tells us he has a cadre of followers who would stick with him even if he fired a pistol in the streets of New York. His followers find this humorous, while rational thinkers find his rhetoric frightening.

Now, to be clear, the process here is a comparison of methodologies. We have an incomplete picture of who Mister Trump is at heart. His desire to make America great - an appeal to nationalism - or an honest evocation? But his concept of building a wall - this belongs to a post-war Stalin cordoning off East Berlin. And his attitude toward Muslims has dangerous parallels in our incarceration of Japanese citizens after Pearl Harbor, and Hitler's persecution of the Jews. He may not be a monster, but Trump is no statesman. His use of television to shoot from the hip and sound off on thoughtless premises presages a hostile stance from government that would create more enemies than friends should his popularity translate into a rise to the presidency.

The most frightening aspect of Trump's lust for the presidency is his ability to satisfy a need for authoritarianism. A few years ago there was a psychological study on basic values held by Democrats versus those of Republicans. A conclusion of the study found that most Democrats come from families that shared chores, shared decision-making, respected majority rule and freedom of the individual. And Republicans were more often products of top-down, hierarchical and patriarchal families. People tend to replicate their family dynamics through their politics. Donald Trump has great authoritarian appeal. His rudeness and brashness may be symptomatic of a snobby, spoiled rich, brat - but for the struggling working class folk feeling disenfranchised - here's a guy who acts out in ways that they aren't allowed, and his outbursts have great appeal. He answers their need for an authority figure and he seems to be in consonance with their frustrations.

Hopefully our man Trump is not evil incarnate, as we view Hitler today - but he's using the same devices - and the national substrate in present day America may be just as volatile as pre-war Germany. Trump's recent boycott of the Republican presidential debate shows his disdain for party standards. And while there was some talk early on about starting a third party campaign, a coup (rather than a putsch) taking over the Republican party is a more likely possibility.

If Trump's ascendancy continues, if he maneuvers the giant dominoes of agnotology, media control and authoritarianism and brings them crashing down on a society alienated from the status quo - inspiring voters to try his brand of emotionalism and knee-jerk, unstudied policy - we may end up with a loose cannon on the world stage. An unprepared president with a fanatical following, coming from the far right could veer into territories every bit as unfair, unconstitutional and abusive as a Hitler - only he'd do it his way.

I hope we don't get a chance to find out what life would be like under a Trump presidency.
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Links:
http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/CIAtimeline.html

http://www3.gettysburg.edu/~tshannon/hist106web/site6/american%20enlightement%20page1.htm

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160105-the-man-who-studies-the-spread-of-ignorance?

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/01/donald-trump-2016-authoritarian-213533