I am
frightened by the prospect of Donald Trump as our president. I am
also concerned about what his election implies about our democracy.
Commentators
characterize Mr. Trump as a narcissist, a
pathological liar, a sexual predator and a bully; a man who lacks the
skills and experience required by the office. He is said to twist
facts to his own ends and to respond with Twitter rants when anyone
points out his failings. He is reported to rule through fear and
domination discarding anyone who displeases him.
Pia
Guerra published a cartooni
depicting Donald Trump as a profoundly insecure man who needs
constant affirmation, a man who can be manipulated by people like
Steve Bannon. (see below)
Now
that Bannon has fallen out of favor, Mr. Trump is turning to other
individuals for assurance, particularly daughter Ivanka and
son-in-law Jared Kushner.ii
Pundits
find it easy to characterize Donald Trump as an insecure child
seeking to prove himself. But, if I'm honest, I'm not so different
from Donald Trump. I too have a frightened little boy living in me.
This is the little boy who, at the age of four, was told he was “the
man of the house” because his father had been killed in a car
crash. I couldn't shoulder that responsibility, and felt a failure.
That little boy continues to nag me, telling me that I am not man
enough.
There
is a hole in my soul. I feel unloveable and unworthy. I,
like Donald Trump, am driven by a compulsive need to earn approval
and prove my worth. His compulsion manifests in an insatiable need
for self aggrandizement through the acquisition of wealth and power.
Mine manifests in a compulsive need to change the world to conform to
my ideals.
This
compulsion overwhelmed my authentic desire to help others. It became
a demanding mistress. I didn't grope women, but I did actively seek
their love and approval. I didn't bully people, but I did relish the
struggle against the powerful on behalf of the powerless.
Yes,
I recognize in myself the same dynamic that Donald Trump displays in
gross excess. There is a difference between us. I have acknowledged
my addiction, my work-o-holism. I am conscious of the fact that the
hole in my soul can never be filled from the outside. It can only be
filled when I am able to love and accept myself for who I am;
including my weaknesses and deficits.
Like
the alcoholic who 'hits bottom,' I have acknowledged that my life is
out of control and that there is a 'higher power' that can help me
recover. I am grateful that I have accepted my addiction and
am engaging it. I am healthier and less
driven. I value my family and friends in ways I didn't think
possible. I am growing in self acceptance. I am more able to trust
my personal authority and to focus on the goals toward which I am
moving.
Unfortunately,
Donald Trump has not yet come to this realization. One commentator
wrote this about him.iii
“Who, really, is Donald
Trump? What’s behind the actor’s mask? I can discern little more
than narcissistic motivations and a complementary personal narrative
about winning at any cost. It is as if Trump has invested so much of
himself in developing and refining his socially dominant role that he
has nothing left over to create a meaningful story for his life, or
for the nation. It
is always Donald Trump playing Donald Trump,
fighting to win, but never knowing why.”
Yes, Donald Trump and I both deal
with deep insecurities. There is a hole in our souls that we seek to
fill by proving that we are better than others. Although it's easy to
criticize Donald Trump as unfit to serve as president, he is not the
main problem. His election is a sign of a deeper issue that involves
the welfare of our nation. There is also a hole in the soul of
America.
Nations behave collectively like
individuals. They have personalities - strengths and weaknesses.
They exhibit a life force; a psyche or soul. Like individuals, they
harbor conflicting yearnings, desires and compulsions. They hold
onto grudges and nurture distrusts, often for centuries. The wars in
the Middle East are a good example of how these long term animosities
erupt in violence.
Our nation, like empires of the
past, is losing sight of its founding vision. Like Donald Trump, we
are caught in the grip of a compulsive need to prove ourselves
through self aggrandizement and the acquisition of wealth and power.
We are so consumed with our own wants and needs that we see little
else. We deny our own faults and project them onto others whom we
define as the enemy. The United State and the former Soviet Union
were so consumed with their projections that they nearly precipitated
a nuclear war with insane plans for MAD - Mutually Assured
Destruction.
History is rife with examples of
failed empires caught in this compulsion.
During the glory days of David and
Solomon, the people of ancient Israel, saw themselves as God's chosen
ones and lost sight of their role as People of the Covenant. Their
nation declined, and they were defeated by the Babylonian empire.
Their temple was destroyed, and their leaders were forced into exile.
After Persia defeated Babylon, the descendants of the former Israel
were allowed to return to their homeland. Only then did the people
rebuild the temple and reaffirm the Covenantal values of their
ancestors.
The German people were seduced
into believing they were the only pure race. Under the sadistic
leadership of Hitler and his Nazi party, they allowed their
government to torture and massacre non-Aryan people in massive acts
of genocide. Hitler's Third Reich was finally defeated, and German
cities were bombed into rubble. Only then were the German people
able to face their complicity in these atrocities. Germany has been
rebuilt and restructured. Still the horrors of the Holocaust shadow
the German psyche.
Our
nation was founded on lofty ideals enunciated in the US Constitutioniv
and reiterated on the plaque at the base of the Statue of Liberty.v
We envision ourselves as a unique experiment in democracy: a nation
of immigrants; a melting pot of people from different cultures and
ethnic backgrounds; a land of equals; and a beacon of freedom for the
rest of the world.
There are parts of our history for
which we can be rightfully proud: The United States literally saved
the world from Nazi domination by defeating the Axis powers in WWII.
We helped rebuild Europe with the Marshall Plan. We were a
stabilizing force for global cooperation when Eleanore Roosevelt
helped create the United Nations. We led the world in economic
development, universal education and technical innovations; raising
the standard of living of our citizens. Everyone wished to emulate
the United States. We were a beacon of hope for the world.
There was also a shadow side to
America: Racism and economic discrimination have bedeviled our
nation since its earliest days. Unscrupulous businessmen took
advantage of workers. Wave after wave of immigrants struggled for
acceptance.
I
once believed we were were making progress. Civil rights movements
sensitized people to the plight of minorities. The United States and
Russia brokered a nonproliferation treaty signed by most of the
world's nuclear powers. Corporations began reshaping their
relationship with workers using the quality improvement models of W.
Edwards Deming.vi
Today
I'm less certain. There are troubling signs that the United States
is slipping into the practices of failed empires of the past. The
disparity in income and wealth between the poorest and wealthiest
Americans is increasing.vii
Race,
class, and cultural biases are still embedded in our social
structures.viii
For
the first time since the Second World War, the number of refugees
world-wide has surged past fifty million. The US has developed no
Marshal Plan to aid these people. Our current administration
instituted legislation that prohibits immigrants from these war torn
nations from entering the United States.ix
Even US citizens whose ancestors resided in these countries are
being detained.
United
States foreign policy goals are shifting from maintaining global
stability to insuring US economic and military domination. We
attacked Iraq to obtain control of its oil reserves, not as falsely
claimed, to capture Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction.
Donald
Trump made these self serving goals explicit in his inaugural address
when he stated:x
“From
this day forward, a new vision will govern our land.
From
this moment on, it's going to be America First....
America
will start winning again, winning like never before....
We
will seek friendship and goodwill with the nations of the world --
but we do so with the understanding that it is the right of all
nations to put their own interests first.”
Donald
Trump and his self selected advisors are promoting policies
enunciated by Steve Bannon; policies that favor the rich and
powerful.. They are attacking the checks and balances that define
our democracy – the very structures instituted to protect and
promote the founders' dream. I quote from a New York Times piece by
Timothy Egan,xi
"As chief strategist, he
(Bannon) recently vowed a daily fight for 'deconstruction of the
administrative state,' a task aimed at overturning not just the
traditional work of the federal government, but also the existing
international order of treaties, trade pacts and alliances that has
kept the world relatively safe since World War II. Trump’s cabinet
is stocked with people whose goal is to neuter the agencies they
head."
This is a frightening prospect. It
should not be taken lightly.
The good news is that the American
people are waking up to what we have done in electing Donald Trump.
His actions against immigrants, his denial of scientific evidence
regarding environmental degradation, and his ill advised foreign
policy gambits have provoked public outcry and huge protest marches.
The question is: “How are we going to respond to this wake-up
call?”
Our
situation is a bit like that of the alcoholic
who is told that drinking is causing irreparable and life threatening
liver damage. If the addict doesn't stop drinking, death will ensue.
In response to this wake-up call, the addict will vow to stop
drinking. There may even be an attempt to deal with the damage
through medical intervention. This short term approach is absolutely
necessary, but it is not sufficient. Unless the addict acknowledges
the addiction and commits to the longer term process of recovery, the
prospects for life are bleak.
The election of Donald Trump is
our wake-up call. It is gratifying that we are resisting his
destructive actions. This short term response is necessary but
insufficient without long term engagement. We need to acknowledge the
uncomfortable truth that we have normalized the very structures and
cultural biases that feed our addiction and control us unconsciously.
Military and economic domination of the world will never fill the
hole in the soul of America; nor will slogans like ”We're number
One,” “America Right Or Wrong,” and “Love It Or Leave It.”
We can
only fill this hole when we accept ourselves for who we are. We
yearn to live up to the dream of our forebearers. We know we have
the potential. We also
know our nation is deeply flawed. Like
the alcoholic who hits bottom, we are faced with the following
questions:
How frightened are we by our
current situation? Are we willing to acknowledge our addiction and
commit ourselves to a radical restructuring of our national values
and priorities?
If
we are frightened enough, a positive response to the second question
implies acknowledgement of the fact that our national life is
spinning out of control. We need to commit ourselves to a journey
with no quick fixes or easy solutions. Recovery
is not a goal but a process of transformation. As we join with
others to rekindle the vision that animated the founders our nation,
we will be able to put aside our petty disagreements. We will be
able to engage people whose values differ from our own. We will
discover that the principles and structures of our democracy were
designed to allow a diverse population to make decisions without
resorting to violence. There are hopeful signs that this has begun.xii
xiii
As
we proceed on this journey, we will discover that we are in touch
with a cosmic dynamic that motivates and sustains us.xiv
Abraham Lincoln referred to this as engaging the Angels of our
Better Nature. Civil rights activists in the '60's referred to it as
keeping our eyes on the prize.
I
am energized by the image of my little grandson, Gus. I see him
sitting on his
swing winding and unwinding the chains as he twists round-and-round
in circles. “Grandpa, look at me! Look at me!” I smile in
response. His joy is infectious.
Little Gus and I build intricate structures out
of Legos. A magical fantasy world materializes before our eyes as he
tells stories about our creation. He lives in a world of hope and
new possibilities. He rejoices in living and has an unbounded
curiosity about life.
Little Gus is one of billions of children in
the world. Each of these little ones, like Gus, has unlimited
potential. Each brings joy to those who love them. Each embodies a
universal flow that moves toward life and wholeness. They are our
future.
iihttp://www.cnn.com/2017/03/27/politics/ivanka-trump-jared-kushner-white-house-influence/
iiihttps://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/06/the-mind-of-donald-trump/480771/
iv“With
liberty and justice for all”
v“Give
me your tired your poor, your
huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched
refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless,
tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
viwww8.gsb.columbia.edu/deming/about/history
viihttp://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/01/07/5-facts-about-economic-inequality/
ixhttp://beta.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/wars-bring-number-of-displaced-people-to-wwii-levels-un-warns/article19256419/?ref=http://www.theglobandmail.com&service=mobile
xhttp://www.cnn.com/2017/01/20/politics/trump-inaugural-address/
xihttps://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/10/opinion/the-bombs-of-steve-bannon.html?_r=1
xiihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_Mondays
xiiihttp://religionnews.com/2017/04/12/soul-searching-at-princeton-theological-seminary/
