Cult 45: Bullies and Victims, Part I

It’s been quite incomprehensible to most people of the world how Trump has maintained his supporters in spite of his business failures and bankruptcies, non-payment of debts and contractors, bullying, rape and sexual assault, obstruction of justice, denial of realities of the world, (diplomatic, climactic, pandemic), constant lying and misrepresentations, his disdain for the sacrifices of military personal and American workers, not to mention his betrayal of legal and constitutional principles and everything held dear by basic decency. And then there are his characterological defects in the form of malignant narcissism, obvious racism, religious bigotry, allergy to the truth, inability to accept responsibility for his actions, catering to dictators and oligarchs, and his strange obsession with President Obama.

it’s easy to make this prancing president a target because of his many shortcomings including, but not limited to, misogyny; religious, racial, and gender bigotry; pervasive corruption; general immorality; persistent lies; destruction of the environment; and being a horrible role model for our children. He is certainly deserving of being a target. However, we must not lose sight of the fact that he is, at the same time, the visible manifestation of social illnesses that have remained hidden in large segments of our society, and the willing of much of that society to turn a blind eye toward institutionalized struggles for power rather than service. Furthermore, he is aided and abetted by his Republican compatriots, propaganda machines, and some media outlets.

He bluntly told us all early on: he could shoot someone in broad daylight on Fifth Avenue and wouldn’t lose a single voter. He knows his audience and is counting on a certain kind of person for his support.

In my first blogs in January and February of 2018, I noted that this garish man had become a voice for people who felt they hadn’t had one. They see “their” America diluted or threatened by change; nor are they aware of the benefits provided to them by existing structures. I noted the stressful impact Trump’s rise to power had on people’s mental health – especially those who had been assaulted or bullied. It was his character that shook the national psyche, along with the number of people willing to endorse it – and mental health professionals raised the question of his fitness for office.

So, what can we say about his supporters? Some are quite serious and sincere in wanting something – anything – different from what has gone before; someone who will shake things up, regardless of the outcome. Some are predatory opportunists who see their chance to profit from his actions. Others want to see policies that are more “business-friendly” (at least to large corporations) regardless of the cost to ordinary citizens, the environment, or small businesses. Some share his bigotry, misogyny, racism, and toxic masculinity. And, of course, there are the stereotyped ignorant and gullible shills with unresolved personal issues who are easily fooled by propaganda, hoaxed memes, and social media rumors. Most of his supporters operate under the banner of a patriotic, capitalist “conservatism.” (I addressed this pseudo-conservatism in my previous blog.) Traditional conservatives can see the damage being done to Constitutional principles, economic health, democratic checks and balances, and deeply held values – but largely remain quiet.

To his followers, his narcissistic sociopathic bullying nature is not a problem because he is their bully. Larger principles no longer matter. The fact of his strong bullying makes him the worthy champion of their cause. Thus, we see the emergence of people who have been quietly on the fringe of our politics – white nationalist racists, corporate and private deniers of scientific realities, poisoners of the land, and the breathtakingly demented advocates of conspiracy theories.

Even evangelical Christian groups have come under his thrall. They justify his policies and prejudices and his evident disregard for anything religious because of an imagined shared goal, unaware that they are being played for fools. He may have character deficits but, again, he is their bully, too. However, the dishonesty of such a position is obvious because we hear little or no criticism of his character or his treatment of humanity. It’s as though they have traded their traditional values for a devil’s bargain in a great power game.

Recent research has shown that his followers tend to be less educated, authoritarian oriented. They look to a strong central authority for their security and direction. Other research has shown that these Republican “conservatives” have different brain development that inclines them toward exaggerated fear reactions. Thus, they are more likely to see threats where there may be none, and be gullible to conspiracy theories to justify their distrust of anything that does not reinforce their anxiety defenses.

Donald Trump has an instinct for activating and affirming others’ greed and discontent. This has been the basic method of operation in his various confidence schemes: getting others to believe he offers them a shortcut out of their lack with promised advantages. He offers an appealing investment with a promised return that he then keeps for himself. It’s the old con game that depends on another’s’ need, greed, and gullibility.

He has been accused of engineering a cult, surrounding himself only with those who agree with and cater to him, and he operates on impulse rather than principles so there is no shared vision. People in his circle are afraid to take issue with him because they’ve seen what happens to those who do. Dogma and ideology replace research and reality. Authoritarian and arbitrary decisions replace consultation and consent. All attention gets focused not on problems and solutions, not on principles and goals, but on one solitary figure and his needs, desires, and approval. It is an infantile and dysfunctional way of life where all become caretakers of the Dear Leader’s mood and approval. Disagreements are not treated as other perspectives but as betrayal. Loyalty to the Dear Leader has become the prime value. Those found “false” are labeled as traitors to the cause (which is never totally clear – except to please the Dear Leader). Distrust is fostered against all who do not come into the fold, and hatred against any who voice opposition to it. In fact, such cult-like groups need a designated enemy to maintain their identity, unity, and rationalizations. We can see how they jump to respond on social media with denials and derogatory labels for anyone who disagrees with them. They need an enemy because, if they stop fighting, they might ask difficult questions.

Donald Trump’s diagnosable character defects have been well-documented in professional circles. What’s more, some observers have called into question the mental status of his followers, but I think they are as much victims as anyone else. They may, indeed, be delusional, short-sighted, self-sabotaging, and willfully ignorant, but that does not necessarily make them mentally ill. This does, however, help cement the bond between the Dear Leader and his devoted loyal circle. They are made impervious to information from the “outside,” rendered incapable of self-reflection, and their vision truncated, unable to see the fruits of their actions. Nor are they allowed abstract thinking that would break the enchantment of the Dear Leader’s fascist tendencies and, instead, project them onto everyone else, making “others” a threat or an “enemy of the people.”

His is not the only cult-like group in politics, to be sure. There are others who have lost any perspective that we have a choice between two visions of the world and our place in it. These folks, too, have focused on a particular cause or figure, and conform to their dogma. They often come with good intentions and disdain for the faults of both major parties, but also with a judgmental moral superiority. They can be found in third parties, so-called “independents” and in religious organizations. However, the nuances of character, perspective, potential effectiveness, and outcomes are sacrificed in the name of their ideological purity. Compromise that could move things forward to some degree is still a betrayal of their secular fundamentalism.

Members of all cult-like movements are given the thoughts they are allowed to think by meme-generating propaganda machines, but thinking is not promoted. That is to say, there is a significant difference between having thoughts, on the one hand, and thinking on the other. A thought is an idea. Thinking is a process of examining ideas, checking their validity and relationship to other ideas, their place in the larger perspective of other thoughts, and their applications and outcomes. This is work! Thoughts are cheap, easy, and profitable, while thinking requires effort, courage, and honesty.

So, what is to be done about these emotionally charged, information-allergic supporters of a sociopathic narcissist? As long as they have a powerful leader who promises salvation from their felt victimization, I doubt there is much to be done directly. The cult, along with their personal needs, has made them impervious to transformative evidence that would shatter their sense of self and the narrative on which they depend for their personal value.

At the moment, because they lack any capacity for conversation, containment of their destructive inclinations may be the most effective course of action, along with minimizing the damage as much as possible. Confrontation may appear fruitless and frustrating, but I think there are truths still worth stating.

It may help the remember, too, (especially when we encounter these people online or in life) that we are not just observers to a phenomenon. They are not an isolated element existing without connection to their world, to the real world, and to us. We are part of it. That is, we are in relationship with them. We can see this when we are provoked by something we hear or see online to react. I’m not saying we shouldn’t react, but that, if we do not act in line with our deep values, we have become an agent of their defenses. To paraphrase Aristotle: it’s easy to become angry, but to be angry in an effective way that moves the discussion forward is not so easy. My exploration of the relational aspects of dealing with Trumpian supporters would make this blog too long so it’ll come on another day.

In the long term, our best bet rests not only on voting them out of power now, but also challenging their enablers, legally pursuing those who have broken the law, persistently confronting their lies and misinformation, pressuring legislators to take responsibility, and promoting education about the realities of the world. Perhaps this can be summed up in accountability, transparency, and education.

Note: I did not invent the term “Cult 45.” It has been used to describe our current predicament in academic papers, Pinterest boards, and music for several years now.

I Was Once a Conservative Republican Member of the NRA

Introduction

I was once a conservative republican member of the NRA – but I recovered. I grew up “lucky” (read privileged), had a good education, was not exposed to the injustices that women, poor, dark-skinned, immigrant, or sexually non-conforming people suffered. In those days, it was the threat of communists that was in the news, along with Reagan’s fabled “Welfare Queens.” My one-time devotion to its indoctrination was a squandered investment in a fantasy that could never fulfill its promises and, in practice, is too easily corrupted by avarice, hypocrisy, and the bare-faced will to power.

The Enchantment

Long ago and half a continent away I was under the thrall of what passes for the conservative mindset. I was young and moralistic. I was enchanted by the narrative that people less fortunate than I were too lazy to improve themselves (rather than lacking the same opportunities that I had). Instead, the narrative went, compassionate government policies promoted laziness. This attitude freed me from any obligation of compassion (and the pain of empathy), or any need to look into the complexities of racism and its relationship with unbridled capitalism and other economic policies. Free markets received more lip-service than reality, and were only afforded to a privileged elite – our American aristocracy.

I bought into the notion that government was not to be trusted; that a smaller government is better, free of “unaccountable bureaucrats;” that power was best invested in local government and so states’ rights were paramount; that patriotism meant uncritical support of government (as long as we could also arm ourselves against it, of course). Capitalism was the ideal economic system because the power of the market was the power of the people to regulate commerce by how they spent their money. Christianity shaped our government, values, and society. Liberals had no spine and just wanted to throw money at problems; and they were soft on communism and crime. Reformers and “agitators” were communist “fellow travelers,” and socialism was just a step toward communism.

These values were not theoretical positions for me. I worked in an election as a poll watcher (going to a voting site and watching the voting machines being opened to take the tallies). I really thought there were only three things keeping us from “liberty and justice for all” and they were communism, big government, and lazy people.

Dis-Illusionment

The slippery slope from the heights of conservative ideology to the realities of the world came gradually but relentlessly, with one realization after another. I began to notice the fruits of this conservatism – who benefited, who suffered, and what lies were told. I watched the banner of conservatism cast a shadow that hid racism, subtle forms of genocide, misogyny, homophobia, economic slavery, neglect of vulnerable citizens, and environmental degradation.

Let’s take a look at some of the sacred cows and dog whistles of modern conservatism one by one.

Small Government

At first blush, the idea of small government had its appeal. Government had to be restrained lest it intrude into our private lives and curtail freedom. Small government also meant lower taxes for everyone. But in a country of more than 327 million people, the idea of “small” government is ludicrous because of the influence of corporations larger (in wealth) than some countries, because of military and cyber threats from other countries, and because of internal shadow organizations and (again) corporations of unimaginable power.

So who benefits from this idea of “small government”? Keep government small and it will be unable to protect citizens from predatory corporations that have enough money to evade paying their fair share of taxes, escape government supervision, and avoid market forces. They buy elected leaders, manipulate legislation, and put small businesses out of business while creating subsidies for themselves. The business establishment itself has become a shadow government.

States’ Rights

Decentralized authority – a.k.a. “states’ rights” – also had its initial appeal. After all, not all areas of the country had the same interests, needs, or resources. The insidious nature of states’ rights, however, became evident when they were used to try to block common civil rights. Peaceful activists were murdered, gassed, and water cannoned by state authorities. African American churches were burned with children in them – in the name of protecting a state’s right to maintain its racism.

Free-Market Capitalism

Competition and free markets were supposed to promote better products, greater efficiency, and higher profits; but there is no competition on an unequal playing field when huge corporations can buy up, starve out, undermine, or sue their smaller competitors into the dust. So, we now have a diminishing number of huge corporations controlling media, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, industrial chemicals, agriculture, and communication. This is not a free market, nor is it competition, or democracy.

The economy grew when corporate profits were taxed at a high rate. That was an incentive for corporations to put money into wages and development which wouldn’t be taxed. Money that used to go toward workers’ wages and benefits, and re-investment in the company now goes to shareholders and CEOs. In this fraudulent “free market” we watched the wealthy become an aristocratic oligarchy with privileges of political influence not equaled by any ordinary citizen.

“Trickle-down” economics never worked, partly because it relies on the delusion that wealthy corporations and individuals will give their largesse to workers – instead of to management, shareholders, multiple houses, boats and buying legislative influence. Yet the lie continues.

What’s worse, free market advocates seem disinclined to support anything that helps people’s welfare. They were (and still are) against social security and are happy to leave elders, no longer useful for generating profits, to languish and die. They also oppose collective bargaining that would limit the power of corporations to abuse workers and establish economic slavery.

“Regulations” became a pariah because it meant corporations might have to be responsible for the impact of their policies and actions. This amoral evasion of responsibility has become a hallmark of conservatism and corporate protection. Even the idea of a mandatory “living wage” is controversial. Just give that some thought. What kind of person wants citizens to exist with less than a living wage?

Myths of the self-regulating marketplace and trickle-down economics were lies perpetuated by those who wanted to avoid regulation and paying taxes so they could (can) steal fruits of the labors of working people.

De-Regulation

Because of the threat to corporate profits, large corporations have been active in suppressing the realities of science because it might tell us what industrial chemicals, particulate matter, tobacco, fossil fuels, and gun violence are doing to our health, society, and government.

Conservatives have always opposed any revelation of industrial toxins, as well as the impacts of tobacco, pollution, acid rain, the ozone layer, climate change, and now pandemic diseases. If it could be sold, it was good. If it cut costs, it was good. If someone suffered, it wasn’t their problem and government shouldn’t be looking into it or trying to remedy it. Worse, because scientists’ research threatens corporate profits, conservatives have been actively disseminating disinformation (read “lies” and “deception”) and attacking sincere scientists trying to save our health and lives.

The Second Amendment and the NRA

I was and am a gun owner (and I have a permit to carry). I’ve heard constantly of the threat of confiscation at any suggestions of registration or regulation – the same things we hear today, 50 years and many lives later. Over time, it became obvious that the National Rifle Association was more invested in gun sales than safety or owners’ concerns. The gun was promoted as an icon of individual power, and become an icon of toxic masculinity.

Now the NRA fights against even simple things that most Americans and most gun owners want, like universal background checks. The NRA has become a special interest group for manufacturers and, apparently, Russian interests.

American Values and Its History

The people I’d looked up to as pillars of American democracy began to look petty, privileged, spoiled, racist, homophobic, misogynous, and predatory. They sought any advantage they could leverage over anyone else – especially the vulnerable classes that did not conform to their vision. The great icon of conservative republicanism cut taxes of the wealthy, taxed social security, ignored the AIDS crisis, supported illegal arms sales, and betrayed the unions he promised to support. His efforts began the decline of the middle class and intensified the growing wealth disparities we see. Betrayal, lies, profiteering, and pseudo-religious posturing became the ways conservatism imposed its grip on the country. Christianity was used to promote domination and theft: whites over people of color, men over women, wealthy over the common poor, Americans over the world, humankind over nature.

Conservatives ignore the fact that the constitution was originally written for white male property owners. Women didn’t have the right to vote until after my mother was born and women of color were long excluded by state-created barriers. We’ve been crippled by our cave-man Christianity.

Over time, I discovered what was done to the indigenous people of this land: their children taken from them, their language suppressed, and their religion outlawed. The language we use today distorts the reality. Invaders were called “settlers”, “adventurers,” and “missionaries” as they took the land, the lives and culture of human beings inconveniently in the way of their conquest or profits. Genocide, slavery, and rape have been common European methods of domination.

Equal treatment under the law has been a myth, given lip-service but fought against by both conservatives and modern Republicans who act out their pathological fear and hatred by finding some vulnerable populations to hate, blame, and oppress; and enlist bizarre versions of Christianity to support them.

I don’t care anymore what their empty claims and fantasies might be. I look now at the fruits of their actions: bigotry of various kinds, misogyny, murder, massacres, children abused, unconscionable distribution of wealth upward, and on and on.

We revere a constitution drafted at a time when non-whites were non-people, when women had no place in a man’s world of government and business. In the 21^st century, conservatives have attempted to use lies about biblical teachings to make various populations into second-class citizens and to block civil rights, voting, marriage equality, justice reform, etc. They tried to dismiss the reality and dangers of climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic while undermining the brightest scientists who had a grasp on what was happening and what is needed to save human lives – and they did so in service to solely economic interests. People’s lives have been traded for commerce – a new form of human trafficking.

Today’s Conservatism

Conservatism now means little more than greed, self-centeredness, racism, religious bigotry, destruction of families, misuse of the American military, destruction of the middle class, upward distribution of wealth, misogyny, subversion of scientific realities, perpetuation of racism through discriminatory application of law enforcement, judicial sentencing with a for-profit prison system, violation of American treaties, gross and public corruption in politics, limited regulation, and wanton destruction of our ecosystem with the adverse consequences falling on the shoulders of the poor while benefiting the wealthy and powerful. There is no interest in resolving the causes of our problems but in ignoring them and suppressing those who suffer and object.

Too many conservatives persistently lie about too many things: the cause of the Civil War and a denial of the Confederacy’s investment in slavery, about the capabilities of women and people of color, about climate change, about systemic racism, about the beliefs of various religions, and about the adverse effects of our economic system, and the recent tax cuts. There was a peculiar lack of conscience about reasons for war, about the criminal history of Ronald Reagan and his destructive policies for the middle class, about those who perpetuate white terrorism, and those who are dying because of their lies and prejudices.

This conservatism turned a blind eye to the reality that, as the Berlin Wall fell, the greatest threat to our freedoms was the growth of unregulated, irresponsible, greedy, capitalistic, multi-national corporations who now suck at the teat of American wealth but evade taxes through self-designed loopholes, shelters, and off-shore accounts – in legislation written by purchased legislators.

The perfidy of the conservative position became solidified at my realization of the degree to which it opposed attempts at rectifying the evils of the modern world – without proposing any initiatives of their own to solve very real problems that threaten our well-being. What’s more, those waving the conservative flag seem to make every effort to deny the very real consequences of their actions such as continued global warming, toxic chemicals in the environment, increasing inequality, corporate and political corruption, etc. Rather, they call any attention given to reality “fake news” as if that solved the problem. They actively opposed any attempt to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, protect the vulnerable, house the homeless, and care for ordinary citizens as well as the women and men they love to send to war.

The only thing they seem to conserve is the right to continue this system of corporate dominance, the economic advantages of racism, violating treaty rights of the people indigenous to the land, stealing the labor of women and immigrants (and others without representation), and general bigotry against any who do not conform to their privileged standards.

Thus, conservatism and the republican party have become little more than a cover for the worst of human behavior promoting propaganda that our problems are caused by people who don’t look like us, despite that fact that it is white men in suits running their/our lives.

This current president is good example of their underlying values: he is unrelated to reality, predatory, greedy, misogynist, bigoted, racist, entitled to unearned advantages, and heartless. As others have said, he is not the cause of our current degradation and divisiveness, but the personalized epitome of a structure built by the republican conservative machine that no longer pretends to care about human suffering and social issues. There is no longer the veneer of civility, compromise, and social responsibility.

Like any cult, conservative Republicans have a rigid set of beliefs and demand conformity. They promote unquestioning loyalty to professed values and to cult leaders and icons. Leaders are allowed to violate basic values with impunity. Anyone who exposes the dear leaders’ perfidy, hypocrisy, or damage are roundly attacked and excommunicated with the expectation that “true believers” shun them. Their greatest fears are exposure, truth-telling whistleblowers, and an uprising of ordinary citizens.

Large corporations and centralized wealth, election corruption and religious oppression have become the great dangers to our democracy – more so than communists ever were.

“The Party” has become an immoral criminal enterprise in service to corporate interests and wealthy individuals – the middle class be damned.

Conclusions

Clearly, I found conservative Republican ideology, practice, and people inadequate to face the realities of our time. The conservative experiment was a failure, not only for its inherent inadequacies, but also for the way it attracts authoritarians with a theocratic bent and an emotional hypersensitivity to threat. Furthermore, it was too easily subverted by corporations and oligarchs who astutely take advantage of its impotence.

Thus, today’s conservative Republican party and its supporters have become channels promoting policies of authoritarianism, fascist sympathies, racism, denial of scientific realities, Russian infiltration, election disenfranchisement, misogyny, use of federal troops to attack peaceful protesters, homophobia, religious bigotry, suppression of dissent, faked photographs, social media memes generated by far-right propaganda outlets, false accusations, intimidation of citizens and legislators, innuendo, and outright lies – a far cry from the idealistic enchantment that first captured me.