- 12 Sep 2020 13:57
#15119171
The phenomenon of the large number of Americans who are [sometimes vehemently] pro-President of the United States of America Donald Trump has interested me for a long time. I've tried to find a framework -- a way of thinking about them -- that squares with what I know, with what I believe and with what, to me, makes sense. They are my fellow Americans. They're not some alien form of life intent upon the destruction of civilization. They're no more, and no less, stupid and ignorant than I am. Yet, I'm not one of them. The drum beat to which I march is that of secular humanism, if you must know. I fail the litmus test for inclusion into either of our two main political parties.
Things coalesced quite recently thanks to a quote attributed to the late Mahatma Mohandas Gandhi. It goes, 'What you do for me but without me, you do to me.'
From this, the next step was to see the pro-Trump people as a movement. That movement centers on a general feeling that our government is not responsive to them -- to their perceived needs and desires. Given that, President of the United States of America Donald Trump becomes the symbol of the movement, much as the Stars and Stripes is the symbol of our country for the vast majority of us.
Our flag is our flag. It can be faded, tattered and torn, but that doesn't matter. It's our symbol of our nation. Of us.* In a like manner, President of the United States of America Donald Trump can have any number of personal failings. To the neutral eye he can appear faded, tattered, torn. No matter. He remains the symbol of the politically disaffected.
'What you do for me but without me, you do to me.'
[Ed.: This, in turn, can lead to another area of concern; the internal problems of our peculiarly American form of constitutional republic.]
Thank you for taking time to read this. Regards, stay safe 'n well.
* The fortuitous coincidence of 'us' and 'US' is, I should think, not overlooked.
Things coalesced quite recently thanks to a quote attributed to the late Mahatma Mohandas Gandhi. It goes, 'What you do for me but without me, you do to me.'
From this, the next step was to see the pro-Trump people as a movement. That movement centers on a general feeling that our government is not responsive to them -- to their perceived needs and desires. Given that, President of the United States of America Donald Trump becomes the symbol of the movement, much as the Stars and Stripes is the symbol of our country for the vast majority of us.
Our flag is our flag. It can be faded, tattered and torn, but that doesn't matter. It's our symbol of our nation. Of us.* In a like manner, President of the United States of America Donald Trump can have any number of personal failings. To the neutral eye he can appear faded, tattered, torn. No matter. He remains the symbol of the politically disaffected.
'What you do for me but without me, you do to me.'
[Ed.: This, in turn, can lead to another area of concern; the internal problems of our peculiarly American form of constitutional republic.]
Thank you for taking time to read this. Regards, stay safe 'n well.
* The fortuitous coincidence of 'us' and 'US' is, I should think, not overlooked.
"And gladly wolde he lerne, and gladly teche." Geoffrey Chaucer