Finally a well balanced and nuanced take on what drives the President. Too bad you too smart for your own good to be hired in today's media landscape and believe in a dirty word known as "CONTEXT".
Also I have a feeling CNN and MSNBC partially want him around for the next four years. I mean during the Obama era, its was just boring self validation compared to Trump where I am sure they are getting higher viewcounts. If it comes out that all the news anchors at CNN and MSNBC voted for Trump, I will be validated.
Thanks for the kind words. Remaining objective is an impossible task, but I try to view things as an outsider when it comes to American politics. Everyone talks about how this country is so young, and that notion gets overused. But there is a grain of truth to it, when you think of the fact that this country has been through a lot of crazy shit, yet we have yet to witness the coups or falls from grace that so much of the world has. We dont have that sobering reminder of hard times. It breeds nihilism.
I feel in today's age that the collaborate effort that is the "mainstream media" is really no longer necessary.
Unlike any period in history before us, we have unfettered access to the direct sources. Why read a skewed article on CNN or Fox when you can simply watch a press conference yourself? Why get someone else's analysis when the records and information can be interpreted yourself.
The media has devolved into a platform that only the uninformed and stupid habitually consume. These people dont want to go through the rigors of critical thinking in order to draw their own conclusions. Perhaps it is because their world view is so naive and simplistic that they still cling to the last spreads of hope that there is actually a source that is capable of disseminating the news without bias.
Oh, to be in that childlike state of naivety once again. It is enviable if you set aside the horrifying fact that this describes a good deal of the population.
I feel it is inevitable that the industry will die. As more people get "redpilled", or find disillusionment in current and future events. They will first say hard to one side, before facing the realization that both sides are guilty of manipulation and compliance. A bleak reality, but accepting reality is always the first step toward change. And true change will only come from within, not some comment section on youtube.
Anyone that thinks they can run the entire country has a large ego. Can also say this about pretty much every politician ever, as it always boils down to wanting to boss around others regarding things they themselves are not experts at.
Whole heartedly agree with your post.
As a child everyone thinks that being the President or representative means you are overflowing with empathy for others as you usher in a new era of kindness.
I sometimes wonder if some of these hardened politicians went in their first day, or campaigned their first time truly believing that they would be the one to change things for the better. Did they truly believe that all that was needed to accomplish the tasks that their predecessors neglected, was a little motivation and ambition?
I wonder how long it took for the house of cards to cone tumbling down. For the facade to break. How long did it take for someone in their party to pull them aside and say "This is how we do things here."
You have to imagine that it breaks many of them. It makes them cynical, I am sure. But they stay, they keep going, because once you become part of that "elite" social class, obtained only with true wealth and power, you arent going to relinquish it without a fight.
The dead eyes we see in career politicians may indeed be their contempt for the people they serve, but I think we should step back and realize that a great deal of it must also be the product of broken dreams. Of becoming part of the very problem they once were so stringent against.
I imagine that's why we see many of them do anything to rationalize that what they are doing is the right thing. Because it is simply human nature to not want to drown in depression.
I think any same person who understands the nature of the game would never wish to be saddled with the rigors of running a government. I certainly don't. But once you dip a toe in, the manufactured adoration along with the influx of social connections strokes your ego. The only way I could see handling such a job would be to focus on the things and people that make you feel good. That compliment and adore you over and over again. It must help when you surround yourself withthese external factors, because every voice in your mind knows the truth- that you're a piece of shit, just like all the others before you.
I think that this pretty spot on, I would add in the caveat that Trump probably does genuinely love people who love him back. Despite all his shit, his kids seem to love him and he seems to really love his kids.
The way he talks about his fans at the rallies give me the impression that he does care about them, or is at least willing to stick up for them. Hence that little aside last night, when he calls them the elites in opposition to the media and what not.
It'd be really dumb to disregard how egoistic and narcissistic he is, but that doesn't mean he isn't genuine in certain ways.
Its just not with the same depth as most people, which is pretty standard for the less severe Narcissistic Personality Disorders.
I think above all else, Trump absolutely adores his children. I think it is the most relatable factor in him, and I am surprised he does not use this more often.
At the same time I think this is just more proof that his love for then is without a doubt, genuine. Dare I say, he might be afraid of placing such a large target on those of his children that he doesn't believe can handle it.
In shining the spotlight on his numerous children, he gives his enemies something new to attack. I don't think he wants that at all.
That being said, Ivanka may be the great outlier. Were she on the left, I think she would get much more credit for being so strong. I do not use this phrase lightly, but she seems to be a textbook "power woman", confident and highly ambitious.
I think Trump sees the most of himself in her, so he trusts her the most. But at the very same time she must have some degree of capability to navigate the waters of public life. Perhaps he even sees her as an equal in some ways? Certainly she is a far more polarizing figure than any of his boys.
I think he is reluctant to give his other children as much involvement in his political staff, because he does not want to see them get hurt. Which is natural instinct for any father.
Thus drive to be adored by family and strangers alike is certainly egocentric, but anyone who runs purely on the fumes of their own ego is going to probably get a lot more out of the adoration they receive from those that are closest to them.
The media thinks they have him figured out. And maybe they do and I am wrong. But I think Trump is more than just a sociopathic narcissist. Not to say he isn't, but I think to have traveled the many roads he has taken (casinos, hotels, real estate, reality tv) takes a person who has motivations beyond money. He could have stopped at the real estate or the hotels, having made himself far more rich and powerful than he started out as.
But when you go on these crazy ventures and bring your own children into the fold in each of these, that shows a certain level of caring and trust that can be related to.
Were Trump purely an egomaniac, I doubt he would go so willingly into sharing the limelight. And maybe it is purely because he sees their successes as an extension of his own, but I think there is a complicated degree of love woven into this fabric.
