It is difficult to tell whether Trump is a naturally destructive sociopath empowered first by wealth and now the presidency, or whether he is an evil genius. I tend towards the former, but I believe that he has discovered democracy and sees it as an enemy to his interests and desires.
What is happening to our country – politically, socially, and ethically – is clear.
How it is happening is so present and close that it is difficult to get perspective.
Intent remains a question mark (at least to me).
There are two issues I want to address in introducing Henry A. Giroux’s latest article – abuse, and civil behavior. When Trump announced his candidacy in 2015, I felt a chill. As he got on a roll and his public presentations and rallies got more air time, a growing sense of recognition made me increasingly concerned. I suspect that millions of people were having the same feelings, because Trump (narcissism aside) is a classic abusive personality, and anyone who has been in an abusive relationship recognizes that (consciously or not) in short order. Abusers are a kind of bully, but because they share a certain space and environment over an extended time, and from which it may be difficult to extract oneself (family, intimate relationships, and employment / school come to mind), their influence extends and deepens. Abusers may employ multiple forms of abuse, but all employ emotional abuse. One of the main mechanisms of control is to create an environment where there is constant uncertainty, rapidly changing moods and “rules”. All of this moves the abused into a position of trying to pacify, mollify, and pre-guess the needs of the abuser. All focus is on the abuser, and he (or she) maintains control by the mercurial environment of both emotions and rules. He (or she) is constantly creating their own reality and the abused tries to avoid abuse by hyper-focus on the abuser.
People who have not been abused frequently ask “Why would anybody put up with that?” There are many reasons, but the short answer is that people feel trapped. Frequently the abuser has real power over one’s life and conditions. The process of being abused (particularly in intimate relationships) is a long and progressive one. (This is typically not true in the case of familial child abuse.) Generally, the abuser is charming at the beginning of the relationship, and over time manipulates both the environment and abused. The goal is control, but also to erode the sense of self and sense of value of the abused. Confidence plummets, and uncertainty over day to day life rises. There is an almost constant state of anxiety and because of the hyper focus on the abuser. It becomes increasingly difficult to get enough physical, emotional, and intellectual space to reflect and create options.
With Trump, the majority of the country is suffering personally in the grip of an abusive relationship with the President whose position gives him the full power and force of the United States at his whim.
Turning to “civil” behavior, I have always been bothered by rants about “political correctness” which has largely become a code phrase for whites complaining about having to be polite. They don’t want to feel that they have to watch what they say or do because of concerns about how that might be interpreted by others (anyone not white, heterosexual, Christian – and often, male). These complaints essentially say that someone of high social status should be able to speak and act with no consideration other than their own thoughts and desires. If this seems hauntingly familiar to the above abuse discussion, I would argue they are very much related.
However, civil behavior goes beyond political correctness to normal interactions with others. Politeness and courtesy are the lubricant of social interaction among strangers, acquaintances, and those with whom we are closer. I have heard increasing complaints in the Trump era about the “dishonesty” of politeness, and being “fed up” with being polite. Of course, Trump seems to model a lack of civility virtually every time he opens his mouth (or lets loose his streams of tweets). He also models anger, and striking out at others on a regular basis. All of this is encouraging a similar degradation of civility across the country that is playing out with disturbing regularity on a personal basis. I am seeing this multiple times every time I leave my house so I’m assuming others are as well.
Honest or not, courtesy and basic civility allow people to interact with each other in positive ways. Without it, there are thorns and pit traps everywhere creating not just unpleasant situations, but potentially deadly ones where more folks begin striking out blindly (and lethally) at those around them. It is critical that we become aware of the erosion that is going on and reverse it or this house of cards could go up in flames
