The Fungible World of Donald Trump

The Trump campaign, fired up by insult, "crook, liar, dumb, greedy," is far more self-reflecting than he would allow. Every time he hurls some scornfully abusive remark at an adversary in the hope that it will stick it is impossible to imagine that this is not a part of his self-loathing, projected on to his adversaries.
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Fungible. Hate is fungible. It indicates that something is able to replace or be replaced by another identical item; mutually interchangeable. I thought of it yesterday as I watched Trump's allegedly presidential style speech. I say watched because I turned down the sound for awhile and just studied the contortions of the face - filled to the brim with hatred - it was there whenever he mentioned Hillary or Syrian refugees or whoever crossed his very fine line to become a part of his vast hate machine. If necessary it would include the LGBT community - but for the moment they are safe from his hate machine - the national outrage over Orlando would not make it popular for him. One thing I know about hate - it is fungible. Those who hate a religion or a race of anyone's sexuality can replace one hate for the other. Once the machinery of hate is set into motion it is hard to keep it safely walled in even if Mexico is forced to build the wall.

The flaw in the Rodgers & Hammerstein song, "You've got to be carefully taught..." is that in most cases one must be carefully "untaught" - we are such tribal creatures that we find it difficult to accept the other until we learn through living that the other is us. Right now there is a group of Trump villagers - ready to join him in hating - but if the gods betray the USA and he, Trump, were elected, the Trumpeteers would discover that he is no friend to them having destroyed the economy and their livelihoods - and they would have to come after the monster they created with fiery torches - and face the palace guard whose machine guns are ready to mow down the very people who voted him into office.

The Trump campaign, fired up by insult, "crook, liar, dumb, greedy," is far more self-reflecting than he would allow. Every time he hurls some scornfully abusive remark at an adversary in the hope that it will stick it is impossible to imagine that this is not a part of his self-loathing, projected on to his adversaries. And he has so much to hate. I look with wonder at his stony faced family and wonder how they can live so close to this dangerous man without fearing for themselves. No, I do not hate them. Nor do I pity them but I do feel a bit sorry for anyone who is a prop in the life of a would be tyrant - as I always pitied poor Blondie - Hitler's Alsatian dog. Does Trump Tower really have a bunker?

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