Trump Makers
US Presidential Candidate, Donald Trump [Internet Image]
As the USA reels from the fallout from the Donald Trump tapes, a reflective question of presumed shock, is now being seriously asked “how could he have won the republican nomination”?The common emotion underlying this question is the sense of amazement and incredulity which suggests that the actions of the electors had gone contrary to “common sense”, informed opinion, or past practice.
This implies an unspoken awareness of an “objective”, true and correct outcome, which under normal circumstances, with all the variables constant, would have resulted. It is significant that the most popular “rational intellectual” explanation for the Trump nomination, is that voters did not trust expert opinion, were suspicious of the political establishment, and opted to move in the opposite direction.
Whatever the explanation, Greek Philosopher Plato would describe this behaviour as error and falsehood. Since in a democracy political leaders do not elect themselves, any responsibility for such error must reside with the people, the voters, the media and the existing “gate keeper” institutions responsible for maintaining the “objective” standards of good government and true leadership. When those standards are being violated we “know” that they are being violated and we only “rationalise” the error as seen in the explanations provided above. Voters have no one to blame but ourselves.
In the long run, the “objective” eventually triumphs over the “subjective”. It is significant now that the Trump tapes have been revealed, persons are openly acknowledging the “objective” fact of his unfitness for office. The claim is that a line has now been crossed. However, it is closer to the truth that Trump was always below the line of what constitutes good leadership, but that the media, the people, class interests, and a whole array of subjective considerations opted to pretend that his glaring deficiencies were “no problem”.
Indeed, a recent MSNBC news story quotes Steve Schmidt, a veteran Republican strategist as saying, “there is nobody who holds any position of responsibility who in private conversations, views Donald Trump as equipped mentally, morally, and intellectually to be the president of the United States… but scores of Republican leaders have failed a fundamental test of moral courage and political leadership in not speaking truth to the American people about what is so obvious.”
Plato’s simple formula for the good leader was one who considers the interest of the whole state, and places this above his own personal interest. Americans ignored Trumps racism, his bravado, and even his self-interested boast about not paying taxes. Now, everyone is admitting that he had been unfit all along.
Let us hope that the Caribbean does not reduce the issue to a Trump or American issue. It would serve us better to reflect on the moments, remote or recent, when we have subjectively elected unfit persons to high office, against our better reason.
AO/CNIDOH
