Is it true Trump supporters just want a father figure?

[Brickjectivity]

Incidentally this is a famous guy who teaches charisma, and he's putting out advice on how each nominee should try to win. Apparently the race is very, very close. Last time this person predicted a Trump win. This time he things its Biden...unless....but you'd have to see the video to understand what the unless is. Its basically about tactics and not about policies. He's not taking a position or criticizing either party.

 

[QuestioningMind]

That's nice.

Personally I don't find sad and pathetic behavior to be very 'nice', but each to their own.

 

[Nakosis]

Someone who is an authority figure? One who promises to simply take care of everything, keep us all safe, make all the decisions so no effort has to be made by the citizens? The Washington Post ran this article today and it made me stop and reflect. I've been baffled, truly baffled, trying to understand the mind- and heart-set of a person--Republican, Democrat or Independent--who can support the reelection of the current occupant of the White House.

I kept asking myself, "Why doesn't character matter to his supporters? Is it something he accomplished which allows them to turn their faces and cover their ears to his hate-filled rhetoric, his lies and bullying? Or maybe something he promised to accomplish and that hope yet lives?" No, maybe it's as simple and as complex as this article proposes. Is it that Trump supporters are basically racist like him? We might all have bias and find it hard to confess.

I'm not Trump bashing nor Trump-supporter bashing here and I don't want this thread to devolve to that. I really want to know. Please, supporters of Trump and Trumpism, if there are any of you on this forum, I really want to know. Now that you've had 4 years of him, got to know him, see him in action, please enlighten me, why doesn't it matter to you what kind of a man Trump is, i.e., his character? And why doesn't it matter to you that his actions and attitudes (and those of the silent GOP) have put this country back to the tension-filled air and upheavals of the 1960s? Why?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/busi...oter-authoritarian-research/#comments-wrapper

I've always seen Trump as the anti-authoritarian. The person who whether right or wrong makes his own decisions.

The, let's call it the art of politics, is not about being right or wrong, it is about getting people to follow you. Trump is the guy who doesn't care what the authorities say. He will act on his own advice and find a way to make it work.

The authorities say to shut commerce down, Trump says no. I never saw Trump as an opinion leader. Perhaps he feeds the opinion that already exists. Trump is not the leader of the right, he is the weapon of the right. Trump is the guy with the baseball bat ready to swing at anyone telling him what to do.

Character, the character is to beat back the opposition as effectively as possible by whatever is necessary. Lying is ok, cheating is ok as long as this leads to winning.

 

[joe1776]

I still don't understand why you keep bringing up feeling superior when that isn't the same thing. I'm a realist. Humans are primates and we're just naturally tribalist and define ourselves by group identities as we're social animals. A nation is just a tribe writ large.

I'm also a realist but you are looking at the evidence of group pride and seeing no change. I'm looking at it, over the course of human history, and seeing a weakening of the need to feel superior to others (arrogance). I see moral progress (Example: Christian Catholics and Christian Protestants aren't killing each other anymore).

 

[Father Heathen]

Take everything that Kamala stands for, and there you have it.

Too broad and lazy. To make it easy, just list 3 things that you consider "socialist" that Biden/Harris stated that they would implement.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

I'm also a realist but you are looking at the evidence of group pride and seeing no change. I'm looking at it, over the course of human history, and seeing a weakening of the need to feel superior to others (arrogance). I see moral progress (Example: Christian Catholics and Christian Protestants aren't killing each other anymore).

Yet again, you're talking about something I'm not. I don't see the point of continuing this discussion if we can't even be on the same page.

Even then, I see no evidence that arrogance has lessened or gone anywhere. You and I have different worldviews.

 

[Cooky]

Then what about walls to keep out the drug dealing, rapist Mexicans? What about banning people from certain countries?

Who cares? Why should I want illegal immigration? Why should I care about foreigners not being able to come here?

...Not my problem. Go to Canada.

 

[Twilight Hue]

ROFL... unless of course you're a multimillionaire or a defense contractor who NEEDS the American people to give them trillions of dollars in tax cuts and military contracts that aren't needed for our national security. We certainly can't expect THEM to be independent and self-reliant. After all, what's more important? Poor and middle class people getting affordable healthcare or rich CEOs being able to buy a third vacation home?

Well I'll agree if the multimillionaires and billionaires that compromise the left's elitists themselves actually make sacrifices sufficient to enable those promises. Do you honestly think for a NewYork minute, they will actually do that?

Want to know what universal Healthcare actually does? I'll tell you. Its purposely designed to enrich even more multimillionaires and billionaires.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Who cares? Why should I want illegal immigration?

That doesn't address my question.

Why should I care about foreigners not being able to come here?

Because Americans arent educated enough and it has to import brain power.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Take everything that Kamala stands for, and there you have it.

Everyone knows she's actually the presidential candidate being snuck in under the shadow of Biden.

 

[Sw. Vandana Jyothi]

I've always seen Trump as the anti-authoritarian. The person who whether right or wrong makes his own decisions.

Please read the definition of authoritarian in this context. Trump's against all other authority because HE wants to be the one and only authority. Authoritarian. And the problem with his approach of "whether right or wrong" is that his decisions don't just affect himself, they affect every other living being on the planet because of the position he holds.

The, let's call it the art of politics, is not about being right or wrong, it is about getting people to follow you. Trump is the guy who doesn't care what the authorities say. He will act on his own advice and find a way to make it work.

Please tell me what's working in our country right now after Trump's acted on his own advice?

The authorities say to shut commerce down, Trump says no. I never saw Trump as an opinion leader. Perhaps he feeds the opinion that already exists. Trump is not the leader of the right, he is the weapon of the right. Trump is the guy with the baseball bat ready to swing at anyone telling him what to do.

You mean the rich man's corporate goon, is that what you're saying? Couldn't agree more. He's a tool.

Character, the character is to beat back the opposition as effectively as possible by whatever is necessary. Lying is ok, cheating is ok as long as this leads to winning.

If that's your idea of character and is one held by many more like you, God help us.

 

[exchemist]

But when treaties are lopsided and not fair, it is a correct effort to redo the contract.

Possibly, if you think you can get the other parties to agree to an amendment. But even an amended one constrains you. That is the nature of any agreement.

So you will always have a degree of dependence on other countries if you sign up to any agreements at all.

 

[Tambourine]

My political views aren't really represented in American politics. I'm really a nationalist. I'm to the right socially and to the left economically.

What does that even mean?

 

[Mindmaster]

What's rich? Go have a look at DS' thread to see what I mean.

I expect politicians to be scumbags. Trump never presented himself as a choirboy. Biden is a scumbag, too. You don't get far in politics by being a good person, especially in the corrupt American government.

Biden has lost races in the past for lying and plagiarism, he literally was laughed off the trail two times already. Nothing with him has changed, and it literally doesn't matter what words come out of his mouth -- they're probably not what he believes, or completely untrue. I don't even know how he remains, to this day, a politician. He's a charlatan and always has been.

How many times has Joe Biden run for president?

(fox, but this was the 'news of the day' at the time and on every network back then.)

I don't get that impression from Trump -- even if I don't like what he is saying it's what he honestly believes at the time. I can definitely deal with someone I merely disagree with occasionally better than someone known for lying over and over again.

 

[Nakosis]

Please read the definition of authoritarian in this context. Trump's against all other authority because HE wants to be the one and only authority. Authoritarian. And the problem with his approach of "whether right or wrong" is that his decisions don't just affect himself, they affect every other living being on the planet because of the position he holds.

Rarely do the decisions of the POTUS affect me, and if they do at most they are an annoyance. I certainly don't expect any benefit at the expense of the Federal Government. Sorry, I can't really relate to your comment here.

Please tell me what's working in our country right now after Trump's acted on his own advice?

IDK, nothing has really changed for me. My life has always been more dependent on my choices than anything the government chooses to do. What do you want the government to do for you? You seem to have expectations I don't have.

You mean the rich man's corporate goon, is that what you're saying? Couldn't agree more. He's a tool.

What corporation? I do see where Trump is beholden to voter block like the religious right. He has to at least say the right things to keep them happy.
I suppose there is a different ideology in that to keep the economy strong the government needs to support the people who keep the economy going.
There is a hatred of wealth, a demonizing of the wealthy which IMO is a scapegoat used in politics to point the blame to others. To excuse ourselves from the problem.

I feel this is a very detrimental view of the economy.

If that's your idea of character and is one held by many more like you, God help us.

My idea of character has nothing to do with it. I'm more or less a moral nihilist. Character is something folks use to shame others into thinking their morals are better than the next fellows.

This is simply my assessment of what many people on the right are looking for. So yes, if you want the government to enforce your ideals of morality, I can see why you'd find this annoying.

 

[Kenny]

Possibly, if you think you can get the other parties to agree to an amendment. But even an amended one constrains you. That is the nature of any agreement.

So you will always have a degree of dependence on other countries if you sign up to any agreements at all.

True. Hopefully both countries benefit in some manner

 

[Tambourine]

You can be proud without viewing yourself as superior to others, you know. I don't know why people keep putting the two together. I'm proud of my heritage but that doesn't mean I think I'm superior to others. Everyone should be proud of their heritage, nation and culture. That's a healthy thing. Humans are innately tribalist. We wouldn't have survived otherwise.

People routinely misuse the label "tribalist", which in the context of anthropology and early human history means "larger social groups defined by kinship", not "modern age xenophobia".

They just use "nicer" language like Obama's comment about conservatives clinging to their guns and Bibles and generally dehumanizing and stereotyping groups not on the Democratic bandwagon. Or do you really believe that only one side is responsible for the division and hatred in this country right now?

It seems to me that you are very much in danger of conflating attacks on bigotry and intolerance with "creating divisions", when it is White supremacist bigotry that has divided humanity with its bigotry, by designating people of a specific sexuality, race, or gender identity as Acceptable Targets for oppression.

You know full well that no US right-wing groups have been materially and meaningfully "dehumanized" to the same extent as LGBT people, Muslims, or "Mexicans" (i.e. every poor non-White person from Central and South America).

 

[Tambourine]

I want a daddy alright. Unfortunately, I am not a Trump supporter.

I don't need a daddy, I just want to grow up.

 

[Sw. Vandana Jyothi]

I don't agree. I think there are more who have looked at what is happening today, the violence, the anti-police sentiments, the growing tax burden and the encroaching governmental control that are voting for Trump than those who are voting against Trump.

Kenji, I was reviewing this thread and just now noted your disagreement with a statement I'd made about some people not so much voting for Biden as voting against Trump. But I glossed over the statements in your reply.

The things you mention "happening today" are happening on Trump's watch and many are a direct result of his inflammatory speech and callous disregard for the feelings of others. The growing tax burden is because he wiped out a really BIGLY portion of tax revenue with his corporate and wealthy people's tax breaks. The full results of that, coupled with the burgeoning deficit, have yet to be experienced.

The encroaching government control is happening NOW: federal troops to quell peaceful protesters; threats of sending government enforcement entities to polling places; a concerted effort being made for the government once again to have the "right" to determine decisions which rightfully belong between a woman and her God, a person and their partner... etc., etc. So many of the things were done by executive fiat, without representation of the people's will. This is authoritarian behavior and not at all healthy for a republic.

 

[Valjean]

Who cares? Why should I want illegal immigration? Why should I care about foreigners not being able to come here?

Being a little tribal, chauvinistic and anti-social, aren't you?

...Not my problem. Go to Canada.

Love it or leave it? Most don't have that option.
Do human rights and justice concern you only when they're in your own back yard?