It struck me while I was watching yesterday's debate how many years Trump has wasted being a spoiled child when he could have behaved like an adult. How much more effective he could have been as president if he had only behaved like an adult all these years. He could have accomplished so much and garnered so much more support, instead of inspiring contempt and hatred. My mother used to say that 'you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar'. Trump may say he doesn't care that people like him, but that's all he talks about when he gets the chance. So he is totally preoccupied with being liked. Too bad he didn't use a bit more honey to get more people on his side. He does have his supporters, but it's not always clear what kind of demographic statistics describe them.
It occurred to me after the last debate that he has wasted a huge and golden opportunity as president. He could have been a decent human being for the past several years. He might even have been a good president if he had approached the job professionally, if he been more humble and less arrogant, more willing to learn rather than acting like an irritating know-it-all and a buffoon. He is an envious man, that's clear. He envies Obama because Obama is a civilized man and a motivating speaker and writer, a man whose empathy comes across in his talks to the American public. Trump just comes across as a fool, spouting conspiracy theories, hate rhetoric, and hyperboles (he is the best ever at everything). He makes fun of science, scientists, scientific data, statistics. He defines everything that he doesn't understand or doesn't want to understand as 'fake news' or a 'hoax'. I've known people like him through the years who have asked me about what I do as a scientist; in several cases, I began to explain my job and my research projects and was told that my job sounds 'boring', and in another case, the person I was talking to began a rant about how the HIV virus was a plot by the American government to kill its own people. We hadn't been talking about HIV, we had been talking about DNA in general. A lot of people don't even know what DNA and RNA are. Very few people are at all curious about my job, what it is scientists do, how immensely interesting it is, how relevant it is for future cancer treatments and policies. These are Trump types, who make fun of anything they don't understand or dismiss it as irrelevant or boring because they don't understand it. They don't want to understand it. That is their problem, but when policy (or lack of one) for an entire nation is determined by such a person, then that nation has a huge problem, as the USA has now. In 2020, anti-science is NOT the way to go. Not at all.
Being an adult means being willing and able to admit your mistakes. We've all made mistakes. During the debate, Biden could admit his mistakes, Trump could not. People will tolerate mistakes if you own up to them. Trump has a long way to go before he reaches adulthood. Sad to say, but it's the truth. You simply cannot take people like him seriously when he rants and raves and spouts nonsense. What a waste, really. It's nothing to be proud of.
