I remain surprised by the lack of self-insight that I experience when I interact with some Trump supporters on social media. I remain surprised by their rudeness, their ‘in-your-face’ aggressiveness, their refusal to accept that Trump lost, their loyalty to a man who would normally not give them the time of day, and their lack of loyalty to their country. Because if they were really loyal to their country, they would never accept Trump’s behavior, his public statements, or his blatant disinterest in the wellbeing of the country. They would never accept his sedition if they were really loyal to their country.
Those I am referring to are ‘friends’ on Facebook that I
know from earlier times in my life. They were kinder people then. They no
longer strike me as kind people now. They strike me as bitter people, and for
the life of me, I cannot understand why. They have ALL the material things one
could want--big houses in the suburbs or out in the country, several cars (all
new), well-paying jobs, and good educations. They travel where they want, when
they want. They’ve raised families and have had an amount of privilege that
many people will never experience in their lifetimes. Have they worked for it?
Yes, they have. Do they deserve their nice lifestyles? Yes, they do. I would
never question any of that. What I question is their lack of self-insight when
it comes to the blessings that they have. I know people who have worked just as
hard as they have, many at their own businesses, who simply have not been
successful for reasons that have nothing to do with whether they worked hard
enough or not. They struggled or have struggled all their lives to make it in
American society, without a safety net. Most of them managed to just break even;
they managed to pay their bills but never had a fraction of the material goods
that I’ve described above. Unfortunately, success in America is defined by how
much money you make and by the amassment of material goods over the years. In
my parents’ generation, if you had poor health, or lost your job, or never
owned your own home, you were a loser. Society was harsh then too. But harsher
now. I’ve said many times before that it’s nice to have money and a comfortable
lifestyle. But it does not make you better than those who do not have what you
have. That is the uncomfortable message of Christianity. If you have a problem
with the message, then perhaps you should choose another religious persuasion
that suits your narrow views, or no religion at all. Christ said that ‘the poor you will always have with you’.
He meant poor in the material sense, but I’m sure he also meant in the
spiritual sense. Because his message (The Gospel of Mark 8:36) was also ‘For what shall it profit a man, if he shall
gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?’ Also an uncomfortable
message. If you have all you want, and become unkind and unchristian (spiritually
poor) to others less fortunate than yourself, you have lost your soul. There is
a lot of spiritual poverty in society at present. There is a lot of meanness
that surprises me, given the amount of material wealth that most Western
societies enjoy.
One of my friends on Facebook says she loves Trump because
society is ‘unfair’. This somehow implies that Trump has done a lot to rectify
the unfairness that she sees in society. She doesn’t elaborate, but I can guess
that she means that he stands for overturning the federal and state programs
that help the needy/those defined as needy or those looking for a better life.
She means that she does not get the privileges that some of these people get. I’m
sure there is an element of truth in what she says, and if so, those problems
should be rectified. Perhaps she does not qualify for some of the federal and
state programs set up to help the needy. In her case, I don’t know enough about
her economic situation to say whether or not she would qualify as needy. But
she is one of those that posts aggressive and bitter memes, and fake news memes, like so many of the
Trump supporters I know on Facebook. You would think their lives are awful, but
it’s quite the opposite in most cases where I know about their lives. They have
so many material blessings that they should be on their knees thanking God for
them.
I am not a member of or loyal to any political party or to
any specific politicians. I am loyal to my country, even though it is pretty messed-up at present. I try to think for myself amid the cacophony of
constant news programs on television, social media, and printed media. I have
never been a ‘group’ person and never will be. I dislike groups because many of
them end up with a mob mentality, as in ‘let’s bully those who don’t think like
us’. It’s not just Republicans who do this; Democrats have also gone down that
road. Just check out some of the more liberal tweeters on Twitter. Neither side is free from blame. We are where we are in society because
of the lack of self-insight on both sides of the political spectrum. Trump came
along and exploited the widening gap, making it even wider. It served his
political aim, which was to be a king of some sort--a benevolent bully as it
were. I remember a girl with whom I went to school who was
bullied mercilessly by the ‘cool’ girls in the class. I have never forgotten
how they treated her, and all these years later, I still remain sceptical to
the personas they present publicly on social media. It’s perhaps unkind of me
to say this, but I can't help thinking ‘once a bully, always a bully’. Of
course, they can have regretted their earlier behavior and become better
people. I hope so. But I knew at an early age that one's behavior was a choice; you
chose to be a bully, or you chose not to be a bully when faced with the possibility. If you chose to bully
others, you knew exactly what you were doing. Just as Trump does. Just as his supporters do. Mob mentality.
I would never post and have never posted hateful memes
concerning conservatives and Trump supporters. I am not planning on becoming a
rude person in response to rude people. I will continue to try to take the high
road in most situations. Of course it has happened that I have gotten angry or
lost my temper and taken the low road. We are human and we fail. But we can
make amends and the important thing is to be able to say that you’re sorry. I’m
waiting for some of the Trump supporters I know to say that they’re sorry they
supported him and that they were rude and aggressive to family members and
friends. But I don’t think they will publicly. Many of them may be privately ashamed
that they supported someone like him. That’s a start. I think many of them need
to work on self-insight, on trying to figure out why they needed a bully to be
their mouthpiece for their nagging discomfort with themselves. They need to figure out
why they lined up behind the bully. They need to figure out why they harbor so
much hatred and anger. That would go a long way to restoring some kind of
sanity in society.
