I wake up to a world every day in which I have severe compassion. Compassion for several different issues and people. To say I loathe or hate anyone is not in my being. Everyone you feel you “hate” got to that point most of the time by surrounding environmental factors, somehow.

“What did you say?!?”.

On my travels thus far, I found that there are others like me. No many, but they exist. This is what makes us unique, we are all different. We were not subjected to one environment, but many. This allows individuals to harness critical thinking and analytical thought process. We think beyond “face value”.

Face value being the superficial aspect of something in this case.

People love Donald Trump. To understand why, you must understand MANY aspects of our nature as impressionable humans. The way each and every one of us were brought up either slightly differs or completely differs from one another. Again, this is what makes us unique. Unfortunately, having a bias against someone different is what is wrong with a lot in our society. This would be a good place to start on a slew of current issues. Let us stick to this subject for the moment.

Scroll through news feeds and you see that Donald Trump is living inside the heads of news outlets, politicians, and media hungry for exposure and ratings. I once was told that “negative publicity is good publicity”. This is true. CNN is getting rich off people hating Donald Trump, just as NewsMax and FOX are getting rich off people who love him. See where I am going? Changing the minds of those who put him on a pedestal and claim him the Messiah is not going to happen. This issue is deeper than you realize. People with these thought processes love what he represents. To explain this would take writing a series of books with every psychologist and psychiatrist in different fields of the profession to help develop this literature/study. I’ll pen it now, MAGA-Maniacs.

At its simplest, it is what Jim Jones did up to 1978. A great article can be found here at the Harvard Business Review.

On the other side, there exists a radical and fanatical liberal ideology as well. What is the difference? I see less people on the liberal side of the spectrum idolizing a figure. It is more of an agenda with them. Yet still, it can become extreme. Just like with anything in life, there are radical ends to any spectrum. This is why I subscribe to anything in moderation.

Gun control? Ban ALL weapons. That is extreme. A more moderate approach would be for better and more concise legislation other than a commonly mis-interpreted 200-year-old amendment written when muskets and cannons were the major firepower. Pretty sure the whole “well-regulated militia” was not taking in consideration with current technological advancement in warfare.

I feel anything in life needs moderation. Moderation is beneficial in so many ways. Yet, people will call me a liberal, as I do feel there is a lot of well-balanced thoughts and initiatives there. Just as I agree with some conservative policies. Problem is, I focus on policies only. Could care less about the talking heads who people are voting in to create laws and policies. I was done with Washington especially after my spouse was offered a federal position, then the offer rescinded after a background check, and they deemed her credit unworthy. What? Have you ever seen who is holding office? Education, credit, criminal records…all atrocious. Yet, they were voted in to legislate the law of the land. This is where my disinterest in politics came about. It is the equivalent of student council in high school, but, with higher stakes, finances, and our livelihoods. Can’t say too many politicians are actually fit to hold their positions.

Well, I prefer no labels, but again, people in this current day and age on the right label anything that is not congruent to their ideology “liberal”. On either side there exists a hatred for the other. Which, to me, is nonsensical. One of my greatest hobbies is talking with my friends who hold beliefs different than mine. We respect each other and have good conversations. That is what makes us human, and these are some of my closest friends, yet, we believe in different values, politics, and have different mindsets. Of course, flip that over to social media and everyone lets that “Karen” or “Conner” alter-ego out and say the most asinine things to one other if they do not agree. Trump and his “mean” tweets. This made it socially acceptable in the mainstream to completely tear people down for disagreeing with one’s ideology. That is where I have an issue. The open season to spew hate.

How do we recover and move on from such fanatical ideology and thoughts? Let us first focus on building up our children and future to be a society of freethinkers. This might strike the wrong chord with some, but this allows better cognitive reasoning in general. People are inepter to follow radical ideology and figures if they are spoon fed a closed narrative at a young age. Luckily, I was allowed to think outside the box and grew up in very diverse surroundings. I guess I can thank divorce, alcohol, drugs, and not being rich for my upbringing.

I shunned my political allegiance around the time Obama was elected. I was a conservative. Hated Clinton, for no reason other than political affiliation. After seeing some very obvious warning signs of danger during the Bush administration, I cringed when Obama was elected. I was convinced he was a Muslim and for obvious reasons, I had a preset notion on Islam from our middle eastern relations. I half bought into the whole “anti-Christ” propaganda. About this time, I befriended a Syrian. A friendship that is still strong today. At this point, I realized that Islam was like Christianity in a sense. They both had their extremists, as well as their peacefulness, and the extremists were typically the ones creating the stereotypes. I also figured out; Obama was not a Muslim. Far from it. This is about the time that I realized political parties were vetting our nation against each other. In the name of power and money. Period. Policies? You are kidding me. Majority of our politicians are only worried about claiming power and influence, and most importantly, your pocketbook. Note, I stated majority, not all. Then I listened with an open mind and realized Obama and Clinton were the most educated and well-spoken presidents in my lifetime. Which is odd due to political party affiliation, but I at this time quit subscribing to all the nonsense of “party lines”.

When all this started leading up to the 2016 elections, I saw a man people were following whom:

• Switched parties as it suited his financial interest.
• Has had more legal issues with business dealings that literally scream fraud.
• Makes up his own rules as they suit him and only him. No one else.
• One failed business after the other and bankruptcies that would leave an average American unable to borrow cash.
• Was a poster child for infidelity and womanizing
• Very forthcoming in his thoughts on people who were not white.
• No accountability or accounting of finances in standards of business.
• A man who turned to Russian financiers after he had lost backing from US institutions.
• A malignant narcissist.

I at this time felt a population completely transcending from reality. A college professor in a course once used Trump, and a few others, as examples of bad business ethics that continue to sell a lie. This being LONG before Trump’s political aspirations. Part of the coursework was to study Trump and the other key figures he used as examples. For the record, this professor was a staunch Republican. What my group found amazed us. How could he still be in business? Then the key to the assignment dawned on us. Trump was a magnificent marketer. Period. One of the best. Which makes sense now as Trump’s most notable profits in his life have not been from real estate or business, they have been from selling hats and flags with his marketing slogan, as well as banking off deals from the TV show. As well as donations.

It still baffles me how people will listen to a religious figure for political advice, a politician for religious advice, and deem a charlatan their supreme leader. “Because, honey, in the Bible, God uses sinners as messengers.” Well, if that is in fact truth, God is a racist, narcissistic bigot. Probably should have chosen another messenger. Charlie Sheen maybe?

The key to perseverance is not succumbing to the hate. You alone are not going to change someone’s belief or dictate their rationale. That is up to the individual and a lot to do with what they surround themselves with, and the environment in which they were brought up in. Having witnessed people get super passionate about Bernie Sanders baffles me as well. This is not a one-way road!

Donald Trump preys on fear. He also capitalizes off of it. At the very ground of his base is people who fear evolution and overall change. They fear people of different color and ethnicity. Conspiracy theories help keep these people scared and clutching their Bibles, guns, and narrow thoughts. Theories propagated by their own, from what else, but fear. Donald Trump found that hot button. When other conservatives wouldn’t touch the lunacy of it, he embraced it. Jewish space lasers and all. Ran with it and now look, he pulled a shock and awe on the GOP. The support and lies continue to fester as people on the other side of the spectrum throw “shade” towards him. He plays that victim card to his followers like a concert pianist. It works. Now his Pro-Trump politicians are following in his footsteps. Instead of legislating law, it is about face time on all media channels for exposure. People eat it up! They are in love with the brand. TRUMP.

I mean, hell, look at the money he makes off hats, flags, and Q-nonsense.

I have been guilty of trolling profiles to understand the logic behind the undying love for a malignant narcissist. This alone left me speechless and more disheartened at where our country is headed. I found complete and utter irony of all things normal in what these people stated and actually meant. Fear. Racism. Lack of moral compass. Lack of education. Critical thinking. Trump targeted these people knowing intellect and rationale would never listen to him.

“Do your own research” ultimately involves echoing Tucker Carlson, Alex Jones, and other radically sensationalized mainstream media sources, yet “MSM is bad“, they say. Their “research” is limited to only a bias, or someone living in their parents’ basement posting to websites, which invokes emotional unrest, fear, and lies amongst them. I tracked an older gentleman on Twitter through his tweets to get a baseline of his “mission”. He was searching for the herd. The herd that would embrace him and talk about transgender toilet monsters in his local Walmart or take a talking point of stricter gun regulations and make it into the Biden’s boogiemen are going to take away his “God given rights”. Seeing all this saddened me. Knowing a good number of others do the same as well. They don’t believe in Republicans anymore. It is MAGA and Trump. Two fictional marketing campaigns they subscribe to. They belive all the garbage they are fed.

Donald Trump lies just like any other politician. Unfortunately, with more frequency and more dangerous implications to our democracy. I am estranged from my family over the man, which is unfortunate, but a mutual choice. A human should never come between family and friends, but he has. This is typical, clinical, cult behavior. Solutions? Well, education less based on preparing for tests and more on thought provoking would be a start, but most importantly, less of what has made all the madness in this country grow stronger. Less of all the media channels pumping this garbage out in search of ratings, likes, and subscriptions. Again, we are the problem. We are making it “OK” to hate each other.

We let it get here.

People make death threats over this. They are the problem.

I wish the best for everyone. Yes, even the MAGA-maniacs.

dK