Hatred and Division in America: Why Trumpism is Here to Stay Part I

Hatred and Division in America: Why Trumpism is Here to Stay

America today is more divided than ever before in history since the Civil War.  The reasons for this ideological division, however, are not very different today than they were 150 years ago. To put it succinctly, the roots of this vitriol and social division resides in good old American themes: Entrenched racism, a double standard on the application of the law, and political and economic inequality. These factors in the present political environment are extremely similar to the antebellum (pre-civil war) period. 

The central conflicts in American society have always been the same. They are the original sin of America since its foundation in 1776. Racism, prejudice, white supremacy, minorities oppression, religious ideology, and economic inequality.  These matters led this country to a devastating civil war in the mid XIX century.  Let’s not forget the fact that America was the last of the Western civilized nations to give up slavery as a socially-accepted practice.  The issue of slavery—based on the notions of white supremacy, human exploitation, and racism—was so divisive and so engrained in some parts of American society since its foundation that–within a century after independence from Britain– the southern states seceded from the Union over this matter.  This secession ushered the country into a devastating civil war that lasted over 4 years and cost more American lives than all the other wars the US was involved in its entire history put together.

The situation created by the Trump’s second impeachment results

When I learned about the results of the impeachment procedure the other day, I was flabbergasted to hear that former president Trump was acquitted once again. This means he was actually acquitted by the same American senators whose lives were put in danger by an angry mob and who were under siege just a month ago! This fact makes Trump very unique indeed: He is the only American president ever to have been impeached twice and acquitted twice. 

Trump’s reasons for impeachment were extremely serious for the American democratic system stability.  

The first impeachment two years ago was about the ex-president availing himself to foreign aid (Russian of all things) to win the election. Whereas, the last one was even much more serious. Congress’s accusation of sedition this time originated in the president’s inciting a mob on January 6^th 2021 to affect a violent coup d’état to revert an unfavorable election result.  

Because he has been acquitted again, Trump will probably take advantage of the situation for his own political benefit. He will spin these impeachment efforts around by claiming that “the Democrats are out to get him.” He will insist that this trial was started on the basis that he is “the victim of a malignant witch-hunt orchestrated by the left.” Moreover, his acquittal will serve to reinforce his image of a political victim, of his “moral strength against all odds”–and of his invincibility–in the eyes of his fanatical followers.  

After this acquittal–and from this time on–he can do whatever he wants and know that he can get away with it.  His party, in an unprecedented sycophantic way, will follow suit to the wishes of its Leader at any cost.

The meaning of the failed impeachment for the future of American democracy

Americans have always taken Democracy for granted.  This is a huge error.  The reason for this attitude is that they have never had serious challenges to their democratic system since the Civil War ended until now.  Well, it is a great mistake for the younger generations to believe that–because there was 250 years of uninterrupted democratic rule in this part of the world–democracy is permanently assured here. 

These two impeachment situations are a proof of these assertions and of how fragile American democracy is today. These two incidents by an elected American president could not have been more threatening for the American democratic process.  They both attempted against the will of the American people in free elections.  And the second situation happened during the COVID-19 pandemic, the worst in a century. Make no mistake about it, Democracy in America in the XXI century is by no means guaranteed anymore.

Any American citizen would have been immediately condemned for these seditious actions in both circumstances and without a do.  But not Trump. He is for the moment “an untouchable.” Trump is today too powerful to be under the same justice all his co-citizens are under.  It reminds me of the 2008 “too big to fail” attitude of government towards stablished corporations.

It is obvious for any impartial observer that this former American president, with his inflammatory speeches and attitudes, incited insurrection causing a previously unseen situation in this country.  And ironically, this happens in the XXI century in the country that is considered worldwide as the leader of the “free world” and that is the “cradle of modern democracy.”

This acquittal can only mean one thing, the 47 republic senators that voted against condemning him for his acts of incitation to violence against the US Capitol have clearly shown one thing: They care more about themselves–and their political careers–than for the permanence of the democratic system in America. This action of theirs will not go without consequences as precedent for future would-be tyrannical leaders trying to monopolize power.  This action also goes to show where this country is ideologically at this moment: It is proof that the American nation is split down the middle in irreconcilable positions. 

The two Americas of the XXI century

In one camp, we now see a conservative minority that has become ever-more radicalized, increasingly angry, and intolerant of dissent and diversity.  On the other, a marginal majority, represented by the Democratic party–that has in its ranks an activist left wing that continues to challenge the status quo of traditional American values and laws to slant them in their favor.  In the middle of these extreme ideological groups–represented by Fascists on one hand, and the Antifa groups on the other–there is the rest of us, the “silent majority” of Americans. We, the silent majority, meanwhile, witness how our democratic system is crumbling at its very foundations before our eyes without anything we can do to stop it.

The deterioration of the American democratic system in the XXI century

This type of political instability–of mob violence and the attempt at an auto-coupe–-is truly the material of banana republics sagas and it is an unprecedented phenomenon in American politics.  Having grown up in Argentina, I had a fair share of this type of seditious situations. But I never in my wildest dreams thought this type of thing could happen here in the United States!

This episode gives us an idea of how low this country’s political system has gone since the beginning of this century.  The events of the last 4 years make this country look more and more like her sister republics south of the Rio Grande.  And it is proof of how deep the rancor of opposing social conceptions, racists positions–and political and economic divisions–run in this country in the 2020s.

The psychological origin of Trumpism

Leaders do not just show up out of the blue without psycho-social and economic reasons.  In general, and any political system regardless of their colors, leaders arise because there is a latent conscious (or unconscious) need in a segment of the population that calls for manifestation. 

In that sense, a populist leader acts as a catalyst of the desires of the people at a particular historical moment.  So, leaders do not emerge by chance, but by the fact that they know how to read the masses well. These populist leaders read them between lines, hear what is publicly unsaid, and then tell them what they want to hear.  In this way,  they embody in their public image the “strength” the masses are craving for in moments of crisis.  

Brief history on the psychology of populism

This is clearly the case of many dictatorial leaders of the past. The best case in point was that of Hitler access to power in 1920’s Germany.  A situation that closely resembles the current American political scenario during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Hitler then embodied the resentment and the hurt pride of the defeated German army in world war I.  He, just like large swathes of the German people–felt betrayed by their government, who they blamed for their defeat.  Of course, that accusation of “betrayal” was not true, but it did not matter.  The bigger the lie, the more people will believe it.

Hitler’s big lie was then spiced up in the 1920s with his blaming others (the Jews, the liberals, the communists, the monarchists, and anyone who dared to oppose him or the Nazis) for the defeat in the war and for all the ills that befell the country in its aftermath.  This narrative served Hitler and his thugs well in his quest for total power to establish the Nazi state.  With his inflammatory oratory, Hitler convinced the Germans that He was one of them. He told them that He shared in their miseries, and that He upheld the same (prejudicial) feelings simmering in many people’s minds in Germany at that time. He openly expressed the bigoted ideas that always accompany nationalists, populist, and racists movements.

A populist demagogue gives the people what they want

As a result of his daring to express this repressed anger, interpreting what the German masses wanted, Hitler was able to accumulate power until German democracy collapsed and he was finally appointed the German people’s “Fuhrer.” Hitler was then the Archetype of “the Alpha Male,” the people’s Messiah that had come to “save” their country from its decadence of the post-war years.  

Hitler was perceived by many Germans as “the strong hand” needed at the time to end the country’s political chaos. Only He would know how to deal with the communist threat, the dejectedness of post war I defeat, and the economic disaster that resulted from the treaty of Versailles.  Hitler had the uncanny vision and the strength to articulate these raw dark feelings present in many disgruntled Germans at the time and give them back to them in his speeches.  He gave these people a reason to dream again by promising a return “to a better past.” He promised his people to lead the German nation to “The Great Past of the Superior Germanic Races.”  Through that diabolical brilliant maneuver, Hitler led his people to the recovery of their lost nationalistic pride. That was Hitler’s way of “making Germany Great Again.”

Other historical leaders and the same phenomenon used by Trump

Two other historical leaders in the past showed the same pattern of masses’ desires interpretation at the right place and the right time.  And they did it for the same reasons.  One was Mussolini in Italy, who became “Il Duce” (The Leader).  Mussolini assumed dictatorial powers in 1920s Italy after his “March on Rome” which was a populist coup d’état. Soon thereafter, he proclaimed his vision “to Make Italy Great Again” (In his case by going back to recoup for Italy the “lost Glory” of the Roman Empire). 

“Fuhrers” not only come from the extreme right

On the opposite side of the political spectrum, we have Lenin in Russia, who showed up at the right place at the right time.  He arrived in Moscow from Switzerland in the midst of social turmoil and political confusion.  He showed up at the right moment to radicalize the Russian revolution against the Czar.  His timely actions steered Russia away from turning into a republic, moving her instead in the direction of becoming a ruthless totalitarian communist state. As a result of his actions, the Soviet Union became the first dictatorship of the proletariat in history. 

Here again, we see a clever and gutsy man taking advantage of an uncertain socio-political situation by telling the majority what they wanted to hear at the right time.  After the abdication of the Czar, it was a moment of total chaos in Russia. There was division, depression, desperation, poverty—and accumulated rancor that called for revenge from the previous regime’s abuses.  Lenin’s radicalism led him to become the leader that would give total power to his party, the Bolsheviks. 

After a bloody civil war and a ruthless purge, the “Reds’ completed the takeover of Russia founding the Soviet Union.  Again, after signing a disadvantageous peace treaty with Germany to end World War I–but giving the people the peace they so desired–Lenin set out “to make Russia Great Again.” This feat would be achieved by his successor Joseph Stalin after world war II. Something quite like this has been carried out more recently in post-soviet decadent Russia by an ex KGB, Vladimir Putin, one of Mr Trump’s best friends.

The historical reasons for the growing anger in white male America

The American civil war ended in 1864.  It took a whole century for the United States to address the sequelae of slavery and racism that was finally redressed in 1964 with the Civil Rights act.  For the young that do not know these facts–and all the way to the 1960s–the United States had segregated restrooms and designated parts of the bus (the back) for black and colored people.  Even water fountains were segregated in some parts of this country then!  

The sixties and seventies witnessed the clash of the black and colored minorities trying to assert their human dignity and access the same rights enjoyed by mainstream white Americans through the civil rights movement.  The civil rights movement included as well the resurgence of more radical forms of feminism than seen in previous eras, in this case aiming to redress the gender inequalities present then.

For reasons of lack of space, I will have to stop here. In the following post I will continue examining the psychology of Trumpism and what it means for the future of the American democratic system

If you liked it or benefited from the content of this article let others know by giving it a “like it.” As always, don’t hesitate to ask a question or leave a comment.  If you are interested in mental health matters, you can sign up for this blog for free.  Become a member of this community of readers for free.  Enter your email address below after pressing “like.” You can learn more about me and my practice by clicking here www.drtpsychiatry.com

I hope to see you in my next post,

Till then,

Dr T