As history demonstrates, there are times, such as 1930’s Germany, when the consent of the governed is used to destroy democracy. Donald Trump is a despot in waiting who would destroy what we have left of democracy in the United States, and could bring about the end of civilization.
The difference between Hillary and The Donald is that Hillary is often like fingernails across chalkboard, whereas Trump threatens to pull out fingernails.
Drawing a moral equivalency between Hillary and Trump, as some of my progressive friends and former Bernie Sanders supporters do, is being purblind to my mind.
Sanders referred endlessly to a “political revolution,” but he was really speaking of the imperative of a psychological revolution. If he had spoken more deeply, and included the inner dimension, he may well have beaten Hillary.
But we are where we are. The revolution can only occur when man’s ancient and atavistic tribalism, which Trump and his followers exemplify, no longer rules.
The man who shot and stabbed MP Jo Cox shouted “Britain First!” The man who may well have his finger on the nuclear codes keeps shouting “America First!”
From this point on, any print or fey TV journalist that feigns objectivity, covers the election as a horse race, or operates under the pretense of ‘balance’ in discussing Trump, will be complicit in his assuming the Presidency of the United States, with all the abuse of power and chaos that are certain to follow.
There are some events in history that are written before they occur, because, through the dark tides of the cumulative past gain the momentum of a massive freight train careening down a long slope.
The entire presidential campaign to this point, especially on the Republican side but also on the Democratic side, has the aura of surreal inescapability. The evidence to this point unequivocally shows that Trump is not overplaying his hand, and that, as one conservative commentator glibly said, “no dark is too dark in this election season.”
Therefore Trump’s election to the most powerful office in the world may be inevitable. That would make Barack Obama a mediocre placeholder for evil.
Just what feral pulse does Trump have his finger on? As Bill Moyers said a long time ago, “a people can perish from too many lies.” And indeed, the death of America’s soul occurred a long time ago, not after the second Gulf war, but after the first.
Trump is its latest and worst expression. Trumpistas aren’t reacting to external reality; they are projecting the internal reality of America, which Hillaryites are denying by repeating, ‘things aren’t that bad,’ and ‘America is still great.’
This is essentially a spiritual and psychological crisis, not an economic, social and political one. And without drawing an equivalency, the Clintons seem to be just as incapable of addressing it as Trump & Co.
Don’t just listen to Trump’s words; watch is mouth. It is a study in inner meanness, ugliness and twistedness. And it reflects not just the darkness in the man, or even the evil that flows through the man, but more importantly the darkness that has infected the psyche and soul of the American people.
This is the core reason why Donald Trump could well become the most powerful person in the world. This is why his “Americanism Before Globalism” slogan is so dangerous to humankind as a whole.
Therefore even as we work for Trump’s defeat, we have to presume that he may well become the next President of the United States.
That will not just mean the end of American leadership in the world and the West; it will mean the end of international order which the United States and Great Britain formed following World War II.
People who feel themselves to be citizens of the world before citizens of any particular country need to act, inwardly and outwardly. Brexit was not just a warning, or even a crucial pillar kicked out from under the European Union.
It signaled the end of the old order. If the foundation for a true world order is not poured before the old order completely collapses, there will be global disorder for as far as anyone can see into the future.
If the United Nations and other international institutions are to be salvaged and radically reformed, then a true and tangible foundation for global governance has to be poured before the vacuum left by the complete collapse of American leadership and the international order occur.
We have to begin pouring the foundation and erecting the framework for a true world order. I’m not talking about world government, or usurping the rights of self-determination of any people.
On the contrary, in a completely interconnected global society, self-determination of particular peoples can only flow from the emotionally held perception of the wholeness of humanity.
A wellspring of insight in the individual, a holistic philosophical foundation for humankind, and a workable global political strategy are urgently needed.
A great crisis brings great opportunity—but only if the crisis is faced. Like it or not, we are all pioneers in uncharted territory.
Martin LeFevre
