The Culture Of Me

The recent accession of Donald Trump in the Republican Presidential race is a sad joke that will come crashing down the instant he is confronted with any genuinely probing questions about his ridiculous past... did you know, for instance, that he once seriously proposed that Mike Tyson do "community service" in lieu of jail time for his rape conviction, said community service being to stage a couple of boxing matches at a Trump facility "for charity?"

His many failings aside, what intrigues me about Trump's recent foray is how it gives us a naked glimpse into the mindset of the rich (well, sometimes rich in Trump's case) and privileged.  When you watch Trump congratulate himself for teasing the long form birth certificate out of the President of the United States, without a hint of shame at his role in diminishing the office, the man and our country, you're seeing the raw naked selfishness that propels many (but not all) men of wealth and power.

Simply put, it is all about them.  They consider themselves surrounded by inferiors, incompetents and slackers who never made it to their lofty peak because of their own sloth.  The fact that Trump and many of his wealthy compadres inherited their head-starts means nothing.  These pampered aristocrats have convinced themselves that they are inherently "better," and so outside the social norms that most people observe.  Hence the multiple marriages, the drugs, the unimaginable hubris, the ego.  The ridiculous speeches and political positions are most likely a con, but the emptiness that propels a blowhard like Trump is not an act.  It is the core of his empty soul, an arid place where the thought of doing something for the greater good is as ridiculous as a flower doing algebra.

There are wealthy people who understand that their fortunes, often gained from their own hard work but inevitably with the help of many others, is not evidence of some Godly status but instead a gift.  One that demands humility and also an understanding that others who fail to rise to such heights are not inferior or flawed, but simply different.  Trump and his ilk will never be this....