George Monbiot has written another insightful, if biting, examination of the struggle going on within my American society. Here he makes clear that Donald Trump is not an outlier, but the distillation of our dominant value.
I like this article because I've been thinking about how Trump both personifies and exalts in being the quintessential Ugly American, and I’m regretting not having any time for building an essay around the theme.
George Monbiot’s assessment echo’s with my own so since I can’t write about it myself I’ll at least share this introduction to his excellent article and encourage you link to the full story at monbiot.com - he describes a reality folks should become aware of and hopefully help encourage thinking about in a more constructive way, before this increasing extremism and disconnect from fundamental down to Earth realities leads to genuine chaos.
I hope this intro encourages you to read the rest of the article
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28th October 2016
By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian 26th October 2016
What is the worst thing about Donald Trump? The lies? The racist stereotypes? The misogyny? The alleged gropings? The apparent refusal to accept democratic outcomes? All these are bad enough. But they’re not the worst.
The worst thing about Donald Trump is that he’s the man in the mirror.
We love to horrify ourselves with his excesses, and to see him as a monstrous outlier, the polar opposite of everything a modern, civilized society represents. But he is nothing of the kind. He is the distillation of all that we have been induced to desire and admire.
Trump is so repulsive not because he offends our civilization’s most basic values, but because he embodies them.
Trump personifies the traits promoted by the media and corporate worlds he affects to revile; the worlds that created him. He is a bundle of extrinsic values – the fetishization of wealth, power and image – in a nation where extrinsic values are championed throughout public discourse. His conspicuous consumption, self-amplification and towering (if fragile) ego are in tune with the dominant narratives of our age.
As the recipient of vast inherited wealth who markets himself as solely responsible for his good fortune, he is the man of our times. ... http://www.monbiot.com/2016/10/28/the-man-in-the-mirror/
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