Trump is deranged. I first thought he exhibits many of the characteristics of Neanderthals, human beings who existed in Europe before homo sapiens arrived. The two groups interbred but eventually Neanderthals went extinct giving way to the superior brained homo sapiens, our present species. We homo sapiens today have more or less Neanderthal DNA in our genetic code.
But Neanderthals were not deranged. They may have lacked the intelligence to survive the wild animals and harsh climate of Europe, but they knew and accepted their reality and actually adapted well for centuries. They were just unable for whatever reasons to handle the inclusion of homo sapiens to their population. Trump and many of his enablers and followers are also unable to accept and adapt to the realities of the times. They approach life in simplistic, survivalist terms. They look out mainly for themselves mostly ignoring the needs of others outside of their immediate families. Life is primarily survival of the fittest, of winners and losers, of supporters and detractors. It’s the most basic form of thought, lacking empathy, lacking consciousness, lacking nuance, lacking concern for others, lacking the ability to feel compassion. It’s literally their way or the highway.
A survival of the fittest mentality evolves as a mechanism of survival only. All wild animals have that survival instinct. In fact that is their prime reason for living, although the word reason may be misleading, for reasoned cognition is more common in homo sapiens. Most homo sapiens have evolved beyond this survival instinct.
Trump’s present campaign of intimidating and cajoling battleground state election officials and state representatives to reverse the outcome of a free and fair election is an example of a desperate and degenerative tactic for survival. He is fighting for survival for he knows that if he loses the election and must leave office, he is extremely vulnerable to current civil and possibly criminal legal actions against him. His long-time lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, now imprisoned because of that loyalty to Trump, warned us of this pattern of Trump when referring to him as a con man who will take any action to save himself at the expense of others surrounding him. His present actions are tearing the Republican Party down. His actions are tearing his own family apart. His actions are even besmirching his brand which he is so enamored of. His actions are entirely self serving and self absorbed. His actions reveal a damaged individual, unable to absorb reality on any level except his own distorted view of it.
For much of my career, I helped those with various psychoses such as schizophrenia. They were generally unable to accept reality as defined by the community. Normal mental processes, familiar to the non-psychotic person, were broken, often irrevocably so. Medications often enabled them to live a relatively functional, balanced life.
But the Donald Trump I saw on the news today as he ranted and raved in front of his rally crowd who cheered him on was not in any way a reasonable, balanced person. Armed protesters in Michigan who heard his rants and surrounded the house of the state’s Secretary of State at night chanting with bullhorns and threatening with obscenities the woman and her family inside were not balanced people. These armed protesters had absolutely no regard for the innocent and frightened people inside, including the woman’s young children who had begun to hang Christmas decorations at the time, and settle in for a fun Christmas movie. At that moment, these white supremacists were psychotic and deranged, not human beings like my clients who were mentally ill, but not deranged.
Deranged is the best word to describe Trump as well. His mind is so unable to accept the reality of the results of this election that his brain cells have become deranged, dislodged, disorganized, discombobulated, and disconnected from one another. Brain neurons are connected to each other via synapses which allow the transfer of hopefully rational and cohesive thought and action. When those neurons become disconnected, all hell can break loose in the brain, producing…well, take a look at Trump today, and listen to what he is ranting and raving about and you will see first hand what a deranged brain looks like. A deranged brain adds an element of evil to mental illness.
He needs to stop, for his actions are also bringing down our democracy. He is bringing down Republican congressmen and women, and U.S. senators who are caught in the quicksand of that deranged mind that is totally stuck with his hand wrapped around the figurative food in the monkey trap preventing any escape from his delusions. It’s a sad sight to see a supposed human being act this way. But seeing the President of the United States act in this way, it’s more than sad: It’s a dangerous sight. And that’s why it needs to stop. And that’s why our elected officials in Washington need to stop placating and pandering to this out of control leader of a country that was a model of good sense, of moderation, of compassion, of reliability and truth.
What Donald Trump is doing must stop! He needs to start concentrating on picking up some UHaul boxes and packing up his bling, and get the hell out of the People’s House.
I can’t wait until the 20th of January… wish we could just beam him up & away!
Wouldn’t that be great. Up and away and never come back!
Thanks for comment, Gail.
I want to beam him up to a nasty prison, but he could prove insanity and be hospitalized for the criminally insane… Not a bad option, actually.
Stephen, thanks for putting professional clarity on Trump’s derangement. We knew he was at least a sociopath; always was the Emperor with no clothes. Most of his Court will stick by until maybe the Dec. 14 electors give them an out?
Harari wrote in Sapiens that Neanderthals’ intelligence deficit reflected the inability to cooperate and to imagine. Sapiens means wise, having gained skills over that earlier human. Maybe some Sapiens more than others!, or maybe this is where nature meets nurture in making personality.
For example, my successful upper middle class college-educated brother was the youngest and noticeably smallest and angriest of his competitive brothers. In our privileged and productive community, our father’s shocking, early, first heart attack disrupted family dynamics forever. All the boys managed to excel, although this one later acknowledged he was “no intellectual.” Now he is a solid Trump supporter. Not a Deplorable, but to him, China is our only existential threat, and a terrible one he thinks only Trump can vanquish.
My Neanderthal DNA is luckily insufficient to land me the 5 personality traits I’ve read about of Trump voters. One is a sense of entitlement, akin to your described survivalist mode ~ insecurity allowing anything at any cost in order to deter the lion…. As we figure out how to move ahead with our 70mill. Trumpster brothers and sisters-in-law, and read blogs warning not to meet halfway unless they change, I’m wondering how we circumvent their survivalist hard-wiring? I suspect we cannot. They will perceive things as they must, as will we. A Valarie Kaur Revolutionary Love enthusiast, my fervent activism includes peace, love, understanding and Patience to get us through what she calls the Transition in our time’s labor.
It will take more than that to disinfect the White House. And someone better count the silver.
Thanks JoAnn. Well said. Trump’s motive is, as usual, to keep the money rolling in. So he continues to promote the myth that the election was rigged against him. The enabling elected officials motive is to avoid being knocked out in the next primary by Trump supporting candidates of the GOP. And the Trumpsters in the street motive is the motive of any cult member of any cult: to end their sense of alienation by worshiping a charismatic leader no matter how toxic. The answer for us more reasonable people? Stay active in resisting the above. We can’t afford complacency at this point.
Take care.
Agree. Hope I didn’t sound Kumbaya on this : ).
As in childbirth, Transition is labor ~ work, not complacency. Especially in our relationships, even with p, l, and u.
Patience is needed to endure the pain and frustration, to maintain safe practices during the pandemic, and (breathe!) to control blood pressure.
Ah, yes, keep that BP down! I can relate. Writing does it for me. And watch that news consumption.
Pax Americanas.