In previous articles, I have discussed the notion that Donald Trump’s flip-flopping on issues, far from being something that hurts him in the eyes of his followers, is actually something that helps him. And this is because people have become so immersed in screen reality devices and other digital machines that they have become dangerously numb. For some people, the numbness leads to the defense of the kicks from opioid addictions. For others, it leads to either mass murders or attempted suicides. For still others, it leads to becoming a Trump supporter and being constantly shocked to life by his flip-flops among other manoeuvers. Trump does have other strategies for shocking people to life. Rather than flipping back and forth on one issue, Trump sometimes simply flips over from one issue to the next. First he builds a crisis sensitivity around one issue, and then when it loses its shock value for his audience, he switches to another issue and builds a sense of shock around this second one. We can call this the “change the subject” strategy.
Of
course, changing the subject all the time does not mean that one is flitting
from issues to issues that are anchored, at least to some extent, in external
world reality. Many of the issues that
Trump brings up or supports are totally confabulated. Many are conspiracies like QAnon, the theory
that says many well know political, entertainment and sports figures are
involved in a pedophile ring. The fact
that the theory has been totally discredited by objective investigators is
totally irrelevant to true believers. And Trump gives a wink to these believers,
because many of them are strong supporters who believe that Trump is in a major
battle secretly against these supposed pedophiles. Of course, why Trump can’t just come out and
admit that he is in this conflict has never been explained. Except that it heightens this us vs. them
connection with Trump and augments the emotional intensity of fighting what believers
perceive as an evil conspiracy. Fighting
an ambiguous enemy can give numb people a long sustained period of traction
that helps them feel alive. If only
because the fact that it is imagined means that it can never be effectively
defeated and killed off in external world reality. Because it is imagined, that means that the
sources of the conspiracy can shift from person to person, from group to group,
and thus it gets kept alive.
The
key here is the intensity of the shock, the intensity of the kick. The greater the shock, the greater the kick,
the more a person gets pulled out of his numbness. It’s not a natural organic aliveness, but it
is what a numb person in modern technological society has available to pull him
up and out. And Trump knows how to
manipulate this through flip-flopping, changing the subject and conspiracy
theories. Trump knows how to shock
people by throwing them off guard. And
the more he is able to successfully do this for people, the more attached they
become to him.
And
something else is going on here. With
the riots and looting in the States, Trump claims he is for law and order. But the way he supports predatory police and
right-wing vigilantes gives these groups the green light to be more aggressive
against their adversaries, thus creating new disruptions and more lawlessness
and more disorder. Which is, of course,
exactly what Trump’s supporters thrive
on. They get a rush out of public social
and political situations that are crumbling apart. And they cling to Trump, even as he
flip-flops, changes the subject and elaborates his conspiracy theories, the way
that they would cling to a bucking bronco.
People
cling to Trump even as he shocks them to life with fear. Trump’s world is filled with unknown inchoate
dangers. And Trump as well as the people
around him are shapeshifters. Not only
does Trump constantly shift his position on issues, but Trump perceives most of
the people around him as people who are shifting in relation to him. Although, in truth, who can keep up with all
of Trump’s shifts.
But
Trump’s followers cling to him, hoping to find some constant essence within him
for grounding, even as they thrive on all the shocks Trump gives them from his
flip-flops, changes of subject, conspiracy theories and disruptive
interventions. The more disruptive Trump
becomes with his words and deeds, the more his followers cling to him.
Trump
is a cult leader who wants people to merge with him, become one with him. He may be the only way that a person can
endlessly ride a bucking bronco, becoming one with him. Become one with the bucking bronco and he
will protect you from all the fears that he himself generates. Trump is like an opioid kick. And even if he loses the presidential
election, his followers will remain around. There are rumors that if Trump
loses, he may start his own television station to compete with Fox News for the
right-wing audience. But what is certain
is that Trump and his followers are not going to go quietly into the
night. Even, let’s assume that Trump
does decide to retire and disappear, there are people who would take up his
mantel and gather his supporters. Just
as addicted people can shift between drugs, so addicted people can shift
between charismatic leaders. When one is
addicted, one is addicted. And numbness
doesn’t simply disappear. Americans have
an addiction problem.
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