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By any reasonable measure, Donald Trump is among the worst, if not the worst Presidential candidate in American history.

He is a mean-spirited and vindictive bigot and a compulsively endless liar.  He is anti-black, anti-brown, anti-immigrant, anti-gay, anti-science, anti-women, anti-fact and anti-truth.

He is a hate-monger, a fear-monger, and a rumor-monger. He lacks morality and judgment.

He is inexperienced in, and ignorant of, both international and domestic matters, but is so egocentric he seems not to recognize his ignorance — a most dangerous combination.

He claims personal superiority in all areas, from war knowledge superior to that of trained generals, to tax knowledge superior to that of all previous Presidents, to physical fitness superior all previous candidates, to athletic ability superior to everyone living in New York, to superior business ability — despite ample evidence he actually is inferior in all these  areas.

Yet despite his obvious failings, he has a massive and passionate following.

One hint to this seeming anomaly might be found in an article from the November 2016, issue of Scientific American Magazine. Here are a few excerpts:

Why Political Pessimism Trumps Optimism
The psychology of political pessimism
By Michael Shermer



We are fortunate to be living in the most peaceful, most prosperous, most progressive era in human history,” he opined, adding that “it’s been decades since the last war between major powers.


If these facts are true—and they are —then why the doom and gloom heaped on us by politicians and pundits on both sides of the political aisle?

First, news media outlets are far more likely to report bad news than good. Another day in Turkey without a coup goes unreported, but just try and take over a country without the world’s media covering it.

Second, as psychologist Roy F. Baumeister explained, “bad emotions, bad parents, and bad feedback have more impact than good ones, and bad information is processed more thoroughly than good.


One answer, I suggest, is in the psychology of loss aversion, in which, on average, losses hurt twice as much as gains feel good.

To get someone to take a gamble, the potential payoff must be about twice the potential loss. Why? Because of the endowment effect, which is the tendency to value what we own more than what we do not own.

Why is our psychology wired this way? Evolution. According to Harvard University psychologist Steven Pinker, in our evolutionary past there was an asymmetry of payoffs in which the fitness cost of overreacting to a threat was less than the fitness cost of underreacting.


All of which helps to explain much political pessimism.

That is part of it — pessimism is stronger than optimism, and is widely considered to be wiser. The optimist often thought naive and innocent, while the pessimist is wrongly believed to be a realist.

A second factor is what we described in earlier posts, and what the philosopher, Eric Hoffer, calls the “true believers.” These are people who passionately follow a leader or a faith. Religious fundamentalists and group fanatics are true believers.

One of the characteristics of a true believer is certainty despite contrary fact, especially the certainty that the past was good, the present is bad, but the Leader can make the future good again.

When Donald Trump says, “Political correctness is killing us;” “Free trade is killing us;” “Globalization is killing us;” “China is killing us;” “Mexico is killing us;” he is speaking to true believers, who long for a mythical future and a beautiful past that never really existed.

Trump’s slogan, “Make America great, again,” is a paean to that belief.

Despite Obama’s optimism and factual statement of how things are better today, many people have things worse, or think they do, or are afraid they will in the future.

Trump speaks to those of the middle and low income/wealth/power groups, who have seen the Gap widen between them and the rich, and they are resentful and need someone to blame. 

True believers need a devil to blame, generally someone from a competing ideology (a different religion or nationality). Trump’s Mexicans, Muslims, gays, Chinese, etc. fit perfectly (though ironically, the real devils are the American rich who, like Trump, create and benefit from policies that widen the Gap).

Third, there is a characteristic commonly known as “charisma,” a hard to define quality that many people find attractive and convincing.  Barach Obama and Bill Clinton have it in the eyes of many. Hillary Clinton seems to lack it. Donald Trump has it.

If we combine general need of threat avoidance, the specific needs of true believers, plus charisma,  we have a leader. If we add to the mix, a frightening lack of job qualifications and morality, we have Donald Trump.

It is quite likely that, no matter the election outcome, Donald Trump’s name will live on as the epithet: “That guy is another Trump.”

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty




Implementation of The Ten Steps To Prosperity can narrow the Gaps:

Ten Steps To Prosperity:
1. ELIMINATE FICA (Ten Reasons to Eliminate FICA )
This article addresses the questions:
*How much would it cost taxpayers?
*Who opposes it?”


