Trump: Virus or Vaccine?

Perhaps this is a form of inoculation, a mild case to avoid the fatal one

There’s a Buddhist saying, “turn poison into medicine.” Our local version is “turn lemons into lemonade.”

There’s no doubt many view Trump as a poison injected into the arteries and lifeblood of our nation, of the democratic institutions and norms we hold dear, of the Constitutional protections we cherish.

But just as a vaccine works by injecting a bit of the bad stuff into our system to help us build up the ability to control it and not be overwhelmed by the disease, so perhaps Trump has unwittingly (for there is no wit in him) provided us with the same beneficial service.

America’s esteem in the world has declined precipitously under the Trump years. What is most troubling about that is if that decline is viewed as having implications for the very nature and survivability of democracy itself. If America, blessed with the protection of oceans and friendly borders, abundant in natural resources and a people with great historic energy and creativity, can be so threatened, what does that mean for other nations?

But perhaps the opposite lesson can be drawn. We have had the poison of autocracy, of arrogant self-serving leadership, injected into our system. Other nations in these circumstances have fallen prey to the forceful imposition of such leadership, ending up with dictators, with the suppression of freedom, with the horrors of mass detention and murder. But perhaps this was a form of inoculation, a mild case to avoid the fatal one.

Think Germany, of course. Think Argentina. Think of the declines in freedom that repeatedly undermine life in Russia, that breed the Chinese autocrats. All doing very nicely for themselves while plundering others.

And now think of the so-called populist, right wing movements, engulfing Europe. The dissatisfactions that fed Brexit, that are moving Hungary, that challenge the freedoms we thought were entrenched and now appear threatened. They look at us and think, if it can happen there, then it can surely happen here.

But there’s more to the story. Yes, we have venom coursing through our system. At the top, it’s setting a tone that frees up hatred, racism, misogyny, that pillages all but the very rich at the expense of everyone else, that is destroying the environment piece by piece, that is setting us up for the catastrophes of climate change in order to protect the profits of companies and people that seemingly will do anything to make and have more.

Granted, it’s not a pretty picture.

But the genius of the American system has been its form of inertia, that one way or another pulls back to a center. The courts, compromised as they are at the top, have been safeguards to many of the extremist positions Trump has attempted to foist on us, to feed the demagoguery that got him elected and he thinks will keep him in office. Institutions such as the ACLU have received more support and stepped up their relentless pursuit of justice, an ingredient essential to the maintenance of a free state and democracy.

The 2018 elections foretold a shift in representation as the body politic generates the antibodies promoted by the innoculation, one that is less cowed, more challenging, more concerned about the protection of the people than their exploitation. The disturbing psychopathologies that have been unleashed have spurred a pushback, demanding decency for groups that have historically been denied it. Women, people of color, are not just finding their voices, but finding listeners. It’s a turbulent time, and these eddies and flows aren’t conclusive.

Corruption is the biggest danger, as demonstrated in so many South American and African countries that slid into despair. And there is no doubt how pervasive the corruption is, from a President and family that seek to benefit from the office, grubbing for every penny, to the enablers around them, who abuse their offices for the enrichment of their colleagues and through lavish grotesque expenditures.

Wherever a bright light has shone on this shoddy cast of characters, it has revealed their schemes. But the question is, how much has gone undiscovered, and what illicit gains will never be revealed? Corruption erodes trust in institutions, from paying taxes to believing in equitable treatment before the law. Once gone, trust is hard to recover.

So abroad and home, one overriding question is: how much damage Trump has done is irreparable? Time allows for reconciliation, for readmission of past sinners into the fold, in sports and entertainment, but if no one pays the price, the cost is immeasurable.

We may yet drown in the virus of autocracy that Trump embodies. But we may also use it as a serum to generate the healthy counterbalances of our institutions and our people, that will right the ship and put it back on the course of democracy we originated. That outcome will have resonances for us living here, and also for the rest of the world. Are we getting sicker, or are we in the process of healing?

They are watching.

For more of my work, check out https://www.thezog.com/