Brash, arrogant, selfish, self-centred, boorish, loutish, cruel, unreasonable, difficult,
impossible, inconsiderate, ungrateful, petty, petulant, sulking, crass,
insensitive, irrational, contentious, argumentative, aggravating, insulting,
crazy, wicked and mad. – Paul Collar
Independent: Trump
is faithless as far as political affiliation goes. As recently as between
2001-2008, he was a Democrat. In essence, he is an Independent who won on a Republican
ticket.
The modern
world (particularly social media) suffers from the halo effect (if I like
someone, I like everything that person says or does) and the Devil effect,
which is the reverse. Each of us is expected to join a camp, take a stance and
bash the opposite camp. In political terms, such biases rob our independence.
For example, in the USA, a Republican candidate is expected not only to reduce
taxes but also to support guns, and oppose gay marriage and abortion. The
conservative camp has defined this manifesto, and if you wish to belong to that
camp, you must tick the entire checklist.
Trump
is an exception. He has no party and no position. In future, if he wants, he
could reduce taxes and support abortion at the same time.
This
independence is worth emulating if we wish to be objective analysts, to get rid
of our halo effect, to not belong to any camp but judge actions on individual
merit. Right actions of people we hate can also be right.
The
finisher: During a TV interview (after Trump had won the
Republican nomination), the anchor asked: ‘Mr Trump, by becoming the candidate for the
presidential election, you have already achieved so much. Whether you win the
final election or not, you can always look back with pride at your incredible
performance.’
Trump
looked at her with disdain.
‘No,
no.’ he yelled. ‘If I don’t become the president, all this has no meaning. It’s
a complete waste, a ZERO achievement.’
His was
a strong and sincere feeling. If you ask a woman, who has delivered a stillborn
baby, her experience of pregnancy, she will be equally annoyed. The aim of the
nine-month pregnancy is to deliver a healthy, bouncy baby. A pregnancy that has
produced a dead baby is utterly meaningless.
Whatever
is not a 100% success is a 100% failure. Trump is a fanatically success-driven
guy. Obama said “we can”, Trump says ‘I will”. Trump’s extraordinary
desire to win and his binary focus can be important in our lives.
Over
the last couple of years, I started and abandoned three unfinished books,
including one novel. Should I be proud of this? Did the process of writing
matter as much as the result? Of course not. Inspired by Trump, I have decided
not to leave any book unfinished in future. Self-doubt and a high sense of
standard made me discard those projects. Trump has shown that with supreme willpower
and single-minded focus on results, anything is possible. If Trump can win the
US presidential election, surely my books can see the light of day.
No
mask, no pretence: Not only the US presidents, each of us wears a
civil mask. Gossip is proof that we say one thing in a person’s absence and
quite another when he is around.
One of
my friends, let me call her Jennifer, has faced a dilemma for quite some time.
On her Facebook wall, her old-time friend Maggie quite vehemently supports Brexit,
annexation of Crimea, is anti-gay, says climate change is a hoax, and believes
9/11 was a conspiracy theory and loves both Farage and Putin. Jennifer can’t
let Maggie have the last word, so their FB correspondence is long, bitter and a
source of entertainment for the rest of the FB crowd. Over the years, Jennifer
has felt increasingly uncomfortable; she knew little of Maggie’s fascist
leanings in their youth. Whenever we talk, Jennifer complains about how
intolerable Maggie has become. But she can’t unfriend or block Maggie on Facebook.
Because that may hurt Maggie’s feelings.
Or take
an example from my own life. Occasionally, on Sundays, I come across S.K. (30
years old) who is also a runner like me. Depending on the latest running book
he is reading, he may be in running shoes, Vibram, or sandals. Sometimes even barefoot.
Whenever we meet, he comments on my running posture, my stretching, frequency
(five times a week is too much, you are burning yourself), and speed (without
interval training, your timing won’t improve).
He
finishes every marathon race at least twenty five minutes later than I do.
When he
is giving me the unsolicited advice, my mind is saying: ‘S.K., what an idiot
you are! A theoretical idiot. I ran the first time, when you were not even
born. You are injury prone with all your experiments. How dare you criticize
me, when you take a half hour longer?’
However,
while I mentally say all this, I am politely smiling and pretending to absorb
all the tips S.K. is giving me. This is my mask, because of my upbringing,
because I am decent, and I don’t want to hurt his feelings.
Both
Jennifer and I need to learn from Trump. Trump says what he thinks at that
moment. He can call anyone nasty with millions watching him. He can antagonize,
cut off anybody from his life. When a conscientious person cares about the
feelings of some idiots, he is often hurting himself in the process. Jennifer
should remove Maggie from her FB friends, and I should tell S.K. to go to hell
with his advice. Now with social media and smart phones, you can’t easily avoid
unwanted people. The remedy is to follow Trump and tell them in their face what
you think of them.
Idiot
Savant: A person who is in general mentally defective
but displays unusual aptitude or brilliance in some special field. (Webster
dictionary)
And now
a word about why Trump behaves the way he does, and why you and I may not be
able to follow his behavior, even when inspired.
It’s
time for me to apologise for
the deception carried out at the start of this article. Paul Collar, more than
forty years ago, was talking about Bobby Fischer, and not Donald Trump. I had
used this quote in my Fischer obituary. (Open diary week 5: 2008)
I have
studied Bobby Fischer’s life far more than Trump’s. Fischer certainly qualified
as an Idiot Savant, a genius in chess and completely socially inept.
Those who considered themselves close to Fischer were finally sick of his paranoia
and insults, and left him. Fischer, like Trump, said whatever was on his mind.
If
these parallels are correct, I am convinced Trump is not a fascist, evil or a liar
as is generally imagined. Doesn’t mean he is good-natured or cultured. He, like
Fischer, is born with defective wiring in the brain. Trump may be absolutely
sincere about whatever he says at that particular time. No shrewd or
premeditated political strategy or psychological warfare is behind it. His
actions perceived as cunning, or hypocritical may not be deliberate.
Fischer
knew he would become the world champion one day, and Trump knew
he would become the USA president one day. Both stupendous achievements of
mentally defective personalities. They were lucky to be born with the nerve of self-doubt
missing.
Trump
is not a loner like Fischer, his is a colourful personality, he has a large
family. Fischer retired at 30, and Trump is assuming office at 70. Trump calls
himself a master dealmaker and Fischer initially got whatever he wanted by his
willingness to self-destruct. Fischer never played any serious chess after
winning the World crown, and went into oblivion. As a World champion, his
narcissism and paranoia grew further, his demands became excessively unreasonable.
His admirers were fed up. The title he could have kept for two decades was lost
with no further play.
Donald
Trump is in a far worse position. He needs to handle not pieces on the board,
but real people and countries. Would President Trump also become more
narcissistic, and disappear before finishing his term?
While
it will be hugely entertaining to see Trump in power for four years, my
prediction is a new US president will take charge much before the 2020
election. The Trump Reality Show cannot last for four years.
Ravi
No comments:
Post a Comment