Arthur E. Sowers is a resident of Harbeson.
Why would anyone have ever voted for Donald Trump, a person with so many bad qualities? In his lifetime, for example, he has been involved in 4,000 lawsuits and six bankruptcies of major companies. Also, there are many allegations that he didn’t pay all his bills. And he is a convicted felon (as of this writing). How do you not see these as problems? Though I have read many articles dealing with these questions, this 2017 Vox piece gave half the explanation: “Trump supporters know Trump lies. They just don’t care.” An internet search done at the time I wrote this essay showed that Trump supporters still just don’t care. I was puzzled by this until I read a more recent Esquire article — dated February 2025 — that gave the other half of the explanation. The title is “How Do Young Men See the World? We Asked Them.” The young men — 12 of them — talked about their lives and Trump. Almost all were pro-Trump or became pro-Trump, and in open-ended interviews, they explained why. Here is a quote from one person in that article, Jacinto Obregon:
“It was like they (the young men) were experimenting with dominance. And I mention all this because I think they really want that dominance to continue. I think they like getting away with talking very, very confidently. And I think they see Trump talking what I think is nonsense, but they’re like, ‘Oh, wow — he gets away with saying that!’ And so they want to emulate that. They want that power.”
And there you have it. It’s the psychology of the human brain. Would you rather eat ice cream or read a history book? If you like Trump (the ice cream), then you don’t need to worry about his lies (or you don’t need to read the book).
It’s about action and entertainment and instant gratification and, of course, “strength and forcefulness.” It is not about knowledge or wisdom or thinking or morals or ethics or justice. Trump has shown everybody how opposition and defiance work. If you say, “Fake news,” then you don’t have to answer questions. So, if you don’t like climate change, just say it’s a hoax, and you’ll never have to explain why you said that.
This problem extends to an even worse one, in which at least 1 out of 4 people would now rather trust misinformation and disinformation on social networks and YouTube videos than carefully produced mainstream news. The junkie news stuff is often, but not always, produced by unqualified and self-appointed “teachers” and authors of “tweets.” Sometimes, you are even talking with someone who is not who they say they are. Some posts and messages are from robots instead of real people. Unfortunately, among other things, this has resulted in considerable growth in the belief that the Earth is flat. Also, more people now fall under the spell of conspiracy thinking and QAnon. But people end up “teaching themselves” incorrect conclusions about science from defective thinking. And a lot of people in those communities are addicted to their “social ecosystem.” Years ago, I saw a list of many reasons why some people thought the moon landing was a hoax. But, going deeper into the nitty-gritty of each reason they gave, there was always a critical defect in thinking behind that reason.
However, it is not widely known, but it is true, that a number of public and free artificial intelligences are available over the internet (e.g., ChatGPT), and a lot of the time, they can help you understand a lot of things. They can verify information and explain all sides of complex issues. I have been using several for two years. They are not perfect, but usually, at least a little bit helpful and, sometimes, a lot helpful. In addition, I am aware of studies that show that these artificial intelligences can help people to — sort of — “repair” their own thinking and get out of “cultlike” mindset traps and start thinking for themselves.
But let’s get back to Trump’s “golden age” story, and what about our real economy? Polls are currently showing that Trump approvals have sunk to 39% regarding what he is doing for the economy. I am surprised it is even that high. According to an April 17 poll, reported in the Ipsos article, “America’s reputation drops across the world,” people in 26 of 29 countries think Trump is doing more bad than good. A June 11 poll from Pew Research shows a similar finding. It is titled: “U.S. Image Declines in Many Nations Amid Low Confidence in Trump.”
And you should see the graph in the Axios article, “Exclusive: China’s global favorability rising, views of the U.S. turn negative.” It all made a massive shift starting right after our November 2024 election. And we have been getting a lot of anti-Trump “No King” protests, too (see Wikipedia for much more).
And remember how Trump has been beating on immigrants as “rapists” and “murderers.” Now that we are seeing what is happening and the media has been explaining where they work and how the Trump administration is cruelly rounding them up, this July 11 Gallup article came out: “Surge in U.S. Concern About Immigration Has Abated.” Opposition to immigrants dropped a lot in the last few months.
Trump gets away with his mischief by telling “fairy tale” stories. In these stories, Trump presents himself as the “superhero.” And to be a superhero, you need to smash the “bad guys.” It might be hard to smash the genuine bad guys, so we need to find guys easy to smash and make scapegoats out of them. Scapegoats are innocent people who can be easily “framed.” Isn’t it handy that all these poor and defenseless illegal immigrants can be so easily rounded up and deported? Cheers for the king. Yes, they are here illegally. But, on the internet, I found the crime statistics for these “rapists” and “murderers,” and the rates were about the same as from Americans born here whose parents were born here, too. There are many articles on how they contribute to this country. But scapegoats are easy to kick around. Most illegal immigrants have been here for a decade or two, while being employed (meat processing, harvesting, hospitality, nursing homes, landscaping, etc.), behaving themselves and paying taxes, too.
A second Trump fairy tale is about part of our economy. And Trump needed a second set of scapegoats. So, Trump gets these scapegoats by saying that all our trading partners “are ripping us off.” It is easy to say that and frame them and smash them with tariffs and look like a hero. Again, cheers to the king. The trouble is that Trump, himself, doesn’t know what a can of worms he is opening. Tariffs will increase the price you will pay for stuff, so they are really hidden taxes. So, in reality, it is Trump doing the “ripping off,” and it is you who will be the victim. It is a lot like when Trump lost the 2020 election. He immediately claimed that the election was rigged and blamed Joe Biden. The game Trump played is called “heads I win, tails you lose.” We had regular tariff schedules for decades until Trump decided to make a mountain out of a molehill about it, and now, he’s got all our trading partners, all over the world, mad at him, and it’s already destabilizing all the world’s economies, in addition to our own.
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
