The Emperor Has No Clothes … or Morality … or Empathy

Onmany levels, the Age of Trump is also the age of ‘the emperor has no clothes.’ Recently, I realized (again) how incredibly apt and timely that story is for today’s America — so I decided to re-read the original short story by Hans Christian Andersen, titled ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes.’

It was a revelation. I highly recommend reading or re-reading it, for this brief story has much more to it than I remembered. It contains a wealth of profound psychological insight, much of it revolving around the themes of vanity, fear, and constant lying. Sound familiar?

Let’s dive in.

‘The Emperor’s New Clothes,’ in a nutshell

In Andersen’s story, the lying begins almost immediately. Two scoundrels, poor weavers by trade, decide to play on the emperor’s vanity; they hatch a plan to bleed him dry financially. To that end, they create a grandiose deception based on the absurd notion that they’ve developed a wondrous new type of cloth that possesses an amazing quality: it can only be seen by those who are smart and competent!

As they describe and show this ‘wondrous’ (non-existent) cloth to the emperor and his court, of course, no one present can see it — as there’s nothing to see — but, since not seeing it means one is stupid or incompetent, everyone pretends to see it and loudly praises its beauty.

That’s how the nightmare begins — and it just gets worse from there. Without recounting the whole story, suffice it to say that the emperor and everyone surrounding him fall headlong into this grand deception. Then, caught in their vanity, fear, and willingness to lie, they keep perpetuating the whole mess.

The part of the story I (and most people) remember most clearly is the section near the end where the emperor and his entourage are moving down the avenue in a regal procession — when a young child shouts, “But, he hasn’t got any clothes on!” The crowd hears this truth and repeats it; it spreads through the crowd until everyone suddenly ‘gets it.’ The emperor is really, truly naked!

But that’s not the end of the story. Although the common people effectively wake up and see through the lies and nonsense, the emperor and his entourage refuse to pay any attention and insist on carrying on their dark charade. “The show must go on.” In effect, they persist and double down on the reigning illusion and deception(s). Sound familiar?

A sad, but unsurprising, ending

Here’s how the very last section of the story reads:

“… no one would allow that he could not see these much-admired clothes; because, in doing so, he would have declared himself either a simpleton or unfit for his office. Certainly, none of the Emperor’s various suits had ever made so great an impression, as these invisible ones.

“But the Emperor has nothing at all on!” said a little child.

“Listen to the voice of innocence!” exclaimed his father; and what the child had said was whispered from one to another.

“But he has nothing at all on!” at last cried out all the people. The Emperor was vexed, for he knew that the people were right; but he thought the procession must go on now! And the lords of the bedchamber took greater pains than ever, to appear holding up a train [royal vestments], although, in reality, there was no train to hold.”

Like I said: everyone in power doubles down — on vanity, deception, and utter nonsense.

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Photo by Amelia Vu on Unsplash

Fear, vanity, abuse, and other Trumpian delights

One element of this cautionary tale that is often underemphasized or even ignored is the major role of fear. The genius of the faux weavers’ plan is that it relies on people’s vanity and fear of seeming stupid and/or incompetent to ‘force their hands’ and get them to comply. From the emperor on down, everyone is terrified of looking stupid and being judged as inadequate, so everyone ends up pretending they see and love the non-existent, invisible cloth. It’s pure genius — for this plan relies on humans’ innate fear of social ostracism and becoming an outcast from society.

In other words, Andersen’s story is primarily about fear-based ‘groupthink’ and the terrible, overarching power of denial. We can see such horrifying, fearful groupthink in today’s MAGA movement, as well as in religious extremists and even some on the far left. Plus, it’s well known that Resident Trump (I refuse to call him our president) never acknowledges mistakes or problems, and instead always doubles down on whatever egregious offense, abuse, or denial he is engaged in.

Just like the unscrupulous weavers, Trump is always selling his fake, denial-laced ‘alternate reality’ to the American public and the world — and he depends on people’s fear to keep them quiet and in line with his super-controlling agenda. And what is his agenda? More and more, it looks like he is out to seize ultimate political and financial power and rule like a full-on dictator. Or emperor.

To that end, he controls his MAGA hordes and almost the entire GOP with his endless lies, distortions, denial, and utter refusal to acknowledge the actual on-the-ground realities facing our nation. His self-serving rejection of reality encompasses everything from the economy to climate change to LGBTQ+ rights to structural racism to women’s rights.

In fact, we could easily describe Trump as America’s first — and hopefully last — total denial- and deception-based president. He is an unrepentant pathological liar and seems to have no moral qualms or empathetic response about anything. This profound lack makes him a dangerous, often abusive sociopath — very much like a mob boss. “Isn’t this invisible cloth the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen? I know you agree with me — and you’d better agree … or else!”

Awakening from the Trump/MAGA trance

In today’s US, Donald Trump plays the part of both the lying, manipulative weaver-deceivers and the vain, control-obsessed ruler who keeps denying and denying the realities that are right in front of his and our eyes. And tens of millions of Americans have fully succumbed to his wicked charms and his frequent latent (or overt!) threats.

Meanwhile, tens of millions of other Americans have ‘woken up’ — or never bought into his ridiculous BS to begin with — and are angrily or scornfully screaming that Trump is full of shit and is rapidly wrecking our nation. But, just as in the story about the emperor’s new clothes, Trump and MAGA simply deny and deny and keep doubling down on all their abuses, denials, and idiotic distractions.

Trump may be naked, and his stupidity may be exposed for all the world to see, but he still denies that his invisible royal garments are, in fact, invisible. He keeps insisting that he and his wondrous attire are the best, most beautiful thing the world has ever seen — and he demands that the MAGA faithful stay in lock-step with him. Anyone who deviates or challenges him in any way — like his former staunch ally, Marjorie Taylor Greene — will face his wrath and suffer the terrible fate of excommunication from MAGA. Trump even branded her a ‘traitor.’

But MTG is no traitor. She merely woke up, to some degree, to the impact of the horrible lies and denial Trump promotes and keeps escalating. She, and a few other MAGA stalwarts, are finally realizing, just like that little child in the story, that it’s all a sordid, stupid lie and “the emperor has no clothes”!

Or morality. Or honesty. Or empathy.

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This post was previously published on MEDIUM.COM.

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