WTF Is Happening in the &%*@!# United States?

Right now, hundreds of millions of worried people, all around the globe, are fearfully wondering: What the f*ck is going on in the out-of-control, super-aggressive US — and why are the American government and people letting Trump get away with everything, including unprovoked attacks on other nations and literal mass murder?

Here’s the unconscionable, unbelievable reality: many Americans, including our military, still support/obey crazy warmonger Trump … and are following him right off the cliff to certain disaster. The old “lemmings” analogy may actually be too kind, since we’re destroying not only ourselves, but also attacking and ruining the lives of millions of other people all around the world.

It’s not just that the US is collapsing into autocracy, chaos, and murderous aggression. We seem intent on bringing the whole world down with us.

Meet the current US president: the world’s most dangerous man

Over the past several years, it’s become increasingly common for political analysts and commentators to downplay Trump’s role in US chaos and collapse. They say that Trump is “only a symptom” of much deeper issues and insist that Trump himself isn’t the “real problem.”

I beg to differ. Bigly. While it’s true that multiple long-term dysfunctions, economic malaise, and political gridlock enabled the rise and dominance of Trump, it’s a huge mistake to underestimate the influence of intense psychopathology at the very pinnacle of our society.

Sure, there had to be certain preconditions in place for “traitor Trump” to rise to power — but it’s his devious, amoral manipulations and endless lies that have cemented his power. That power includes, and depends on, his massive psychological influence over tens of millions of his MAGA and GOP supporters.

Back in 2020, Mary Trump (Trump’s niece) published a scathing tell-all examination of DJT and the Trump family. The scary subtitle was, “How my family created the world’s most dangerous man.” At the time, I thought that was quite a remarkable yet realistic statement.

Scarily, the events of the past six years, and especially the first 15 months of Trump’s new term, have proven her to be exactly right. As Trump’s brutal “war of choice” against Iran — which is now exploding into a possible World War III — clearly shows, today he truly IS “the world’s most dangerous man.”

Two crucial factors behind intensifying US collapse

How did we — meaning the US as a whole — get here? What the hell happened? I’d say there are two crucial factors no one wants to admit or talk about: first, the incredible, multi-pronged dangers posed by a deeply pathological leader, and second, the incredible gullibility, ignorance, and desperation of many Americans.

Regarding the first factor, living under a deeply pathological leader, it must be bluntly stated that Donald Trump is a walking cauldron of psychological dysfunctions and deep-seated emotional problems. In truth, he is an absolute mess psychologically — and that’s not even taking his developing dementia into account.

Judging by both his speech and actions, Trump is paranoid, hateful, super-aggressive, super-controlling, racist, amoral, greedy, and scornful of anything resembling diplomacy and cooperation. He has been described as a “malignant narcissist” — one of the most dangerous of all personality types — by several psychologists, and it’s clear that he is also a pathological liar. As I’ve noted in previous essays, Trump lies like the rest of us breathe — that is, constantly.

How did a twisted, devious, evil man like Donald Trump manage to become our president not just once, but twice? Much of his “success” was (and is) due to the varied, endless ways the US and our media coddled him, lionized him, excused his lies and racism, and kept minimizing the intense dangers he embodies and inflicts on us (and the world).

There’s a discomforting (even sinister) pattern underlying this mindless coddling and minimization: such intense dysfunction and pathology at the very summit of our society always percolates downward, accelerates, and increasingly infects every layer of society.

Some call this process “normalization,” but that’s far too “nice” a way to express it. Ongoing lies, hatred, cruelty, racism, misogyny, and “other-blaming” emanating from our president end up deeply infecting and corrupting much of our citizenry. These horrors inevitably enable our very worst impulses.

To employ an overused (but misunderstood) term, Trump persistently “groomed” many Americans to support MAGA and Trumpism — largely through his bizarre, Hitleresque rallies — and to ditch truthfulness and compassion. Then he and MAGA, together, “groomed” American society to accept or even embrace a whole range of atrocities, including accelerating racism, misogyny, hatred of immigrants and Muslims, arrogant disdain for our allies, and uber-aggressive military assaults on multiple nations.

It’s a mounting social and political disaster. And Trump is at the very center of ALL of it.

A dark tsunami of ignorance and gullibility

Then, there’s factor #2: Americans’ gullibility and lack of psychological “smarts.” As you’ve probably noticed, this factor is entwined with factor one and, in a way, is the dominant factor. Why? Well, it’s our gullibility and ignorance — some say, stupidity — that set the stage for (and endlessly enable) the devious manipulations comprising Trumpian “grooming.”

In politics, as in most other social matters, “it takes two to tango.” Thus, Americans’ vast ignorance and gullibility were the essential prerequisites that allowed Trump and MAGA to grow, prosper, and fester throughout our society. Americans’ emotional desperation, born of living in a heartless, anti-social “society,” merely sealed the deal.

The truth is, anyone with eyes to see, ears to hear, and a functioning brain should have been able to see through all of Trump’s arrogant BS, lies, misdirection, bravado, and cynical manipulations. It should never have been this hard.

Yet — it WAS. The fact that tens of millions of “good Americans” could not see through the antics of this pathetic, bullying man-child tells us all we need to know about the current state of the US and many US citizens: deluded and dangerous beyond belief.

As long as Trump remains in power, the world faces mounting danger

With all this happening and, in a very real sense, determining the near-future direction of the US, it’s safe to say that the US has totally blown it on almost every level. Going, going… gone! (This, during the year of our “glorious” 250th anniversary celebration. It’s way beyond sad.)

Sorry, world, but the US has morphed from a (sporadic) “beacon of freedom” into one of the most aggressive, arrogant, bullying, and UNfree nations in the modern world. All this, in delusional deference to “lying liar” and con-man Trump — who’s right up there (or down there) with Putin, now — who deserves NO deference or obedience at all.

It’s also safe to say that Trump and his monstrous pathology, in combination with Americans’ dimwitted ignorance and gullibility, ensure that the US will continue on its current suicidal and homicidal path. Trump’s impact is so vast and lasting that it could take many decades for the US (and the world) to recover from his foul, destructive “legacy.”

I hate to say it, but it’s clear to me that as long as Trump is alive and in power, the rapid downward spiral of the US will continue and deepen. It’s simply the direct result of his hateful, domineering pathology and Americans’ amazing ignorance, in deadly combination.

As long as Trump is alive and “leading” this nation (to hell), the US will pose an immense and intensifying danger to the entire world.

** NO KINGS! ** rallies are happening again on Saturday, March 28. These protest gatherings will be immense — the most numerous (3,100+) and largest ever seen in the US. Be there if you want to help create a better, saner, more compassionate nation!

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This post was previously published on MEDIUM.COM.

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