- Apr 6, 2020
- 1,031
- Tinnitus Since
- 2016
- Cause of Tinnitus
- 2016: headphones, 2020: worsened thanks to Rammstein
Twilight of American Sanity by Allen Frances (MD) gives an interesting take in helping us understand why and how the Trump presidency happened. Frances' analysis focuses more on sociological factors than just political developments. To put it differently, the author basically says that ''calling Trump crazy allows us to avoid confronting the craziness in our society''People are specifically bashing Trump, not conservatives as a whole. If you think conservatism is defined by Trump then you might have a narrow view yourself.
I want better for conservatives than Trump. I feel angry for our country and also for the people who were fooled by this con man. The fact that Trump is so tied into people's identity as conservatives is precisely why he is so dangerous.
Here's an excerpt of a review on Frances' book:
''Frances explores at length the many societal delusions that have given rise to Trump. The delusions include a false belief in fast, easy solutions to complex problems, such as global warming (God will fix it), guns (they don't kill people; people do), dwindling resources (there will be a high-tech fix), and so on. Exploiting this societal sickness, Trump, a "skilled snake-oil salesman selling quack medicine…won power because he promised quick, phony cures for the…real problems burdening the significant segment of our population left out of the American dream." Regarding Rust Belt jobs, writes the author, "most of the jobs were lost to automation, not globalization, and sadly they will never return." In the election campaign, Trump, a lifelong con man, displayed the common touch, while Hillary Clinton proved "remote and inaccessible, assuming she could rest comfortably on her long lead and past laurels''
(....)
"we have placed the future of humanity in the hands of someone indifferent to facts, proud of scientific ignorance, and ready to act deceitfully on whim and spite." While Trump "doesn't qualify for a mental disorder…he does present with one of the world's best documented cases of lifelong failure to mature." He is "a distillation, mouthpiece, and terrifying living embodiment of all the worst in human nature and societal delusion." In his final, discursive chapters, Frances envisions the possibility of a rational post-Trump world informed by progressive populism.''
Link:
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/allen-frances/twilight-of-american-sanity/