The Fake Society

If there is anything that defines this country right now, it is that the truth doesn't matter anymore.  People prefer the fake, so that is what will be served and in great abundance.

Does that mean that Trump himself is fake?  His enemies will say so.  I'd like to defend Trump, but I just don't know how genuine he is.  Again, there are those who will say he isn't.  In my opinion, for whatever that is worth, is that the guy is trying.

But, and this is a big but, he has an enormous amount of headwind to overcome.  The institutional inertia of this government and society is such that a turnaround may not even be possible.  We may well be experiencing an avoidable slow motion collapse, not unlike the fall of the Roman Empire.

For a long time, the Roman Empire was crumbling from within.  Yet, its strength enabled it to endure for quite some time before it collapsed.  In those days, it took centuries.  In these days, which move at a much faster tempo, it is taking mere decades.

Things got so bad in the ancient empire, that, if anyone good showed up, he was quickly mowed down.  The parallels with this country cannot be ignored.  Therefore, if anybody in politics attempts to do something good for the country, the people in positions of power will quickly shoot it down.

What explains all this?  Why would a nation allow itself to be destroyed?  After all, we have a lot that the Romans didn't have.  This country ought to be able to bounce back.  But alas, that is not happening.  Recent events seem to confirm that things are on the downswing again.  Even though the GOP got its tax cut, it is a paradoxical one.  They are counting on the said tax cut to turn things around for them.  Perhaps it will, but I am not so sure.  At any rate, the POTUS' approval ratings are rather stubborn.  So is the right-track wrong-track poll.  If this was to be a good year for the GOP, the signs don't seem to be there yet.  If those signs don't show up, it could be a bad year.

Indeed, a good portion of Trump's own party does not support him.  However, he does have the GOP with him for the moment.  The danger to him appears to be at bay for now.

However, not enough is being done to improve the president's prospects.  The loss in Alabama was not helpful.  It is testimony to the power of the fake society that so many people who voted for him failed to show up and support him in the vote in Alabama.  Without enough friendly faces in the Congress, the hill may become too steep to climb.  The fake society can only become a real society if truth mattered, but that doesn't matter anymore.  Instead, it is whatever the tribe seems to say.  Yes, and the tribe seems to follow their leaders without question.  Whatever the leaders say seems like gospel to these people.  What gets lost is what really matters.  What is left over is fakery dished out by fake leaders for a people who are content with the phoniness.

The big part of Trump's problem is a revolt in his own party.  In order to get unity, he had to sacrifice whatever independence he might have had.  Now he is captive to them, and this could sink him.

Unless he is capable of exerting just enough independence to avoid the pitfalls that may await him this year.

He must avoid war.  Not easy with all the commitments he is bound to, and the ever present push upon him to honor each and all of them, or risk losing that precious support.  The warmongers will push him to war in order to keep his fragile unity.

His best chance is to deliver as much peace and prosperity as there is available.  But will the fake society allow him the room to do it?  Or will the fake society listen to their fake leaders once again, and follow the footsteps of the late Roman Empire?  Will they let a promising leader be destroyed because they are not strong enough to support it?  Is truth too hard, or is the allure of fakery too strong?

Trump got elected to make America Great Again.  The America of days gone by was not the world's policeman, nor the world's savior.  That America followed its own self interest.  It seemed to be what Trump wanted for the country, but the fakes will try to get him to divert course.  If he allows it, he may be doomed.  Even if he doesn't, the fakes may win anyway.  His best chance is not to be fake and be who he is really is.  Hopefully, that will be good enough to stave off the inevitable for at least awhile.

The Deeper Awakening, if it ever comes, must come later.  Incidentally, the prediction that America will fall has been a recurring one on this blog.  Nothing in the last few years has convinced me that this has changed.  Not even the election of Trump, which was a good sign.  But as welcome as that was, it may turn out to be a last hurrah.