People have to find a way to explain to themselves and to others why they support something that is inherently ridiculous – and this ‘you just don’t understand how brilliant this really is’ claim has been a go-to for millions of baked in Trumpers. How sad that these mental-gymnasts’ only reward is to be fleeced by con artists. He will spend the next 2-3 years building a “lost cause” conspiracy narrative in which he and his followers were victimized by anti-American backstabbers.The goal isn't to overturn the results at this point. The goal is to tear down our Democratic norms and process. When democracy itself is delegitimized, it creates the potential for legitimizing radical alternatives. Chaos. Chaos is a large part of Trumps worldview.
The emergent theme that we’re seeing among the Trump right wing is that there is no such thing as truth. Anything is possible, but truth lives in an ever-elusive non findable alt reality, and therefore nothing is truly knowable. There are no facts that can be neutrally, impartially observed and agreed upon. And since rational people can’t agree on what the truth is, what’s left is to create a new order in which truth comes from the people who have the power over peoples thoughts. Truth is what power says it is. This is exactly how some of the world’s most notorious regimes begin and how democracies end.
Trump comes off as either delusional or the ultimate con man or both. But with his stubborn refusal to see reality. we come back to the woo called "The Secret" and Norman Vincent Peales "The Power of Positive Thinking - Fake it Until you make it.
The Secret was based on a self-help book of that name that aired the interesting but batshit crazy idea that “the Universe” was some sort of magical fairy that would grant wishes if you only wished them hard enough. According to The Secret your fate is whatever you want it to be, even unconsciously. Good or bad events are drawn to you by the powerful force of your own desires. So if you want something badly enough, and convince yourself that you will obtain whatever it is, your deepest wishes will come true no matter what your circumstances are, or how impossible it seems. Mary Trump confirmed these things. That both Donald and his father Fred believed in Norman Vincent Peale who promoted the idea that thoughts create reality.
Trump was a member of Peale’s church when he was growing up, married his first wife there, and has said that Peale considered Trump his “greatest student of all time.” If nothing, Peale and his philosophy were clearly extremely influential in forming Donald Trump’s worldview.
Trump thinks if only he wants something “bad enough” it will happen. Reality and truth don't matter. And he wants these things with little or no effort on his part. He really wants this or that to happen and wishes “super hard” for it. Trump just wants and he expects it to happen…whatever “it” is. His whole life has been one of people never saying no to him. Those that do say no he ejects and gets another yes man in that place. His lackeys make sure Trump never really has to put much effort into anything. The times where we see Trump thwarted he acts out like a child…literally like a child.
Trump is all-in on an overheated version of Peale’s “Positive Thinking” schtick. Not as a coherent, articulable philosophy, but as a reflection of his absolute narcissism. He really does think that if he wills something strongly enough, he can make it manifest. Because it comes from a pathologically warped view of the world. He literally perceives himself as the center of existence, with other people as functional components who either serve or oppose him and his purposes. The cosmos exists to revolve around and either validate or repudiate him, personally, depending on his strength of will. He lies to inflate himself. Period. He will never, and I mean never, lie to diminish himself.
It explains a lot about how he and his cult like following operates. The truth is what HE says it is