How do you survive in life when all your tools -- morals, knowledge, social skills, sense of self, pride, compassion, ethics, economics, tolerance, honor, curiosity, courage, ambition, faith -- have been conceived, nurtured and twisted in such a fashion that, although you know instinctively that up is not down, you agree with the head of the family anyway when he says otherwise and you defend him vigorously when others says he's an idiot? To do otherwise, after all, is to admit your significant shortcomings in those areas and to invite the shame and ridicule
you imagine you'll receive for not recognizing reality. For not kicking Daddy out or leaving yourself.
That's life with an abusive (often alcoholic) parent. Donald Trump's America. The drug of choice in this case is applause, not alcohol, but the behavior is the same. Me, me, me. Predictably unpredictable. Trump's diehard supporters are stuck with each other and with him -- one, big, dysfunctional family, lies and betrayals
notwithstanding. Indeed, to question Daddy is disloyal, to leave, a betrayal. And where would you go anyway? It is, after all, a scary world out there. Daddy said so. Many times.
Breaking away from any such family is no easy task. It's who you are, after all, isn't it? You and your brothers and sisters and cousins and aunts and uncles and "Heck, it's like daddy told you -- it's your brand. "Us against the world."
Breaking away from the family of Trump -- acknowledging that he is a fraud, rejecting the brand -- would take enormous courage. First of all, it would mean admitting you have been wrong all this time to have placed your trust in a man with no moral compass, no sense of duty, no trace of compassion for the less fortunate, no regard for the truth and a total lack of interest in anything that does not feed his ego. (Get him a beer!) To admit that, one would have to be a fool, right?
Secondly, it would mean learning an entirely new set of life skills and placing your trust in people who believe pretty much the opposite of everything Daddy has told you. Talk about scary. Besides, how can you be sure those people aren't lying, too?
"Everybody lies. Don't believe what the media say. They all lie to make money. Daddy knows. He used to be on TV. He was great. At least Daddy has the guts to stand up to the liars and fight to get what we deserve. Maybe he hasn't gotten it yet, but at least he's trying. He'll come through for us eventually. He has to, doesn't he?"
Of course, there are 12-Step programs for people who grow up in this kind of ill-functioning, malfunctioning,
dysfunctional household with an unpredictable, abusive, addictive parent at the head. But one has to first admit there's a problem before those programs can help. Then, one has to be willing to change -- to break the chains of denial and dependence on the parent and learn to live one's own life. To be honest with oneself.
Rather than being the act of a fool, it takes a lot of courage to say, "Daddy's an idiot and if I keep depending on him, excusing his behavior, I'm going to wind up an idiot, too. I have to face reality." Sometimes, it take an intervention or a profound spiritual experience, a moment of clarity, for this to happen. Both have been known to work miracles and either one would be acceptable right now.
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