Cliff's a published legal expert and professor who’s convinced that Trump is committed to saving democracy and has been unfairly persecuted by the establishment. I mused that if Trump’s a brilliant marketer as beholden to corporate and billionaire interests as any candidate in our corrupt system, then he's unlikely to be anyone's savior but his own. Cliff’s response was, “I believe he’s in it to do good! He got shot while trying to get a job he doesn’t need!"
Cliff's vehement Trump support after a lifetime of identifying as a Democrat suddenly made so much sense.
You see, Cliff likewise applied for a job he didn’t need when he sincerely ran for office to do good, yet experienced profound betrayal by the political establishment. And because we see things as we are, and not as they are, Cliff sees Trump as a persecuted valiant risking his neck to fight for ordinary people oppressed by a corrupt system - just like he did. Rather than using his own strong reaction to guide him towards the wound it signposts and embarking to heal it, Cliff projects his pain onto a candidate whose marketing resonates with his own story, bringing him hope for some semblance of redemption by proxy - but fostering zero awareness of his own deep need for healing. Cliff's not alone; to one extent or another, we've all done this and do this. Yours truly, included.
We see leaders as we are - not as they are.
We like or dislike mostly based on our own story rather than on objective assessments of policies, track records or character. Master marketers know this, and play us with it.
A judge I know was unjustly smeared by a news rag during his campaign and strongly resonates with Trump’s captured media narrative. In contrast, his wife says, “Trump's just like the slimy guys who sexually harassed me and kept me down in my career.” Her heart sings instead to the tune of candidates who talk of ending the days of “boys will be boys” and gender inequality. In both cases, their resonance flows from their own unhealed wounds.
Make no mistake: the political information we’re getting from every side is filtered through powerful marketing that actively encourages us to do three things. One: see through the lens of our own pain, discontent and grudges so our righteous indignation motivates us to support one candidate or another. Two: be distracted from or completely ignore aspects of the debate far more relevant to our lives and the wellbeing of our country and people. And three: see others who view things differently than we do as less than human and undeserving of respect... which leads to conflict.
The good news: the more you come to understand your own unhealed aspects, the less you'll be manipulated by marketing.
If you're courageous enough to take a good honest look at what deep inside makes you strongly “like” or “dislike” a leader, you’ll discover wounds ripe for healing. The ego will resist this reflection; it’s difficult to do alone. But addressing your own healing is well worth the journey; indeed, it's one of the reasons you're here.
Our divisiveness grows ever uglier; our country is in crisis. The more we each respond from a healed place, the more our country will come to reflect the best of
the American Spirit.
