5.2 Why Trump has not become our Hitler
Trump is definitely an authoritarian.
And you could make the argument that he’s a fascist, and you could make some comparisons between him and Hitler.
But there’s one crucial difference which means Trump can’t become a totalitarian leader like Hitler.
A key fact about Hitler is that he…
Merged with Germany.
He fused his identity with the glory of Germany.
This was expressed in the popular Nazi slogan…
Adolf Hitler ist Deutschland, Deutschland ist Adolf Hitler.
And it was expected that the German people merge into a mass tribal identity with Hitler/Deutschland…
Du Bist Nichts, Dein Volk ist Alles.
Which means, “You are nothing, your people are everything.”
Hitler said…
“We must develop organizations in which an individual’s entire life can take place. Then every activity and every need of every individual will be regulated by the collectivity represented by the party. There is no longer any arbitrary will, there are no longer any free realms in which the individual belongs to himself….The time of personal happiness is over.”
Now think about Trump…
His ego does not allow him to merge.
Hitler’s ego had a fluid boundary. He was Germany.
But Trump has a fixed boundary to his ego. His ego is only about himself. He can’t merge with anyone or anything outside himself.
And this is the perfect illustration of irony. Trump’s ego which is sickening and drives us crazy is…
Something to be thankful for.
Because while Trump can be an authoritarian, and could destroy our country if he regains the presidency, he cannot take that next step into something much worse…
He cannot become a full-blown totalitarian.
Because totalitarianism, as Hannah Arendt said, is a mass merging of soulless nobodies. Merging is the key. Everyone, including the leader, merges into the totality.
Hitler had a mission. He wanted to “restore” Germany to glory. He wanted, through Germany, to rule all of Europe and eventually the world.
Trump has no mission. “Make America Great Again” is just a slogan for him. One he uses to hook his base. What really drives him is a desperate desire to…
Suck attention.
Which is his defense against his childhood pain.
To him “America First” only means “Trump First.”
So as strange as it is to say, when it comes to Trump, there is this one blessing we get to count. He can’t become a totalitarian.
