Stigmatizing The “Virtuous”

Donald Trump knows EXACTLY what he’s doing.

The relatively powerful have always been (and always will be) in a position to stigmatize the relatively weak.

Throughout most of America’s history, the relatively powerful have inherited their status and its associated privilege simply by being born native, white, ethnic northern European, healthy, heterosexual, economically productive, urban or suburban, and Christian (especially Protestant) men. 

As such, they have had the ability to stigmatize immigrants, people of color, the ethnically “exotic,” the sick or disabled, the homosexual, the poor, the rural, and those of non-Christian or non-religious belief systems.

The power to stigmatize goes beyond the power of shaming and has the ability to lock the stigmatized out of political, economic, and cultural relevance such that their children inherit the same privilege that they themselves inherited.

As American demographics increasingly marginalize this once ascendant group they are now beginning to experience the stigmatization and shaming for PRECISELY THOSE CHARACTERISTICS that have historically been considered virtues such as “whiteness,” masculinity, financial success, and their religious faith.

Early indicators suggest that this loss of dominance, this stigmatization of “virtue,” and the possibility of losing their political, economic, and cultural power terrifies them.

By way of example (rightly or wrongly), homophobia has been said to be based in a man’s fear that another man will treat HIM as HE treats women. One can easily extend that to the fear that blacks will treat him as whites have treated them, the fear that atheists will treat him as Christians have treated them, etc.

Donald Trump was not the first to identify this situation and seize the personal opportunity it presents to one who can be the voice of those once all powerful yet increasingly stigmatized people.

But he has been brilliant at judging the potential political, economic, and cultural power that these frightened people still possess in their decline as well as how to exploit it for his own personal political, economic, and cultural power.

He has also been the most irresponsible in the pursuit of this dark power in that he is willing to consider the destruction of the Republican Party, deeply wound America’s constitutional system of government, and damage systems that, for all their faults, have - since WWII - prevented a third world war and a global economic collapse.