"Hates the Weak!"

Rick Perlstein has a great article on Trump. Brilliant. Explains a lot. Here's the last line: 

"... they love him because he - like them - hates the weak."

I began thinking this is the crux of not only Trumpism, and our current Political culture, but also a fundamental pillar to many of our societal problems, and well, hell, it may even be the key to much of the History of Mankind. The whole shebang!

Why is it that human beings revere the "strong-man" and hate the weak? It seems to be so. I mean, if you know your history you see a long, unrelenting string of the strutting strong ones followed by the teeming hordes.

Think of all the strong leaders, the Big Men, the Big Daddies, the Kings, the Dictators, the Rulers, the Presidents, etc.

Remember, people cried, when Stalin died. So yes, maybe it's because we are essentially hierarchical creatures.

So when we see a Big Strong White Cop shooting down a Young Black Kid, many of us actually identify with the Cop! We see ourselves as the powerful one in the equation. 

On the other hand, why is it, how is it, that some of us always see ourselves in the weak ones? How is it that some of us do not revere the strongman?

I wonder if it's in our DNA? Some of us want to bow to the power, and want to be powerful themselves, others want to rebel against the power, and identify with the "have nots," the weak, the downtrodden.

Think of the "weak ones," those who suffered, and stood up for the sufferers: Jesus, Gandhi, MLK, Mandela, Dali Lama. They all represent our "better angels."

So anyway, this is deeper than the race issue, deeper than economics, deeper than politics. You can look at all our human turmoil and ask, who is strong, who is weak? And which side do you want to be on?

Whenever I see the strong vs. the weak, I always, always side with the weak one. I don't know why. Maybe it was being raised "catholic," maybe I just see myself in, and have empathy with, the underdog. Maybe it's as simple as: "There but for the grace of God go I." Not exactly sure why, but when I see the power squashing the little ones, I immediately, viscerally, totally identify with the little one. Every time.

I guess just put me in with Tom Joad: 

Wherever you can look – wherever there’s a fight, so hungry people can eat, I’ll be there. Wherever there’s a cop beatin’ up a guy, I’ll be there. I’ll be in the way guys yell when they’re mad. I’ll be in the way kids laugh when they’re hungry and they know supper’s ready, and when the people are eatin’ the stuff they raise and livin’ in the houses they build – I’ll be there, too.