Amoral Trump
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Trump is neither evil nor mentally ill. His is a case of extreme
arrested development brought on by a complete lack of being held
accountable by his parents and servants. He is at the extreme of all the maladies
that have been listed. He is the epitome of the negation of the Scout Law: "A Scout
is Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient,
Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent." There is only one of
these twelve principles that he may epitomize. How did he not become a "normal" social person?
To answer this question, look at the stages of development as Lawrence
Kohlberg interpreted Jean Piaget's work in child development.
"Stage 0: Egocentric judgement. The child makes judgements
of good on the basis of what he likes and wants or what helps him, and
bad on the basis of what he does not like or what hurts him. He has no
concept of rules or of obligations to obey or conform independent of his
wish."
Indulgence and
pampering by parents and servants started Trump down the path of his
getting anything he wanted. It does not provide a basis for learning
rules - undermining any possibility of understanding "the rule of law".
"Stage 1: The punishment and obedience orientation. The
physical consequences of action determine its goodness or badness
regardless of the human meaning or value of these consequences.
Avoidance of punishment and unquestioning deference to power are values
in their own right, not in terms of respect for an underlying moral
order supported by punishment and authority (the latter is stage 4)."
Complete lack of accountability, discipline, and consequences is a
recipe for not learning any semblance of this stage. Never being
punished, and being completely indulged in all his demands prevents
developing this stage. Temper tantrums and coddling creates his
dictatorial demanding. It feed development of his "I can do no
wrong" (what's that?) ego and narcissism. Rudimentary bribery
without consequences for reneging introduces young trump to barter, but
there's no sense of equal value, and no consequences for breaking the
"deal". Trump himself stated that "it's ok if you can get away
with it" and "anything is okay if you can get away with it". With
that perspective, you can see that there is no equity in his concept
of a deal.
"Stage 2: The instrumental relativist orientation. Right
action consists of what instrumentally satisfies one's own needs and
occasionally the needs of others. Human relations are viewed in terms
such as those of the market place. Elements of fairness, reciprocity,
and equal sharing are present, but they are always interpreted in a
physical, pragmatic way. Reciprocity is a matter of 'you scratch my back
and I'll scratch yours', not loyalty, gratitude, or justice."
The only fairness and equality in his deals were when he could not get
away with it. You scratch his back, and, when it comes time for
him to scratch your back, he wont do it, or he is vicious. He used
threats and bullying (like in his childhood tantrums) to get unfair
"deals". And, as he got into the business world, he used gag
orders in settlements to keep his nefarious methods hidden from the
public.
"Stage 5: The social-contract legalistic orientation
(generally with utilitarian overtones). Right action tends to be defined
in terms of general individual rights and standards that have been
critically examined and agreed upon by the whole society. There is a
clear awareness of the relativism of personal values and opinions and a
corresponding emphasis upon procedural rules for reaching consensus.
Aside from what is constitutionally and democratically agreed upon,
right action is a matter of personal values and opinions. The result is
an emphasis upon the "legal point of view", but with an additional
emphasis upon the possibility of changing the law in terms of rational
considerations of social utility (rather than freezing it in terms of
stage 4 "law and order"). Outside the legal realm, free agreement, and
contract, is the binding element of obligation. The "official" morality
of the American government and Constitution is at this stage."
There is no possibility that Donald Trump is ever going to be capable of
understanding the United States Constitution. Likewise he can not
understand stage 3, as it requires social reciprocity and personal
loyalty, or stage 4 - commitment to law and order - rules.
Stages of Moral Development, Lawrence Kohlberg (1971)
Ralph E Kenyon Jr.
191 White Oaks Road
Williamstown, MA 01267