Trump as Pure Ideology

Original Article: To Believe Trump You Must Believe Contradictory Things

Me: Trump is Pure Ideology

Kenny-Evitt: What? Isn't Trump the least ideological politician?

Me:

The one liner was a reference to contradiction again. “Pure ideology!” is a Zizekian gasp of exasperation at something that is empty and meaningless, bereft of any substance but its ideological structure.

As Zizek says “pure ideology is impossible.” What does this mean? That statements of an ideology, when closely studied and interrogated, reveal themselves to be vapid and contradictory.

This is why I have no problem with an artwork being “too ideological.” If say, a film is part of patriachal ideology and denigrates women, rather than considering this a “bad influence’ on our culture, studying it reveals exactly the profound errors that ideology has about women. The famously racist and ideological movie “Birth of a Nation”, shows how white racists viewed black people as ravening monsters who cannot control themselves when it comes to white women BUT ALSO as clever, urbane politicians who manipulate us. The more ideological a work is, the more it displays the seams of that belief system. For a work to be “pure ideology” would mean it would end up being nothing but seams - ie, impossible.

So you bring up that Trump was a non-ideological candidate. Indeed that was some of his appeal - this unsophisticated man who said government should protect healthcare, and the Iraq War was bad, and we didn’t need tax cuts. Even his focus on immigration was obviously different from normal Republicans, who were catering to both a business class that wanted more labor, and hopes to convert socially conservative hispanic voters. Ted Cruz was considered “the ideologically pure” candidate of that primary. Trump was like a barbaric yawp that was a violent, chaotic reaction to the stultifying Republican ideology that was no longer functional. If anything he came across as tribalist, representing and serving one particular group of people who could identify with him.

One could have imagined non-ideological President Trump: cancelling NAFTA, passing infrastructure deals with Democrats, appointing New York cronies from both sides of the aisle, being rude but speaking blunt truth in the voice of the common man.

But just in the way that a rebel overthrowing a tyrannical ruler can themselves become a dictator, the amorphous chaos that comes from rebelling ideology, can crystalize into it’s own ideological order once it comes into its own. (Which is why we must be careful and not give away our ethical principles when we get power.)

Through the unfortunate combination of “establishment Republicans deciding to defend/enable President Trump” and “Trump needing Republicans to defend him”, he’s accelerated past even the Ted Cruz’s of the world.

See, most ideology still has some adherence to the principles it began with. Social justice ideology still tries to be about fighting racism, and helping the lowest of society. They know their principles even if they are bad at them and routinely sell them out. Similarly, an early or weak ideology still interfaces with the facts of the world, acknowledges inconvenient reality, etc.

A very powerful, endgame ideology does not do any of that. All statements and actions are solely based on “what is comfortable.” To Trump it is comfortable that the leakers are lawbreakers, and that the leakers don’t exist, so both statements are true in the world generated by his ideology.

Every single one of the Republican ideals Trump pays paeans to (because to disagree would be an uncomfortable argument) and completely ignores in his actions. He’s moved beyond having to care about those principles. He indulges himself, terrifies everyone around him, and rubber stamps whatever comes across his desk so long as the people sending it promise not to investigate him. He certainly has not passed laws to benefit the WWC tribe or appointed members from that group.

This hasn’t created a non-ideological presidency, but because Trump is a needy child, it’s created a White House that is pure ideology - trying to comfort the child 100% of the time and bending reality in all ways in order to do this. There ends up being no “there” there.