Poor Donald, Part 1

The Roman playwright Terence wrote, "I am human, and I think nothing human is alien to me." I discovered that quote back when I was studying Latin, and it stuck with me. These days, however, I find myself wondering about the nature of humanity.

Specifically, I wonder about Donald Trump. I can't seem to reconcile my humanness with his. It's not the money or the trappings. I've rubbed shoulders with millionaires and "personalities." Ho-hum. Nor do I think he's not human, although the thought sometimes flashes across my mind.

Still, it is the money and the trappings that make the behavior difficult to understand. Then it struck me: I've been tying him to the wrong demographic.

This is not a happy man. The crossed arms are a classic defensive position, a barrier against interaction, a fence to keep the world out. The facial expression, with eyes open and mouth downturned, expresses contempt of whatever or whoever is the subject of dislike. In public appearances he is seen more often in this pose than in any other.

I have seen this defensive posture frequently, but not in people who are wealthy and/or who exercise power. Their postures are typically open and confident. This image is everything but.

These postures are clearly practiced. For Trump the crossed arms are not defensive but an aggressive posture such as that used by animals trying to make themselves look bigger to a foe. Then there are the facial gestures. Most notable is the rosette mouth that he wields aggressively. It is a gesture that he shares with other primates:

Trump likes to think he is a unique creature, but his behavior and choice of gestures reveal a universal truth: he, we, and our cousin species are inextricably linked in uncountable ways, right down to our DNA. And whether the unpresident likes it or not, "I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together¹."

OK, this has been a long digression. I started talking about human behavior and demographics and landed up somewhere else. I said that I had been considering Trump in the context of the wrong demographic. What I was leading to was this: Despite his wealth, the trappings of his office, and his attempts to appear otherwise, in the final analysis, his behavior reveals Donald Trump to be a poor man. 

Stay tuned.

--- Diogenes, 5/17/20  

¹ The Beatles, "I Am The Walrus," 1967.