“Great men, even during their lifetime, are usually known to the public only through a fictitious personality.”
-Walter Lippmann
For many people, President Donald Trump presents an enigma.
Our brains seek to put labels on other humans. The labels we have readily available to us can come from nature (black, male, old, fertile, weak, etc.) and from nurture (liberal, Republican, foreign, racist, wealthy, ignorant, lazy, dangerous, etc.). This labeling, categorizing, or naming, is part of the normal mental process of stereotyping, and is a valuable survival skill and evolutionary advantage, despite what you may have been taught.
It is my sincere desire to provide readers of this site with the best unbiased information available, and a forum where it can be discussed openly, as our Founders intended. But it is not easy nor inexpensive to do so, especially when those who wish to prevent us from making the truth known, attack us without mercy on all fronts on a daily basis. So each time you visit the site, I would ask that you consider the value that you receive and have received from The Burning Platform and the community of which you are a vital part. I can't do it all alone, and I need your help and support to keep it alive. Please consider contributing an amount commensurate to the value that you receive from this site and community, or even by becoming a sustaining supporter through periodic contributions. [Burning Platform LLC - PO Box 1520 Kulpsville, PA 19443] or Paypal
-----------------------------------------------------
To donate via Stripe, click here.
-----------------------------------------------------
Use promo code ILMF2, and save up to 66% on all MyPillow purchases. (The Burning Platform benefits when you use this promo code.)
For some cognitive psychologists, stereotyping describes a value-neutral psychological mechanism that creates categories and enables people to manage the swirl of data presented to them from their environment. This categorizing function was recognized in 1922 by Walter Lippmann, who first coined the term “stereotyping.” For him, this was a necessary, useful, and efficient process, since “the attempt to see all things freshly and in detail, rather than as types and generalities, is exhausting, and among busy affairs practically out of the question.”
https://www.asu.edu/courses/lia294a/total-readings/RamirezBerg–Categori…
When we do not have enough information to stereotype others, it can make us quite uncomfortable. Is this person a threat to me? A potential mate or friend? Trustworthy? So, our senses gather information to help our brains analyze the data to fill in the blank label. We also work very hard at trying to fill in these blanks for other people, and even harder at changing them, especially the media, but that is a future topic.
Yesterday, I read an article on ZeroHedge describing how one of the world’s most successful investors allegedly used a financial ratio to analyze the data and then label Trump.
On one hand, there was RenTec’s chain-smoking billionaire founder (in 2015 alone he made $1.7 billion) Jim Simons, who had donated some $10 million to Hillary Clinton’s campaign, second only to Saban Capital. In a June 2016 interview with CNBC, Jim Simons said that “if you compare the presidential candidates using the Sharpe ratio, presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump is ‘not a good investment.'”
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-02-23/mutiny-breaks-out-inside-worlds…
This caused me to remember that I, too, had labeled Trump just a few days earlier.
hedgeless_horseman Feb 16, 2017 2:33 PM
“I do know one thing. Donald Trump is not a libertarian.”
I asked myself, is that really true? How did I come to that conclusion? What is a libertarian? This article is merely one attempt to answer those questions.
I like to tell people that libertarian is the political label for someone that simply wants two things: 1) maximum freedom, and 2) minimum government, and who prioritizes those two over the other political values he or she may hold. Years ago, I posted a much longer answer here on ZeroHedge in the form of the Libertarian Party Platform. Unfortunately, the comments appear to have been lost in one of the many DNS/hacking battles fought by Sacrilege in defense of this good and valuable web site. At the time of that post, I had learned of the The World’s Smallest Political Quiz, and had posted the link in the comments, along with my score, and an invitation for readers to take the test.
Today, I invite you, dear reader, to join me in taking the test on behalf of President Trump, in the hope of determining if he is, or is not, a libertarian. I provide links, below, to a small number of pertinent items that I feel support my answers.
The World’s Smallest Political Quiz
Government should not censor speech, press, media, or internet.
Based on Trump’s comments about Snowden and Manning, I am going with DISAGREE.
https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/457314934473633792?lang=en
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-01-26/trump-slams-ungrateful-traitor-…
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-02-24/white-house-bans-cnn-nyt-partic…
Military service should be voluntary. There should be no draft.
Based on Trump’s five draft deferments, one medical, I am chosing MAYBE.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/02/us/politics/donald-trump-draft-record…
There should be no laws regarding sex for consenting adults.
Considering Trump’s actual statements and actions, I am picking AGREE for our POTUS.
Repeal laws prohibiting adult possession and use of drugs.
This seems to be a clear DISAGREE.
http://hightimes.com/news/president-trump-pledges-to-escalate-war-on-dru…
There should be no National ID card.
This also seems to be a clear DISAGREE.
https://www.rt.com/usa/373890-mlks-son-trump-discuss-id/
End “corporate welfare.” No government handouts to business.
This also seems to be a clear DISAGREE.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-12-03/sarah-palin-slams-trump-carrier…
End government barriers to international free trade.
This also seems to be a clear DISAGREE.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-11-21/trump-says-he-will-issue-execut…
Let people control their own retirement; privatize Social Security.
I am selecting DISAGREE for Trump, based on his campaign statements.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/mar/10/trump-pledges-leave-soci…
Replace government welfare with private charity.
It appears Trump would AGREE.
https://twitter.com/CNN/status/835156280029372416
Cut taxes and government spending by 50% or more.
Any actual tax cuts will likley not come close to 50%, and Trump says he is going to spend bigly, so I clicked DISAGREE for the President.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-02-23/trumps-aggressive-tax-timeline-…
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/01/20/taking-oath-trump-pledges-…
Here is the result of my test. Donald Trump is a Big Government Statist.
Statists want government to have a great deal of power over the economy and individual behavior. They frequently doubt whether economic liberty and individual freedom are practical options in today’s world. Statists tend to distrust the free market, support high taxes and centralized planning of the economy, oppose diverse lifestyles, and question the importance of civil liberties.
Apparently, I had already done a similar analysis in my mind, because according to this test, Donald Trump is the polar opposite of a libertarian. This label fits with the personal interactions I have had with Donald Trump, years ago, at his then private home in Florida and on vacation in Aspen.
It should be interesting to learn, below, how your answers on behalf of Trump are different from mine, and why.
I am looking forward to seeing many of you at the First ZeroHedge Symposium and Live Fight Club in Marfa this June…
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-02-12/why-zh-fight-club-matters-scarc…
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-01-10/time-has-come-first-zerohedge-s…
Peace and prosperity,
h_h
I see Trump as more of a nationalist, even a patriot, as opposed to being a statist. Because it seems to me he wants less fed gov intervention in domestic policies. He has inherited a fiscal mess. It will take some unwinding to fix it. And as we’ve seen in the deep state push back in his attempt to stop those who would come here to do harm to our society, there are many fronts to this fight.
But, when it comes to the international stage I agree with you at least in part. He policies toward terrorism and the military application for dealing with it presumes an interventionist mindset. But, except for defending ourselves against attack from those terrorists, I believe there should be no intervention on our part in the affairs of other countries.
The libertarian view on open borders is foolhardy and will be the ruin of any nation state. A nation is a nation partly because of laws that control immigration.
Trade with many, alliances with none.
Blessings:-}
He can be a nationalist and even a patriot and still be a statist. He obviously believes that government should be in charge of a lot more than is healthy. I think he’s pretty talented in the area of telling people what he thinks they want to hear to close a deal, and he’s probably a master at adjusting the terms of a deal once it’s been made.
I think that could be a pretty accurate assessment of him too. I think statist is too strong though. With the mess he has inherited it must be taken apart little by little. Even Ron Paul agreed with that. And I would never think of Ron Paul as a statist.
Blessings:-}
Keeping to the definition of the term (as I understand it) he qualifies as a statist in that he sees government as a useful tool for achieving goals. While not using the word as a pejorative but only as a descriptor, my observation seems reasonable to me.
The trouble with using government to try to correct the problems created by government is that all the solutions turn out to be government solutions, and government solutions are necessarily just patches. Patching over problems is a poor method that increases complexity.
Look at Microsoft’s Windows 10 O/S. It’s a huge, bloated system that consists of patch upon patch upon patch, resulting in a system that uses far too much of a computer’s processing resources just to access those resources for any task.
I don’t bother to categorize Ron Paul past observing that he’s a retired career politician who insisted on using the corrupt GOP organization in an attempt to help the host that the GOP and DNC is killing with their parasitism.
How do these problems get solved except by the gov’t? The problem is not that it is gov’t attempting to fix something. It is that the gov’t is addressing problems they have no business addressing.
And since when is the term “career politician” not a pejorative? We’re miles apart on that one. If there was an alternative to the two party system for Ron to have worked through, I’d like to know what it was. He used the best possible means available for returning us to a constitutional gov’t. That’s why he was known to all of them as Dr. No. But, like Trump, he had to fight against an establishment(deep state) that has woven itself throughout the entire fabric of gov’t. Which is why I believe he needs to expose pizza gate and pedogate. Those involved would all be brought down, which includes most of the America hating gov’t officials, and the necessary changes to gov’t could then be implemented. But, I’m not holding my breath.
That’s why my trust is in Jesus for the final solution to this world’s problems.
Blessings:-}
I don’t know what you are seeing, but it’s not what he is doing or what he believes.
Thanks for that Ed,
There are some who would gladly take a little poison with their water.
Just how much, seems to be the only question.
Definitely a nationalist, and not a Libertarian.
I don’t agree that Donald is a statist. I think he is a conservative.
Conservatives are statists, by definition.
WRONG! You are not thinking straight!
Really? Show me where I’m wrong.
Absurd. He is not “big government statist”, except, perhaps in the eyes of those fools who imagine that any government is evil. He is a New York real estate developer, a father, a husband, a guy who likes women a lot, a shrewd and extremely intelligent man, somebody who does not suffer fools gladly, a person who fights back if he is attacked, somebody who loves the America he grew up in (like I do) and is disgusted by what it has become, a man who is cynical about the clowns and frauds who run our country without becoming a cynic himself. Anybody who tries to put Donald Trump into some ideological pigeon hole is wasting his time. Trump, like most ordinary Americans, despises political theory. He is a practical man and believes in practical solutions. That is why the pantywaist, bow-tied “conservatives” hate him and why the Left fears him.
Right, and he is self-assured and does not like to back down.
That’s not necessarily a virtue. Being self assured can keep a man from looking for where he might be wrong.
I don’t agree with any of it. Mr. Trump, whom I voted for with the hopes that his broad experience in business and decision making, delegation of responsibility and willingness to be the man where the “buck stops” would lead to a drained swamp, a strengthened military and an enlightened foreign policy that would allow countries the world over the opportunity of using the USA as an example on how to behave as a civil, non-faied country.
What we got instead is neither fish nor foul; a man with such a gigantic ego that it makes it impossible for him to recognize much less act on and correct his shortcomings; his lack of experience in many large and important areas and the total inability to get along with anyone within his own party or without.
His most valuable contribution to the governing of the USA to date has been to thrash around with a splintered paddle in a terribly inefficient soup of incompetence among the various agencies and departments that (supposedly) aid in the management of this Country.
I give him another month to get his act together before he totally looses any respect by anyone in his so called “abilities” and the Deep State marks him for a deep six.
If he manages to do anything positive by flinging shit in all directions I will be greatly surprised and if we don’t get into a shooting war before the 2nd year of his “administration” I’ll be eternally grateful and continue to look over my shoulder for the missile to launch.
As Tiny Tim once said in a completely different context, “May God bless us every one!
muck
False news here too!
Muck, I hate to say “I told you so”, but….
Actor.
Southern Sage, that is about as accurate of a description of what Trump appears to be as I have read anywhere. Kudos, and I mean that. Hedgeless is not a serious person. So Trump isn’t libertatian. So what? Libertarians had their moment in the spotlight, and now their guy is hawking freeze dried food on late night radio. Get over it. It ain’t happening, and it ain’t gonna happen. Libertarian Inc. sold out. Cheaply, I might add. Just another group of morally compromised free trade open border shills. No thanks. Be smarter than that. Recognize the moment. We have a really good, capable guy in the big seat. And he is surrounding himself with capable people. They look like they are going to get lots done. Let it play out. Most of us should end up pretty happy. There is no other good alternative, not even close. Not a time to whine
“And he is surrounding himself with capable people”
That’s funny as shit, star. Pence isn’t capable of anything more than trying to be a subtle neocon, and he can’t even pull that off with his limited intelligence. Jeff Sessions and Nicky Haley are about as capable as Lynch and Powers. Trump hasn’t been allowed to surround himself with the people he needs, or maybe he has a different agenda from the one he claims.
It’s going to play out, and there was no good alternative, you’re right. I like Trump, but there’s no way for me to ignore his faults.
If he was even a little bit libertarian he wouldn’t be saber-rattling over Recreational Cannabis. Talk about a growth industry (pun intended) and literally tens of thousands of JOBS!
What I had expected from him was descheduling Pot altogether. The only reason it got on the schedule is political.
Westy, I think they’re going to come down on weed hard. It has nothing to do with my personal beliefs. I’ll explain it another time, I think it makes big picture sense, but I ‘m going to get crucified when I lay it out, so today isn’t the day.
With Sessions as AG, the WOD is going to escalate. He’s already said so. How it makes any “big picture sense” is a big mystery. Good luck trying to lay that one out.
In my opinion, putting a political label on Trump is a very difficult thing to do because he has no political experience. His takes on the issues he addresses are simply his lense onto the world that he probably held before his run for president. How much can someone of his experience in his new position really investigate issues in his busy days. Take for example the Israeli and Palestinian conflict. People have written books on this covering both sides. I hope he at least went to Wiki and brushed up on it a bit before he made what seemed to be a flippant decision. I wonder if he understands what the financialization of the economy has done to the country over the past forty to fifty years. If he did, then he would understand why there is such a huge wealth distribution problem and that helping the banksters never resolves that distribution problem, only makes it worse. But his decision to reduce regulation on them says he doesn’t care, those are his buddies probably. I seriously doubt they think of him as their buddies. I believe it is the number one reason we are in the “Forth Turning” that everyone talks about. I agree with what he is doing with the illegal aliens and the increased vetting of legal immigrants, just not the way he has implemented them. For his sake, no matter how he did it the media would be all over his ass. I totally disagree with his decision to crack down on the states that have passed recreational marijuana. His press secretary mentions that it leads to the prescription opiates and heavy illegal drugs. Wow! I wonder if he sits down with a balanced team of specialists/intellectuals regarding the issues and then makes an informed decision. I don’t think he does, he just shoots from the hip. I believe his takes on the issues make it hard to draw anything but a non-linear line between the issues that define what label to put on a politician. This is also a guarantee that he will not be re-elected, because he is alienating a lot of his supporters from the previous election (including me), and not gaining any of the voters that voted against him in the previous election. For the time being I’m taking that to be good news until we see what our next set of candidates are.
BC, I think he will surprise you with how much he understands, and understands perfectly. Don’t get bogged down in silly issues like marijuana. He is looking to fix big things. Give him some time. Take your focus off the petty. Obama could have had his face on the twenty dollar bill just by ending the wars and breaking up the banks. He punted, too naive or too cowardly or both. That’s not who Trump is. He and his team are focused on some corrections that can only be made by a powerful and merciless federal government, and then maybe when some of those cartels are broken we can get back to the intermural squabble of party politics. He’s not there to fullfill anybodies smallball wishlist, like the silencer kooks. Give him time. This will be quite different by the end of the year.