Donald Trump did not invent political corruption. But he may be accelerating something more dangerous: the collapse of universal moral standards into a culture of endless special exceptions.
Derek this was phenomenal. I agree with the opener that writing pieces about how Trump is corrupt tends to feel useless and repetitive, but you managed to do it in a way that felt fresh and like I was still learning a new way to think about the world.
Fitness influencers using heaps of steroids. So-called “writers” copying and pasting AI generated slop. Obviously our politicians (and many pundits and streamers too) just being absolutely terrible people. And nobody is even trying to hide it anymore. It’s almost as if everyone is proud of it—a tragic nihilism all the way down. This is something I’ve thought about a lot since The Way of Excellence came out. Thank you for giving us a framework for it. I’m really only interested in people who do good work the right way. These are the people I want to work with and be around. Nobody is perfect or pure (that’s it’s own trap). But can we at least have a moral code and the intention to be good. The marketers and grifters and cynics are increasingly winning everything and that’s terrible for the world. Good people need to fight the good fight.
Marketers, grifters, and cynics know how to appeal to our emotional, path-of-least-resistance brain. I'm not sure how to counter that in an infinite scrolling world where our attention lasts <2 seconds. Alternate forms of social media? More in-person communal spaces? Both are necessary, but at scale is the sticking point.
None of this is new, and it's terrifying where it's heading. I'm reading Heinrich Mann's "The Loyal Subject" (1918) right now about the death of liberal thinking in pre WWI Germany, and "vicemaxxing" is a core theme of the book. Dostoyevsky's "Demons" details a similar breakdown in pre-Revolutionary Russia. Is America really so different? They thought they were too.
“800,000 investors lost more than $2 billion, making it one of the most nakedly extractive presidential self-enrichment schemes in history.” You have another?
Trump is amoral. Personality disorder. Not hard to understand. What I don't grasp is how Republican elected officials go along with this. And his appointees. Was there a Democrat Todd Blanche, or Pete Hegseth? These are not rhetorical questions.
I'm skeptical that a "decency revolution" can happen in today's climate. We've become so entrenched in our echochambers. My social media feeds are entirely comprised of liberal talking points because that's where I align. I want to see both sides, but I have to actively seek out right-leaning commentary.
Moreover, on Instagram at least, ragebaiting is very much alive and powerful. I see it now more than ever, even despite the awareness of it. Substack seems to be the best place to avoid it and get both sides. But how many voters are actually on Substack regularly?
I’ve been a Bulwark subscriber for years. Highly recommend. The “left vs right” framing is a bit dated now though. We’re well into liberal vs illiberal politics.
It's quite possible to be a young man today who consumes a lot of bro-ish podcasts, whose engagement with pro sports has turned from watching football for fun to gambling, is in debt because of online gambling and crypto, watches a lot of conspiratorial TikTok, and has barely left the house for socializing since Covid ended. In such a case, it is easy for such a person to develop a rather cynical outlook based on "lol nothing matters," but this was a self-imposed way of life. American culture changed because certain subcultures embraced technology in a way that was unhealthy.
A very large segment of society that some kindly call “low information voters” don’t know what is happening and probably never will.
Trump’s looting does not indicate a trend of societal acceptance of immorality. Prominent people that know about the behavior and don’t push back are afraid of losing access to the greatest drug in existence - power. Some others tag along for the contact-high.
Trump is perhaps the greatest salesperson of all time. He won’t be stopped as long as enough people buy his snake oil.
The most frustrating part of this personally has been speaking with people, who when I simply bring this up in a non-threatening manner, seem to look at me with shock and a look of moral disgust as though I have been identified as being part of the "Satanic cabal of Democrats." There is a certain in-group/out-group dynamic that shocks my system. It causes me to try and consider things from the other perspective, but I cannot see how much of their outlook is based in reality.
For quite a while now, I have hoped that eventually people who enabled/were complicit with this kind of behavior would be shunned and also feel a sense of personal shame. The likelihood of this happening during my lifetime seemed kind of low, which made me sad. But now I’m not sure it will *ever* happen.
I really feel for parents trying to raise children while surrounded by examples of this version of “success.”
I have hope. David Hume got it right in the 18th century - good and bad is based on how we feel about it in our bodies. It feels bad to murder. It feels bad to watch Trump’s grifting. We create laws and customs around shared feelings. Now there will be a revolt or something that restores balance, or a more legal balancing of morality and power within institutions / administrations
Fine essay, thanks. One thing to note: Trump in his discourse is frequently (always?) justifying his inexcusable actions. If he truly didn't know right from wrong he wouldn't feel compelled to do that!
Like the author, I don't know what it will take to launch a "revolution of decency." However, one component of that revolution has to be national leadership that is consistently moral rather than cynical and obfuscating. I don't for a minute believe Joe Biden belongs in the same sentence with Trump in a discussion of ethics, but he was compromised by Hunter's dilemma. I could go on, but there's no point in litigating the role played by each of our modern presidents. Suffice it to say -- their behavior matters and the nation is unlikely to strike out in a new direction when its most visible leader is muddling along on the same old path of, at best, cynical silence amid the swamp of unethical behavior.
Perhaps the break within tribes such as the Trump/Massie episode could splinter enough echo chambers that people will have to resort to returning to a semblance of shared values, rather than just tribal values.
I agree. One example of escaping Vicemaxxing was the reaction of electing Obama in 2008, appearing as a fresh, moral face against the waterboarding, lying about WMD George W. Bush Administration.
Derek this was phenomenal. I agree with the opener that writing pieces about how Trump is corrupt tends to feel useless and repetitive, but you managed to do it in a way that felt fresh and like I was still learning a new way to think about the world.
Fitness influencers using heaps of steroids. So-called “writers” copying and pasting AI generated slop. Obviously our politicians (and many pundits and streamers too) just being absolutely terrible people. And nobody is even trying to hide it anymore. It’s almost as if everyone is proud of it—a tragic nihilism all the way down. This is something I’ve thought about a lot since The Way of Excellence came out. Thank you for giving us a framework for it. I’m really only interested in people who do good work the right way. These are the people I want to work with and be around. Nobody is perfect or pure (that’s it’s own trap). But can we at least have a moral code and the intention to be good. The marketers and grifters and cynics are increasingly winning everything and that’s terrible for the world. Good people need to fight the good fight.
Marketers, grifters, and cynics know how to appeal to our emotional, path-of-least-resistance brain. I'm not sure how to counter that in an infinite scrolling world where our attention lasts <2 seconds. Alternate forms of social media? More in-person communal spaces? Both are necessary, but at scale is the sticking point.
There seems to be a correlation between the decrease in attention span and the increase of polarization.
None of this is new, and it's terrifying where it's heading. I'm reading Heinrich Mann's "The Loyal Subject" (1918) right now about the death of liberal thinking in pre WWI Germany, and "vicemaxxing" is a core theme of the book. Dostoyevsky's "Demons" details a similar breakdown in pre-Revolutionary Russia. Is America really so different? They thought they were too.
Derek, too much "both-siderism" here.
“800,000 investors lost more than $2 billion, making it one of the most nakedly extractive presidential self-enrichment schemes in history.” You have another?
Trump is amoral. Personality disorder. Not hard to understand. What I don't grasp is how Republican elected officials go along with this. And his appointees. Was there a Democrat Todd Blanche, or Pete Hegseth? These are not rhetorical questions.
I'm skeptical that a "decency revolution" can happen in today's climate. We've become so entrenched in our echochambers. My social media feeds are entirely comprised of liberal talking points because that's where I align. I want to see both sides, but I have to actively seek out right-leaning commentary.
Moreover, on Instagram at least, ragebaiting is very much alive and powerful. I see it now more than ever, even despite the awareness of it. Substack seems to be the best place to avoid it and get both sides. But how many voters are actually on Substack regularly?
I’ve been a Bulwark subscriber for years. Highly recommend. The “left vs right” framing is a bit dated now though. We’re well into liberal vs illiberal politics.
It seems as though we need our social media platforms taken away from us just as students need their phones removed in schools.
The best anecdote that I have found is to seek out the reasonable folks who try and capture the essence of both sides, such as the Tangle newsletter.
It's quite possible to be a young man today who consumes a lot of bro-ish podcasts, whose engagement with pro sports has turned from watching football for fun to gambling, is in debt because of online gambling and crypto, watches a lot of conspiratorial TikTok, and has barely left the house for socializing since Covid ended. In such a case, it is easy for such a person to develop a rather cynical outlook based on "lol nothing matters," but this was a self-imposed way of life. American culture changed because certain subcultures embraced technology in a way that was unhealthy.
A very large segment of society that some kindly call “low information voters” don’t know what is happening and probably never will.
Trump’s looting does not indicate a trend of societal acceptance of immorality. Prominent people that know about the behavior and don’t push back are afraid of losing access to the greatest drug in existence - power. Some others tag along for the contact-high.
Trump is perhaps the greatest salesperson of all time. He won’t be stopped as long as enough people buy his snake oil.
The most frustrating part of this personally has been speaking with people, who when I simply bring this up in a non-threatening manner, seem to look at me with shock and a look of moral disgust as though I have been identified as being part of the "Satanic cabal of Democrats." There is a certain in-group/out-group dynamic that shocks my system. It causes me to try and consider things from the other perspective, but I cannot see how much of their outlook is based in reality.
For quite a while now, I have hoped that eventually people who enabled/were complicit with this kind of behavior would be shunned and also feel a sense of personal shame. The likelihood of this happening during my lifetime seemed kind of low, which made me sad. But now I’m not sure it will *ever* happen.
I really feel for parents trying to raise children while surrounded by examples of this version of “success.”
This is the missing chapter to “Abundance.” Which is none of it works in an amoral society because it will always be scarcity instead.
Tell it, brother! Thanks for this.
I have hope. David Hume got it right in the 18th century - good and bad is based on how we feel about it in our bodies. It feels bad to murder. It feels bad to watch Trump’s grifting. We create laws and customs around shared feelings. Now there will be a revolt or something that restores balance, or a more legal balancing of morality and power within institutions / administrations
Fine essay, thanks. One thing to note: Trump in his discourse is frequently (always?) justifying his inexcusable actions. If he truly didn't know right from wrong he wouldn't feel compelled to do that!
Like the author, I don't know what it will take to launch a "revolution of decency." However, one component of that revolution has to be national leadership that is consistently moral rather than cynical and obfuscating. I don't for a minute believe Joe Biden belongs in the same sentence with Trump in a discussion of ethics, but he was compromised by Hunter's dilemma. I could go on, but there's no point in litigating the role played by each of our modern presidents. Suffice it to say -- their behavior matters and the nation is unlikely to strike out in a new direction when its most visible leader is muddling along on the same old path of, at best, cynical silence amid the swamp of unethical behavior.
Perhaps the break within tribes such as the Trump/Massie episode could splinter enough echo chambers that people will have to resort to returning to a semblance of shared values, rather than just tribal values.
I agree. One example of escaping Vicemaxxing was the reaction of electing Obama in 2008, appearing as a fresh, moral face against the waterboarding, lying about WMD George W. Bush Administration.