IS EMBRACING THE IDEA THAT PRESIDENT TRUMP IS EVIL CRITICAL TO MOVING FORWARD?

I've been thinking of Trump as the racist version of a "sociopath" for decades now, long before he ran for president. And he's stupid too. To me this article says tons more about white America than it does about Trump himself. 

But, you be the judge.

feeling rebloggy

An except from an interview with Philosopher Susan Neiman 
by Chauncy DeVega at Salon

Why do you think there has been such reluctance among most American journalists and pundits to explore the question of Trump and evil?

"Evil" is one of the most powerful words in the English language and should be used sparingly, since it’s easy to abuse. For example, George W. Bush certainly did a lot of damage with it, along with his use of the term "moral clarity" to describe actions that were neither moral nor clear. Unfortunately, because it can be so easily abused, many progressives tend to avoid the concept altogether. This is a terrible mistake, because it leaves the most powerful concepts we have in the hands of those who are least equipped to use them thoughtfully. Instead of avoiding strong moral language, it’s imperative to use it reflectively and well.

I don’t think definitions of evil are of much use, but I think it is possible to do careful analyses of people’s words and actions to decide when words like "evil" are appropriate. That’s a general answer to why people are reluctant to use it. It’s also possible that there’s an element of fear at the moment; it really is hard, and frightening, to face the fact that the president of our country is evil, so perhaps pundits, even good ones, are reluctant to acknowledge how awful the state of affairs really is.

How do questions of evil intersect with American exceptionalism? [ This is mostly a white tribe concept. Descendants of enslaved and genocide-ed don't go for this too much]

The main problem with American exceptionalism, I think, is that we confuse the idea of America with the realization of it. America was founded on exceptional ideals; most other countries developed because some collection of tribes found themselves in one place and worked out some political structures for better and worse. It was exceptional to found a country on a set of ideals, and people all over the world saw hope in that uniqueness. Now, I trust most people are aware, in the meantime, that the genocide of Native Americans -- which, by the way, was a conscious model for Nazi policy in Eastern Europe -- and the centrality of slavery to the American economy both provided a terrible contradiction to those ideals from the time the nation was founded.

Ultimately, most Americans are woefully ignorant about fascism; they know very little about how it began and developed. Those who said “It can’t happen here” rely on a cartoon version of fascism in which "Nazi" means little more than "bogeyman" or "monster."

Since Trump's election, I have been thinking a great deal about the banality of evil and Primo Levi's observations about the utter normality of the death camp guards and how they were not "monsters" per se but rather examples of how evil is done by "normal people." I have suggested in my essays and other work that Trump's voters wanted to hurt those Americans they see as the Other. Consequently, they are complicit with his deeds and the harm he is causing to people. Am I being unfair?

Levi, Arendt and others were absolutely right. It is fair to say that some of the architects of fascism had straightforwardly evil intentions. But they would never have been able to realize them without millions of ordinary people, many of whom were quite decent in other ways, who went along for one reason or another and thus enabled fascism to take hold. At this historical moment it is crucial to remember that Hitler was democratically elected and then went on to destroy German democratic institutions. It was banal. I do not think your historical allusion is the least bit unfair. We are in dire straits, and those who do not realize it are indeed complicit.

If we agree that Trump is evil, then what are the obligations of citizens in this moment, specifically, and civil society more generally?

First and most importantly, to keep insisting that Trump's behavior in the White House is not normal. America is in a state of emergency. Resistance is crucial. The good news is that citizens’ resistance stopped the Muslim ban and the repeal of Obamacare. We need to remember that the opposition has, so far, prevented Donald Trump from doing as much damage as he wants, and we need to intensify it.
Nonviolent resistance to fascism could even have worked in Germany if more people had dared it earlier -- there was some -- and it is certainly needed in America now....

READ MORE:
http://www.salon.com/2017/09/19/philosopher-susan-neiman-the-president-of-our-country-is-evil/

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