I’ve been in e-mail communication recently with a young man I know and admire, whom I knew voted for Donald Trump. I asked him to please help me understand his reasons for this choice, and he did so honestly and respectfully. I learned things.
As a businessman, he cited the fact that business was better during Trump’s first term, and he believed it would be good again if Trump were to return to the White House. Inflation now was exorbitant, he said, the cost of feeding, to say nothing of clothing and housing, his young and growing family was “insane.” Trump promised to fix these issues, to bring sanity back to the cost of living in America.
When I pointed out that Trump is a proven con man and he’s conning the American people with his promises, my young friend admitted Trump is sometimes “brash,” but he won’t be there long, he said; JD will take over soon enough and he’ll likely be President for eight years. “JD’s background is so impressive,” my young friend said.
It occurred to me, toward the end of our civil and illuminating back-and-forth, in which we both calmly shared our perspectives on various points, that he and I were talking about apples and oranges. His “apples” primarily had to do with money and economics, and my “oranges,” with morals and ethics. The difference, in a way, between body and soul.
When I lived in Mali, West Africa, for three years (1998-2001), I played a handful of cassette tapes until I wore them out. Among them were Tracy Chapman albums. Her music was like a bridge for me: She sang in English (Mali is a Francophone country), which meant I could understand all of her words. But her voice, its depth and timbre, seemed to me to be purely African – so filled with soul. My Malian friend Youssef often remarked that he thought her ancestors must have come from Mali: He could hear it in her voice.
Of all her songs that I played repeatedly and sang along with because I’d learned every word, my favorite, in her Crossroads album, was “All That You Have Is Your Soul.” The refrain is worth committing to memory:
Don’t be tempted by the shiny apple
Don’t you eat of a bitter fruit
Hunger only for a taste of justice
Hunger only for a world of truth
Cause all that you have is your soul.
(Stock photo from Pixabay)
Donald Trump has just successfully sold bushel baskets of shiny apples to his believers. Now what? I wonder. Will some — or all — of Trump’s shiny apples turn out to be rotten at the core? Will Trump and his billionaire buddies become the sole beneficiaries of his efforts to revamp the U.S. government to “Make America Great Again”? Will Trump-pal-and-techno-mogul Elon Musk manage to remake our world in his image – replacing, say, most workers with far more economical and efficient employees who are exponentially more intelligent than any human being and who never need to sleep or take vacations or coffee breaks? Never, that is, need to restore their souls because they don’t have souls?
Time will tell.
In a recent opinion piece for The Hill, headed “The Trump Majority May Soon Feel Buyers’ Remorse,” Republican Alton Frye states:
“The election was clearly one in which voters’ perceived interests outweighed their professed values. Surely, not all of those supporting Donald Trump were applauding his character and the amoral values he represents. Given the complex factors that shape voting behavior, it is reasonable to conclude that the Trump majority was seeking an escape from the pain and disappointment and fears prompted by recent economic turmoil.”
Frye adds, “Close analysis of the promised Trump program suggests that his voters may soon have second thoughts. Any new administration’s plans are subject to change, but if the next president is supported by the Republican-controlled Congress in executing the proposals set forth in the campaign, the hoped-for escape will lead to greater distress on several fronts….” (https://us.yahoo.com/news/opinion-trump-majority-may-soon-193000898.html ).
According to American political scientist and author Norman Finkelstein, there are essentially two sets of values — material values and spiritual values – and they conflict. The material values are power and privilege, fame and fortune, he says; the spiritual values are truth and justice. Finkelstein contends that 99 percent of people [especially in the USA, I’d say] strive for the material values of fame and fortune, while only 1 percent strive for truth and justice.
Clearly, matters of the soul get short shrift in this perennial conflict.
Most religious and philosophical traditions support the view that the soul is an ethereal substance, a spirit, a nonmaterial spark – particular to a unique living being. Aristotle reasoned that a man’s body and soul were his matter and form, respectively – the body is a collection of elements and the soul is the essence. Many believe that our souls live on after our physical death.
So in this sense, Tracy is prophetic. All we really have forever is our soul. And we negate it at our peril.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
- Please take five minutes to listen to Tracy sing it: Tracy Chapman – All that you have is your soul .
- To obtain a free PDF copy of my new book, THE OTHER SIDE, please visit my website: https://www.bonnieleeblack.com/ .
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Because it is a question of values vs. materials, I find i can’t even tolerate those trump voters you so respectably engaged. I’m hoping they reap their karmic rewards while I’m still around to enjoy the schadenfreude.
Yes, well, vamos a ver, Ron.
Sadly, BB, “truth and justice” are as antiquated as an episode of Superman” where I first heard those words as little boy at the beginning of every episode. This administration is the antithesis of those words. And those who voted to elect them into office will hardly be seeing any fame or fortune any time soon.
Yes, I agree, dear Michael. As much as we (Democrats) were shocked by the outcome of this election, I fear that many more Republicans will be shocked when they see how bad things will get under Trump 2.0. 🙁
Thank you for that column, Bonnie. I appreciated reading your remarks. Wishing you all the best, and hoping for the survival of Democracy, Marge
So good to hear from you, dear Marge. You have been in my thoughts. Yes, the coming four years (plus?) will certainly test the strength of U.S. Democracy. Time will tell! In the meantime, take good care… — BB xx
Oh my goodness, Bonnie. Your essay and Tracey Chapman’s music are so moving and thought provoking. Important for my little grandchildren to hear this music. I love TC but had never heard this song – thank you so much ❤️
You’re welcome, dear Jan! I hope everyone who sees this post will listen to Tracy’s haunting song. I hope you and family are well. — BB
Thank you for writing my own thoughts and giving this
auditory salve on my mental wounds.
You’re so welcome, Marie. I’m glad TC’s voice is soothing you too.
Native American poem says it simply. To live your life so that at your end of days you can meet the Great Spirit without shame in your eyes. But I guess you have to believe that we are eternal souls having a sojourn on Earth. That might be the divide.
Yes, Toni dear, if only everyone lived with that ultimate face-to-face meeting in mind! Thank you for sharing this Native American wisdom.
Thank you Bonnie. Most Americans are very ethical and moral. But the US was born and bred on a foundation of racism and greed for other people’s resources. These themes are woven into the fabric of our governance. Trump is the logical if extreme expression of the ethics and morals of our government for hundreds of years. We can only hope our children survive this nightmare.
Thank YOU, dear Kim, for your insights. Yes, I so agree. We can only hope…
Dearest BB, I write from Havana, where my Cuban family and friends received the U.S. election results as the latest, and perhaps worst, cataclysm of an already bad year – economic dysfunction, 2 hurricanes, 1 earthquake, and the collapse of the electric power grid. And now the prospect of Marco Rubio as Secretary of State, who is sure to double down on punitive measures against these poor people.
It is depressing that, as you point out, 99%+ of Americans place material values above all else – even those who claim to be so religious. So many people in the world are materially deprived in ways that selfish Americans could not begin to comprehend, yet they manage to persevere on the strength of ethical values.
Thank you for this report from Havana, dear Monty. Yes, that’s what I observed during my years of living on the ground in Africa: how the people “manage to persevere on the strength of ethical values.” So well said.
A brilliant essay, Bonnie. I for one am wishing that he decree (thanks to the Supreme court, he now can) that all his dangerous, incompetent cabinet nominees be put in place ASAP. The country has become addicted to Trump and his WWE gladiator carnival. Like all addicts they must hit their bottom in order to have a wake up call. Let eggs and bread go to 10 dollars due to greed and price gouging, let affordable healthcare be eliminated, let everything they buy at Walmart, the king of Chinese goods, go up 40% and let their kids become gravely ill during the inevitable pandemic of measles, mumps and polio. Let the service industry and manufacturing close their doors when jobs cannot be filled and cars and their maintenance be unaffordable except for the very rich. Then maybe, they will be desperate enough to help vote these deplorable republicans our of congress and put the breaks on the madness before democracy is beyond saving.
I believe that the cause this bleak time in our history sits totally on the head of Mitch McConnell who did not have the spine to instruct his herd to convict this bastard. I do hope the results of this election gave Mitch pause. A false hope I fear, as only people with a soul have the ability to reflect on their actions.
Wow, Barbara, I admire your passion! I’m afraid I’ve become too exhausted by all of this to work up the energy for that kind of passion. Brava to you! Maybe mine will return — if I keep taking long naps…
Barbara, your words so accurately express my feelings. I am so relieved to read your post and know I am not alone in my disbelief that so many people voted for this horrible person, believing his lies, accepting his immorality, believing all of the conspiracies cooked up by Musk and others as truth, just so their investment returns will be fed! My only solace is that I live in Mexico now where the hate and divisions he will span that divide friends and family will not hurt me as much as they would should I be living in the U.S.
I agree, Betty. That’s my only solace too.
Well said indeed, dear Bonnie! I admit I was one of those who believed we’d hit bottom after the 2016 election. Last Tuesday was a harsh wakeup call that we were mistaken. Clearly, we must go even lower before we can start to ascend.
I sincerely hope your young friend will not have to suffer too much disillusionment … but I fear this will be a difficult time for him and his family, and for fellow-believers.
Thank you, dear Ana, for sharing your thoughts, your hopes and your fears. It’s hard to see a bright side in all of this. But we must keep hoping…