I dislike Donald Trump

 I hate that this is my first post in a long while, but if you wait for the perfect post you may very well wait forever.

I really dislike Donald Trump. I hesitate to use the word hate, partly on general habit, but partly because hate is an intimate personal feeling, ultimately, my dislike is pointed at a political persona, and it is a persona that is neither unique geographically nor historically. So hate seems inappropriate. However, I strongly dislike Donald Trump's hyper-nationalist anti-instutionalist populist persona fiercely.

I am myself a passionate nationalist, I believe in America and I have a passionate love for my country. I do not mind hyper-nationalism by itself, I find it excessive but I can sympathize with the feelings behind it. But I dislike how Donald Trump focuses the nationalism of himself and his followers on an exclusionary vision of America, one that must hide itself from the tired, poor, huddled masses yearning to breathe free, lest the troubles overseas infect us. I like to subscribe to a vision of America that welcomes the oppressed and takes the demons chasing them as challenges to be conquered rather to be appeased.

But that is a matter of ideals. In concrete terms, no one wants no immigration, very few are willing to realistically grapple with the challenges of open borders, everyone can admit that some people need asylum and that there are some people who will fake asylum and there are wide swaths of gray areas. Most disagreements in immigration come down to differences in degrees of policies, while adding and removing special cases from a system riddled with special cases. I dislike that Trump throws away the nuance of this in his rhetoric (although he is hardly unique in this, the degree and frequency to which he disregards nuance are exceptional, and degree and frequency matter), and is unwilling to wrestle with the full complexity of the situation in his policies.

I dislike Trump's disregard for the long term, his policies focused on short term goals while never asking how will these policies be followed by the other party when the other party inevitably comes to power in the future, because this is not the end of history. It irritates me in profound ways how Trump acts like this is the end of history, that the fixes in corruption and deep economic issues are something that can be fixed in four years without caring what the dismantling of walls between politics and the administration of government do to the long term. Again, Trump is not unique in this, but he does this more frequently and to a larger degree, and frequency and degree matter.

I dislike the emptiness of the winner takes all philosophy he pursues, when that does not look at the costs to the institutions of democracy, which while not perfect in this country, are priceless.

I could go on, but this is probably longer than most people like to read already. Donald Trump is not the devil, not every single thing he does is wrong or every single policy incorrect. In many ways, Donald Trump is the outgrowth of bad tendencies among politicians that have been growing for a long time here and overseas, however, his degree and frequency of those tendencies are exceptional and that matters.

History is long. Despite my nationalism I am not naive, one day the United States of America will become a fading memory. But just as I cherish the lives of my loved ones despite their inevitable return to the dust, I am concerned with the fate of America. Donald Trump did not ruin America in his first term and will not destroy America in his second, however, he may do lasting damage to the institutions and ideals of America that may set the stage for further damages down the line. I think he is bad for America, and that concerns me.

I could be wrong, and I really dislike how Trump rarely seems to consider the possibility, but I admit I cannot see into his head, nor can I predict the future. But I have my feelings and have stated them, and I will hope for the best, knowing the future will inevitably be different and stranger than I can imagine. In the end, all I can say is God bless America and I hope, whether I am right or wrong, America makes the right choice.