This essay is not about Donald Trump but the environment we have created that makes Donald Trump possible. Donald Trump is the byproduct of American culture as much as politics. As it says in the Good Book: “Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind” and it is debatable as to whether we are still sowing or reaping.  So how did we create the fertile soil on which grows this cult of personality and tyranny in the making?

• First, the current ruling establishment failed to build trust with their colleagues in order to get work done. All of us work with people we may not agree with or even like, but we develop a rapport and a trust so that the task at hand gets accomplished. The best analogy to this is war and soldiery. Be they Christian, Jew, Wiccan, atheist, gay or straight, soldiers learn to create trust when everyone’s life depends on it. If politicians realized that our country is in peril as if we were being shot at, this trust might be easier to cultivate. Instead they find time to vilify each other to the electorate and the media — a big no-no when building trust. Hence, no one trusts anyone and if we have to pick someone we can’t trust we’ll pick a man who’ll get things done. Enter Trump.
• At a minimum, those that govern could solve the problems that affect everyone universally: the complexity of the tax code, the huge national debt, the ruinous entitlement programs that are cliff bound or just simply passing a budget each year. Alas, year after year they fail to do anything and no one is called to the carpet and no one is fired—or “foyered” as Trump would say. The issue is deflected by blaming the other side and we believe them when it corresponds to our ideology and don’t believe them when it doesn’t. So we let them get away with not building trust with each other as long as they appear to build trust with their likeminded constituents. Trump, portrayed as an ass-kicker and man of action starts to look real appealing.
• Our culture has become one of shock value and spectacle. Reality shows, TMZ, Jerry Springer, Bruce Jenner, the Kardashians, Miley Cyrus, self-absorbed celebrities, sound bites, ubiquitous and viral video, the Bachelor, the Bachelorette, MTV and the misfortune of others for our amusement. Those of us old enough a time when taste and good culture might have been expected know better but we failed to pass that on to the next generation. Trump is the logical candidate when politicians routinely appear on SNL, late night talk shows and Comedy Channel dailies. Our next guest—please welcome—Donald Trump.
• The news media is supposed to inform and weigh with equal criticality the actions of our leaders. This is the freedom of the press. Instead, the media has become the vector of spectacle that has become the fabric of national discourse. They steer the news and opinion with constant inculcation of agenda and fact shaping. No one believes a word they say or print: Foxnews, MSNBC, Brian Williams—lying bastards all! Once upon a time, anything less than accurate and unbiased reporting of events was the death of a news outlet. These days we don’t get news but political entertainment that dramatically decreases the level of trust we need to move forward. When substance doesn’t matter, give us Donald Trump.
• We do not value humility and welcome hubris and ego as the gold standard in character. Just watch any cooking show. Chefs, athletes, rock stars, celebrities and the super human self-confident egos are given center stage. I find it difficult to believe Mother Theresa’s, Albert Schweitzer’s and Nelson Mandela’s are so scarce in our world that Al Gore and Barack Obama should win the Nobel Peace Prizes instead. And we wonder about Donald Trump? He’s just the overt manifestation of our value system. Face it, we worship celebrities, winners and rich people. Donald Trump is all three.
• The oath. What kind of political climate should we expect when husbands and wives break their vows to one another? So then, no one makes a commitment in their relationships whether it is to their spouse, to their children, to their aging parents or their constituency. Politicians seeking power swear an oath to protect and uphold the Constitution but who really believes them? What do they really know about the Constitution or Law, History, Economics and leadership? We are a nation of vow breakers, led by vow breakers. And we wonder why Donald Trump a business man with lots of money, lots of ambitious, no obligation, multiple wives (serial polygamy) and off the cuff remarks is seeking the office of the president? He’s dishonest, says one thing and does another—just like us.
• Weak values. What would one expect in our culture which doesn’t care about knowledge as much as it cares about the college diploma? Cheating toward that end has become standard if not accepted outright. How many of us, when undercharged at a shop or restaurant, pay what we really owe? Are we fudging our tax return? Do we rip and share music CD or movie DVDs without paying the companies that produced them? We swindle people and businesses to give stuff for free or so cheap that slave labor was required to produce it. Who needs to make a decent living when we can find grounds to sue the pants off someone who has: doctors, businesses, churches, anyone that has a sack of money for us to take as ours. We are nation of lying, cheating, litigating and stealing reprobates that have rationalized everything we do as “victimless”, “harmless”, “consensual”, “individual rights” but fail to see our actions as equivalent as dumping toxic waste into the ocean or polluting the air we all breathe. Oh but what I do in private is no one’s business! Really? This weakening of morals and civility has made Donald Trump an option—because he is like us when it comes down to it—fast and loose.
• The pornographic and lewd language of Donald Trump is simply a reflection of America. Explicit sexuality, foul language, disrespect and sacrilege are common course in cartoons, sitcoms, movies, network television, sesame street, romper room and every conduit of American life. Why would we expect our leaders not to be imbued with it? Are you imbued with it? Donald Trump says out loud what every politician says in the halls of the state house and Congress. And as long as their ideology agrees with ours we find it endearing, deserving or humorous. We defend it. Enter the Donald.

Donald Trump is simply anyone of us with lots of money, lots of influence and the center stage of celebrity. Nothing else matters. We have sowed the wind. And now, we reap the whirlwind.