Will America Survive a Trump Administration?

I would like to hazard, however, a controversial claim. If Trump wins the general election, it will be because there is something Americans love more than competent leadership, more than safety and security, more than even making a buck – and that's entertainment.

The thing about reducing politics to mass entertainment is that it turns all the rules upside down: to be presidential is to be boring; to be concerned with evidence, rational arguments, and objective reality is to be stuffy, over-intellectual, and boring; to be respectful of difference and caring towards the less fortunate is to be self-hating, soft-hearted… and did I mention boring?

This poses a distinct problem for Clinton, because the very things which are generally regarded as her strengths – knowledge, experience, a cool temperament – could, in this topsy-turvy world, be turned against her to her opponent's advantage.

So let us turn finally to the question we posed above: will America survive a Trump administration? Yes. This country had had awful presidents in the past, but the United States is bigger than any one chief executive, regardless of how bloated, egomaniacal and hate-mongering. The question is, can we survive the complete absorption of politics into the 
culture of mass entertainment? That I'm not so sure about.

Alon Ben-Meir