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Notes -
I think you're correct.
It is fascinating how both Biden and Trump do exude what, as far as I can tell, are genuine feelings of personal aggrievement when both of them have had objectively stupendous lives. Biden was either the youngest or second youngest Senator of all time. His initial victory was narrow and surprising, but then was so incredibly solid that he never faced any legitimate challenge to it. True, he "failed" in his prime-age bid for President in the 1980s. But he simply went back to that Senate seated and just waited and waited before stumbling into .... the Vice Presidency.
Trump was not only rich, but he lived a cartoon version of a rich man's life because of his deep entanglements with media and entertainment. He wasn't some financial engineer who spent 20 years in balance sheets and came out of the other side holding a huge fortune. Between opening casinos and flying on his private jet, he was getting cameos in movies and, eventually, turning himself into a reality TV star (personally, I would detest this life, but I admit it at least seems like it could be compelling to those interested in glamour and fame)
Of course, yes, if you jump into the details, both men have had some personal tragedy. Biden's first wife and her car accident, the loss of Beau Biden. Trump's brother drank himself to death and I feel like his mother / father's deaths were maybe harder on him than has ever been reported.
But, still .... how the hell are either of these guys mad about anything? I can understand "I am a political leader and I am emoting in a way that relates well to my base" but neither of them comes across that way to me. These dudes seem bone-deep rageful at life sometimes.
Most people on the internet find getting into the weeds and dirty details of the various bad faith prosecutions of Trump to be unbearable - imagine having to live through them. I'm honestly surprised he isn't angrier when I picture myself in his position, sitting across from someone who knowingly lied in order to start a fraudulent criminal prosecution against me while threatening my family, reputation and legacy. Throw in the fact that he's now a constant target for mockery in public and in culture, and I can absolutely see why he's angry.
Trump spent large parts of his career running his business in a way which intentionally invited litigation (of both good faith and bad faith varieties). You can't stay out of court entirely as a real-estate developer, but Trump's "so sue me" attitude to contractors expecting to be paid is an indication that he is more comfortable in the courtroom than the average guy who isn't a lawyer or a career criminal, as does the aggressive tax avoidance.
He is also notoriously sue-happy as a plaintiff - to the point where the ABA tried to spike an article about his litigation history because of the fear that he would sue the ABA for saying how sue-happy he was! And of course he didn't have a problem instructing people to file numerous frivolous lawsuits based on patently false claims of election fraud. (Even if you think the jury is still out on whether there was fraud somewhere in the 2020 election, the specific fraud alleged in the key post-election lawsuits didn't happen, and he probably knew this).
Trump's behaviour is entirely consistent with someone who sees the litigation against him as kayfabe, and is entirely comfortable responding without breaking kayfabe. This is easier for him than it would be for you or me because it was already clear by January that even if he was convicted he could gum things up for long enough that he wouldn't be reporting to jail this side of the election.
Indeed, it is entirely plausible that the whole Trump persecution complex is kayfabe - Trump knows what storylines play well with his MAGA fanbase, and "They're coming after me because I'm fighting for you" with himself as face and Uncle Sam as heel is one of the best. My out-of-posterior probability that when he is around family and personal friends Trump is enjoying himself like you would expect of a rich powerful old man who can buy anything and anyone and expects to be protected from the consequences of his behaviour by his popularity is about 25%. This would explain his apparently counterproductive litigation strategy - provoking judges to slap him around a bit makes the shoot more impressive, and he assumes that any verdict against him is reversible (if necessary after he wins the election, where given what we know about him he will be even more confident of victory than the bookies).
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Important caveat I missed up front - I feel like Trump was like this before 2016.
I can understand why he might have a bit of a persecution complex since then.
I thought the usual argument there was that Trump has always wanted to be recognised and respected by New York high society, and he never has been. He's tried to use money and fame to buy his way in, but he's too fundamentally lacking in class or tact. I could imagine that, internally, what it feels like to be Trump is to be always excluded from the inner ring. He wants to get inside that ring, but no matter of power, not even being president, is enough to generate acceptance or respect.
The cartoon bit is important, I think. Trump is very rich and powerful, but Trump is also a clown in a way that real high society elites aren't. Trump's status has always depended on his ability to perform, the ability to get a crowd to hoist him on to their shoulders in a rush of popular enthusiasm. That's not how it is for the real upper class. The real upper class may be popular, but they don't need popularity, and in fact ought to mildly disdain it.
Money, fame and golfing ability. Elite golf is part of WASP high society (Steve Sailer has written a lot about this), and Trump embraced it and it embraced Trump (rejecting him only after January 6th). I don't think you are excluded from the inner ring if a club like Winged Foot not only grants you membership, but also tolerates blatant cheating.
I can absolutely imagine that Trump needed the single-digit handicap (which he earned legitimately when he was younger) to get into clubs that old money is allowed to shoot 90s at, but if the bluebloods see you as actively undesirable (at the time Trump was learning to golf, "undesirable" mostly meant "Jewish"), you need to be winning majors to get in with pure golfing ability.
This is a choice. Not many real high society elites make that choice, but the ones who do don't get kicked out of the club.
Trump doesn't need popularity for business reasons, he craves it for personal reasons. Fred Trump never courted popularity, and nor do most commercial real estate guys. Trumps third and fourth careers (reality TV star and politician) were choices made by a man who was already rich enough to do what he wanted.
Of course, the ultimate test of whether old money accepts you is who your kids marry, and the results for Trump are interestingly ambiguous.
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I would never have imagined using the word "equanimity" in relation to Donald Trump, and yet here we are. His ability to weather these storms borders on superhuman.
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It's never about objective quality of life; it's always about a sense of unfairness. Trump wanted to be accepted and feted by the Manhattan elite, but in the end he will always be the uncouth son of a slumlord in Queens. Biden always wanted to be President, but he was always passed over because he was a not-especially-bright stuttering kid from a small state who went to Syracruse.
I wouldn't be surprised if Trump's entire decision to run was in retaliation to him being humiliated by Obama (so loved and feted!) at that comedy gala in front of all the people he wanted to like him.
I miss when our elites would just slam an axe into each other's skulls and then payed the weregild afterwards. Made things easier for the masses they ruled over.
Well, I am not longing back to idea of elites being able to slam axe into my skull and pay (much smaller) weregild
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I can definitely see this.
If it is the Truth, I feel genuine pity for both of them. Living life with, "Because fuck you! that's why!" as your primary motivator has to be constant chaos.
Someone who mostly wants to be happy can find a low-intensity job and raise a family. Someone who embraces gluttony and lust have much easier paths to satisfy those urges than high level politics.
Bitterness and hatred, however, are impossible to satisfy, and the only thing that even approaches satisfying them is wielding power over your enemies.
Yes, basically. My life makes me happy, but hatred is an entirely separate category. There's no amount of money you could give me to make me stop hating the things I hate, because I hate them for a reason, not because I'm dissatisfied with my bank account/sex life/penis size/whatever sneer is being used.
The idea that "hateful people are just upset about something else/losers/defective deplorables that belong in camps" is just a scummy leftist tactic to distract from people's real, valid grievances. Bulverism, pathologizing dissent, whatever you want to call it.
I'm sure Trump and Biden (and Musk) are similar. They have a drive for power or status or change that isn't satisfied by living the good life or having lots of stuff.
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