I’ve been blogging for over a decade now, but it’s only been in recent months that I’ve started writing political posts.
Not surprisingly regular readers who are Trump fans are wondering why.
[pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Homebirth midwives are buffoons. Donald Trump is King of Buffoons.[/pullquote]
First and foremost, it’s because I love my country. America has made terrible mistakes in its past, but I still view it as a shining city on the hill, a beacon of hope to lovers of freedom everywhere. Trump threatens my beloved country and it seems to me that patriotism obliges me to speak out.
Second, I am profoundly distressed by what I am witnessing and I seek the solace and counsel of people I respect a great deal: my readers. I have the greatest group of commentors on the internet, smart, passionate, and articulate. Sure I offer my view on my blog, but I learn from my readers and modify my views accordingly.
Ultimately, though, I’ve started writing about politics because I’m a skeptic. My self-appointed task is to debunk harmful lies designed to mislead people and profit from their distress, and Trumpworld, like the natural parenting world, is nothing if not a philosophy built on harmful lies designed to mislead people and profit from their distress.
1. Both the birth world and Trumpworld rest on a foundation of lies.
Contrary to Grantly Dick-Read’s claim, primitive women don’t have painless labors and labor pain is not caused by fear. Contrary to lactivist claims, breast is not best for every baby. Contrary to attachment parenting advocates’ claims, infant attachment requires only the “good enough mother” not the always physically proximate mother. Contrary to anti-vax claims, vaccines don’t cause autism and are one of the greatest public health advancements of all time.
Similarly, contrary to Trump’s claims, the disappearance of blue collar jobs has nothing to do with Mexicans and Muslims, and everything to do with global forces and technological advancement. Contrary to Trump’s claims, the problems we face in 2016 are complicated not simple, so simple solutions that can be encapsulated in a tweet will not work. Contrary to Trump’s claims that liberal elites have broken our country, the truth is conservative elites have broken our country in order to create chaos. The world as portrayed by Fox News and Breitbart is no more accurate than the world as portrayed by health conspiracy theorists.
2. Both the birth world and Trump world are built on regressive philosophies.
The natural parenting world reflects the effort, both open and clandestine, to force women back into the home. Natural parenting advocates speak to mothering anxieties, offer rigid prescriptions and not coincidentally enjoin women from engaging in the wider world of intellectual, economic and political pursuits. Trumpworld reflects the effort on the part of conservatives to hoard power for their own benefit, not for the benefits of voters. If you didn’t believe that before, you have to be figuratively blind not to realize it now.
The transition to Trumpworld is barely over a week old and it is already debasing the presidency. As Republican security expert Elliot A. Cohen writes in today’s Washington Post:
The president-elect is surrounding himself with mediocrities whose chief qualification seems to be unquestioning loyalty. He gets credit for becoming a statesman when he says something any newly elected president might say (“I very much look forward to dealing with the president in the future”) — and then reverts to tweeting against demonstrators and the New York Times. By all accounts, his ignorance, and that of his entourage, about the executive branch is fathomless. It’s not even clear that he accepts that he should live in the White House rather than in his gilt-smeared penthouse in New York.
Trump promised to drain the swamp, instead he is already wallowing in it.
3. Both the birth world and Trumpworld are built on ignorance.
Just as American homebirth midwives are the least educated, least trained midwives in the world, Trump has no education or training in government. In both cases, their followers don’t seem to mind since the entire purpose of hiring them is to spit in the face of traditional authority. Precisely because of their ignorance and lack of training, homebirth midwives have appalling rates of neonatal death and injury. Precisely because of his ignorance, Trump is likely to have appalling political, social and economic outcomes. Homebirth midwives are buffoons. Donald Trump is King of Buffoons.
4. Both the birth world and Trumpworld exploit distress without relieving it.
Natural parenting and anti-vax are, in part, reactions to the coldness of contemporary medical practice. People are seeking providers who listen to them and comfort them even if that means offering delusions instead of science. Blue collar workers are reacting to economic dislocation. Traditional Republican politicians have ignored that distress while putting the needs of lobbyists above their needs. Trump listens to them and comforts them by providing delusions instead of reality.
5. Both the birth world and Trumpworld offer faux “empowerment.”
In the world of natural parenting, empowerment has nothing to do with power and everything to do with defiance. In Trump world, empowerment of his supporters has nothing to do with economic relief and everything to do with unrestricted expressions of hate toward minorities, immigrants and women.
6. Both the birth world and Trumpworld are hoaxes that redound to the economic benefit of the purveyors.
The natural parenting world has created an army of providers — homebirth midwives, doulas, lactation consultants, bloggers with supplement stores — who profit most when they exaggerate and mislead. Trumpworld is just the latest iteration of Republican strategy to arrogate power by offering constituents social crumbs like pandering on religion and permission to hate, while impoverishing their voters and scooping up financial benefits for themselves and their industry friends.
Trump is preparing to take economic betrayal to even greater heights. His administration promises to be a cesspit of corruption led by the avaricious Trump and his avaricious family. They are already debasing the presidency by advertising their businesses on transition websites. They will turn this country into a banana republic where loyalty to Trump is the only qualification for inclusion in the government and Trump enrichment will be the ultimate metric for government policy.
The bottom line is that Trumpworld has a lot in common with the birth world, and as someone who spends my time debunking the mistruths, half-truths and outright lies of the natural parenting industry, it’s only logical that I would want to debunk the mistruths, half-truths and outright lies of Trumpworld.
