From a socio-political standpoint, Trump is a conservative character who is also a populist. To have a sense of Trump’s strategy for the presidency requires an understanding of socio-political characterology and the antiauthoritarian transformation of Western society.
In the past authoritarian era, there were roughly equal numbers of liberals and conservatives in both political parties. This is how the two party system worked to maintain a balance of power between the opposing ideological forces of the left and right.
With the anti-authoritarian transformation that started in America around 1960, the Democratic Party began it’s shift to the extreme political left and the Republican Party soon followed and moved leftward. The significance of this so-called socio-political red-shift was that there was no longer any ideological difference between the two parties. Politicians in the Democratic Party continued to peddle their outworn socialist programs and like-minded politicians in the Republican Party tried to play “catch up” by promoting their own version of leftist-oriented policies.
People who were fed up with the old system of “politics as usual” began wanting something new from their politicians. They looked to outsiders like Donald Trump as someone who seemed to not buy into what was being offered by traditional party politicians.
But, the result of the anti-authoritarian transformation of society was that the two party system became a thing of the past and people are more clueless than ever about it’s demise.
By contrast, what Trump intuitively understood in this new environment was that in order to make contact and win over the electorate people must be realigned not according to conventional political parties but, on a deeper, more inclusive level according to their individual, pre-existing socio-political character structure.
This is where an understanding of socio-political characterology is essential. Based on people’s socio-political character structure, liberals and conservatives have diametrically opposed ways of viewing the world. The liberal relates to his environment primarily from his intellect. He is a collectivist and, in the past authoritarian era, had a mechanistic view of the world. The conservative relates to his environment primarily from his emotions. He has a selective attitude toward others and a mystical view of the world.
In order to win, Trump must convince characterologic conservatives, like himself, that he is one of them. This is where his anti-intellectual, emotional, shooting-from-the-hip manner and his strong pro-American bias are a plus. However, from a bio-psychiatric perspective, Trump is either an oral unsatisfied, phallic narcissistic character or a manic depressive character. Regarding his diagnosis, the important questions are these: Is he capable of controlling the destructiveness to his political reputation as a leader resulting from his shooting-off at the mouth? Is he capable to hear the ideas of others? These questions go directly to the heart of his capacity for the good judgement that is a requirement for the job.
Another unknown factor is that liberals no longer adhere only to the mechanistic view of the world. They have embraced mysticism as part of their leftist armamentarium in the “save the world,” “green” environmental movements. With the decline of traditional, religious mysticism, the political left has gained a silent but powerful force in the ideology of secular mysticism that Trump with all his usual contentiousness must contend with.
Neither Left Nor Right
The Emotional Plague
Charles Konia, M.D. 