MADMEN AND THE MILITARY

Americans have become inured to the crass theater, known as "The Nation's Capital" in newspeak. Why worry about fake news when the actual news is so appalling? The depth of corruption and dysfunction in government simply reflects a society in decline. Fewer and fewer real products are produced here. We are at the mercy of foreign governments to provide us with much of what we have come to depend on. The things we produce in surplus are bad food and alcoholic beverages. And many Americans have turned to those for consolation.

The election last Fall seemed at first to have yielded a non-politician and non-combatant without debts to repay to the military-industrial complex. Mr. Trump seemed like your average Manhattan blowhard executive in predictable suits under his unpredictable hair. He was made a comic figure by those who did not fear him. He was made a fearsome figure by those who are ignorant of Washington's sausage-works culture, where one person can never get anything done. 

Now I see a more disturbing development. Mr. Trump increasingly surrounds himself with militarists. Napoleon, Stalin, Hitler, Kim Jong .. disturbed men, wearing uniforms like security blankets. Blustering Churchill, who had seen plenty of military action in his youth, was a notable exception in his later years. I admired him for that, if not for much else. 

Mad leaders need protection for obvious reasons. The world is indeed a crazy place, but we humans in groups do have a sense of sanity and stability. I testify to this unflinchingly as a former nurse in charge of locked psychiatric wards. Even the insane in groups work out a standard of acceptable behavior. Rash divergence from that standard yields isolation and rejection by the group. Unfortunately, this makes the offender of the standard behavior more labile, fearful and dangerous.

Mr. Trump may well be fearful. He is mocked daily, even by the likes of John McCain, whose foothold on solid rationality seems rather shaky at times. Is it surprising that The White House is rapidly taking on the appearance of a retirement home for military officers? I think not.

The greatest threat of militarism is its obsession with loyalty in the face of carnage and oppression. When the ideal to be defended becomes more threatened by popular uprising against it, the military mindset becomes harsher and more cohesive to assert its loyalty to the designated leadership, no matter how insane that leadership may be. The ideal military personality feels comfortable when controlled by authority.

Mr. Trump's blustering leadership style will undoubtedly attract sycophants. If those sycophants are prone to militaristic approaches to obstacles, we could see a repeat of some nasty history. Perhaps Europe's open contempt for the Trump administration is based in its painful memories of that kind of history. But elitist contempt is more likely to drive Mr. Trump closer to the militarists who are already circling him.