A White Male Conservative’s Thoughts On Donald Trump

Matt ClarkFeb 8, 2017

I’m a white male conservative, making me one of the most hated combinations on the internet today. Here’s my thoughts on Donald Trump.

It’s true. I’ve discovered recently thanks to the likes of Social Justice Warriors, Buzzfeed and MTV that I am just a deplorable human being. SJWs and Buzzfeed in particular have really highlighted just how horrible it is that I’m male. Men suck. We’re derogatory, we’re inconsiderate, we’re self seeking, we have no value for anyone other than ourselves… or at least that’s what they tell me. That’s what they told Hugh Mungus, and sent the internet into meltdown with the very public beatdown of the male species.

On top of that, I’m white. So, on top of my male privilege, I also have my white privilege. It means everyone is below me. Right? Apparently. I didn’t think so, but now I’m told that by virtue of the colour of my skin, I have a certain set of attributes about myself. In the heyday they would’ve called that racism, but apparently when you’re white, it’s just “truth”. Add to that, my political views are much more conservative. Pro-life, preservation of the family, all the rest of it.

And so Donald Trump as president pretty much means I’m screwed.

If I was hasn’t hated enough already, enter a white male conservative business tycoon who now holds the balance of power in the free world. Making decisions left right and centre. Seemingly the most divisive president in the history of the USA.

So, as a white male conservative, clearly I think a certain way about Mr Trump. Or do I? I thought I would say something since my category usually gets painted with one brush stroke – here are my thoughts on Donald Trump.

A victim of the permanence of the digital age

Whether you love or hate Mr Trump, I think his presidency is about to become the norm for all presidential candidates from here on out. Why? Because he lived a very public life, with all his actions, especially in the last 20 years, thoroughly documented. I know he told Kevin McAllister the wrong directions to the elevator in Home Alone 2, but that wasn’t the worst thing he did. I’m pretty sure his comments about grabbing women because he’s turned on will never be forgotten.

We now live in an age where everything is permanent, public and searchable. If even a single mistake or questionable action is made during a person’s lifetime, it’s fair game. I mean, look how many decades beyond that horrendous comment have passed, and yet it will forever be held against the Don. Am I defending the comment? Certainly not – merely pointing out how our new world works. And I can find every single deplorable thing he’s ever done from any location in the world, thanks to the device in the palm of my hands.

Everyone is so interconnected and everything is so immediate that we will know everything, and we will know it forever. Every single person in a leadership position going forward will have to bear the consequences of the words they spoke during the 90s, 2000s, and even today.

Followthrough on election promises

I think what has blindsided many people is how quickly Donald has moved on his election promises. Whether it be being more stringent on immigration or decisions to create jobs, you can’t say that the man isn’t a doer.

One commentary I read recently was pointing out that America is in shock because a can-do business man is in power. He’s lived a life of followthrough on what he says. Usually in democracies people feel a bit safer knowing their leaders aren’t going to necessarily followthrough on everything they said to get elected. Donald Trump throws it all in the air because so far, he seems to be very intent on following it to the letter.

Death by media hyperbole

In the past few weeks, #MuslimBan has been one of the biggest trends among media outlets. Seems like everyone jumped on the express train using the term. Even though the countries that have the highest Muslim populations still have the same travel conditions to the USA as they did before, the media has outright gone nuts saying that the ban is all about keeping Muslims out of the country.

My point is that the media has an agenda, and the agenda is this – getting the most views, stirring the most response, keeping you coming back to their content, because that’s how they make their dollars.

Politics isn’t the only area where crazy hyperbole is the name of the day. Look at the rise of clickbait. Hopefully it’ll fall soon, but unlikely – it’s a business model that works. Posting extreme headlines gets people to go nuts and to read your content one way or another. Even things as basic as the weather have fallen victim to it – Higgins Storm Chasing this week posted about how Australia is about to experience a heatwave where we’ll all die in hell because of the 40 degrees it’s going to be. Just… so extreme.

Every single part of our lives is now driven by hyperbole as content producers do anything to get your attention.

Actions of questionable character

No doubt about it, ladies and gentlemen – Donald Trump has made plenty of decisions which demonstrate a lack of character. After some of my point you may have thought I was hoping for a Trump win – I was actually hoping for a Hilary win. In the words of the brilliant Saturday Night Live sketch – “Come on America, who do you want to win the election? The Republican… or Donald Trump?”

And thanks to the permanence of media and the hyperbole in play, I don’t think Donald’s character will ever be portrayed in a good light.

He won

Here’s the most shocking thing to most people – Donald Trump actually won a democratic election. People actually said on paper they would choose him for president. Not only that, the Electoral College system that has been agreed on within the USA for ages resulted in a majority result choosing Trump.

I read an interesting article about how Trump was elected because he represented the concerns of the “oppressed majority”. I’m not sure if it’s a majority, but it’s certainly a number of people who have borne the brunt of the financial cost of many of the services that Trump has come down on so severely. A lot of these sorts of people feel like Trump represents their concerns.

I think the “Donald is not my president” movement is fair enough, but it won’t change the fact that he did actually win the election. And all the people who disagree actually have several rights as citizens to do something about their disagreement.

Just please leave the innocent people and property of the USA out of it. The violent protests and barbarian acts that have been committed by people professing peace kinda prove that they don’t actually care about peace at all.

Supporting erratic leadership

So, Donald is an erratic leader. He won, yes. His character is somewhat questionable, yes. He is getting things done, yes. I think actor Tom Hanks had the best comment on the reign of Trump, saying that he hopes Donald does so well that he votes for his reelection.

I’ve heard another comment that you shouldn’t hope for the failure of the pilot when he’s flying the plane that everyone is on. In other words, being destructive and belittling to someone who holds such a prominent office is not the most proactive, healthy, safe, or even sane thing to wish.

As a conservative, it turns out I’m also a Christian (as can be common for conservatives). And I always think about a crazy Scripture in the biblical text – “Honour the emperor”. What? The Roman emperor at the time was murdering their children, enacting the worship of his own gods, expanding his empire for selfish gain. And yet the instruction to the believers at the time was to respect those in authority, despite their conduct. I even think of the figure Paul, who had an audience before Festus, and still referred to him as “Most Honourable”, and then proceeded to disagree with his worldview.

I think that’s how we should be with any politician or person in power we disagree with, really. We might not respect the actions, but we should respect the title and position, and we should also do what we can for the success of our leadership.

If our leaders succeed, we will also succeed. If they fail, well… we’re all screwed.

And I think writing letters, structuring arguments, raising awareness and all the things our free speech enables us to do would be far more productive and beneficial to our nations than chaos in the streets and constantly hating every authority figure who ever appears.

Maybe another time I’ll write more about the hate towards white men, but for now, there are my thoughts on Donald Trump. What are your thoughts on the new President?