Part Five: It Is Wrong to Think That Feeling Trump Is Bad Is Enough – It Is Not
- john raymond
- Sep 5
- 2 min read
The next myth we must unlearn is the most seductive of all: that feeling Trump is bad is sufficient. Millions of Americans carry an ambient disgust, a vague sense that something is rotten. But revulsion is not resistance.
To confuse feelings or emotions with action or though is to hand the initiative to the enemy. Evil thrives not when people admire it, but when they limit themselves to hating it without acting.
It is wrong to think that feeling is enough—it is not.
The Comfort of Mere Emotion
We live in a culture that prizes catharsis. Hollywood has taught Americans to seek satisfaction in how they feel rather than what they do. Politics mirrors this theater.
Saying “Trump is awful” scratches the itch of conscience, as if moral clarity were achieved by emotion alone. But it is not clarity—it is sedation. It leaves the citizen convinced that their outrage is a contribution, when in truth it is a substitute for contribution.
The Chain of Myths
This myth flows directly from the others.
First, helplessness: the pawn frame that whispers, you cannot act.
Second, irrelevance of belief: the false idea that we need not understand what motivates the tyrant.
Third, the thinking American: the assumption that citizens are rational when in fact they are emotional.
Fourth, the myth of “smart”: the excuse that others understand because they are gifted, not because they actually worked hard.
Now comes the fifth: that feeling Trump is bad absolves one of the duty to study him, understand him, and resist him.
Why Evil Prefers Outrage
Tyrants welcome hatred that does not mature into action. They know outrage burns fast and leaves exhaustion. A population that only emotes is predictable: they flare, they curse, they retreat.
This is why authoritarian movements often provoke as much as persuade—they understand that disgust, if it is not disciplined, becomes another form of paralysis.
The Work of Knowing and Acting
To unlearn this myth requires discipline:
Knowing the structure. Trump’s alignment with Putin is not a quirk but a function of regime security logic. Seeing this clarifies why he moves as he does.
Predicting the harm. Once you know the belief and psychology, you can anticipate what is next, rather than being surprised.
Acting beyond catharsis. Organizing, educating, pre-bunking lies, inoculating others against propaganda—these are the deeds that separate feeling from fighting.
Outrage that stops at itself is an indulgence. Anger that drives action is a weapon.
From Audience to Hero
Heroes are not measured by what they feel about the villain. They are measured by their capacity to move against him.
To remain in the audience, muttering that the play is corrupt, is to concede the stage. To step onto the stage, armed with clarity and strategy, is to contest the drama itself.
Our task then is to awaken this distinction in every potential hero.
It is wrong to think that feeling Trump is bad is enough—it is not.
Emotions without structure are noise. Anger or fury without discipline is theater.
What stops Trump is not our disgust but our preparation. To unlearn this myth is to awaken from passivity. To stay in it is to aid the enemy.
The time has come to step out of the audience and into the fight.
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