Trumpism and McCarthyism: Deja Vu?

TomKando 

We only have a few weeks left before the country decides whether to re-instate a lunatic as our leader, or send an extremely competent woman to the White House. My sister Madeleine just posted a brilliant article about stupidity, Read it and see the options which our country is facing ( Is Trump Two Fries Short of a Happy Meal? ) 

Inspired by Madeleine’s piece, I began to rummage through my historical memories, wondering whether there is any sort of precedent for the current situation. The closest I came to one is the Red Scare era of 1949-1958, the McCarthy era. I was a child and a teenager at that time. 

Wisconsin Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy (formerly a Democrat) launched the era of McCarthyism in 1950: This became the major element in a national anti-communist hysteria which lasted until 1957. 

Joe McCarthy became highly popular after he announced that he had a list of communist spies employed by the State Department, and also of people who infiltrated the Truman and Eisenhower administrations, the Voice of America and the Army. He accused several politicians of homosexuality and other sex crimes (homosexuality was a crime at that time). He also crossed swords with President Eisenhower, insinuating that the President was soft on communists and fellow travelers. By 1953, at least half of all Americans had a favorable impression of McCarthy. 

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Is Trump Two Fries Short of a Happy Meal?

by Madeleine Kando

After last night’s debate (during which I had to mute the sound when Trump’s ramblings got too much for my poor head), I got to thinking about the possibility that he might become our next Commander in Chief.

Some people say that even if that were to pass, we should not worry too much, since at least Trump’s lack of focus and intelligence would prevent him from implementing his worst ideas.

But according to Italian economist Carlo Cipolla, stupid people are the most dangerous kind of people. He defines a stupid person as ‘someone who causes losses to another person [or group] while himself deriving no gain and even possibly incurring losses’.

In his satirical essay ‘The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity’, Cipolla enumerates the laws as follows:

1) Everyone always and inevitably underestimates the number of stupid individuals in circulation.

2) The probability that a certain person will be stupid is independent of any other characteristic of that person. 

3) A stupid person is a person who causes losses to others while deriving no gain to self and even possibly incurring losses.

4) Non-stupid people always underestimate the damaging power of stupid individuals.

5) A stupid person is more dangerous than a bandit (read: evil).

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