I have a cat. He mooches from me. I have to carefully coordinate my meals so that I’m eating at the same time he is, otherwise he will come up to me and beg for my food. It sounds greedy; after all, he’s just been fed. He’s had his food. This is my food, but he wants that, too. I don’t blame him. He’s a cat. Cats do that and, while it’s one of his less endearing traits, I still love him. Cats don’t understand the concept of selfishness. They just understand that they want the food. It’s a primal instinct.
Although we proclaim to have progressed beyond these primal urges of greed and selfishness, it’s still pandemic, although a little more sophisticated. In the 1985 movie Wall Street (Oliver Stone – Director) Michael Douglas’s character, Gordon Gekko, famously announced that “Greed is good.” He’s not wrong. Greed is good because it motivates and indolence is soul-destroying. However, greed is good, until it isn’t. While greed motivates, it can also be a host to the true parasite of society, selfishness; an uncivilized remnant of our primal selves.
Selfishness stems from a misunderstanding of the bizarre, paradoxical phenomenon that we are, each of us, the centers of our own universe. Our trip to the outback town of Cobar in a previous sermon made us realize that we are, indeed, the center of the universe. The center of all that we tactilely experience is our own consciousness. The part that most of us forget is that others experience the world in exactly the same way.
Because we experience our own realities, we tend to think that ours is the only one; the one true God, so to speak. We forget that other people have their perceptions too. Savvy business people realize this and exploit it; in fact, you see it in marketing every day. Any time you look at a commercial you are looking into the mind of someone who has said to themselves, “What would make me buy this product if I were [insert target demographic, here]”. They picture themselves as their target demographic and adjust their marketing accordingly.
Am I suggesting that we all become marketing executives? Yes, and no. We should imagine ourselves, not just in another person’s shoes but in another person’s head in all our dealings, but that isn’t to say we should exploit such knowledge. Sadly, instead of picturing the other person’s viewpoint, most of us tend to believe that our perceptions are the only ones and that others must dance to our tune. That’s when greed has gone too far. Sadly, we are seeing this play out in Ukraine at a devastating cost. The war in Ukraine is the product of, and services one thing and one thing only: Putin’s ego. The ego of one selfish man.
When I was in school being indoctrinated with the virtues of free society over the oppression of the Soviet Bloc, Putin was being indoctrinated with propaganda about the glorious Soviet Union. As a young man he saw that destroyed. Now, as a man, he wants his precious Soviet Union back and he will try to stop anyone who disagrees with him, despite the fact that he is in a minority.
Why? Because he wants what he wants because he believes that his reality is the only reality. He does not see through the eyes of those he destroys, nor does he care to. In his mind, such things are irrelevant, if the idea even crosses his mind at all. He wants his precious Soviet Union back and he will do anything to get it. Essentially, the Ukraine War is a demonstration of what happens when an armed baby has a tantrum. To make matters worse, the sycophants who support him have no idea of this mentality. If they did then they would realize that it is not in anyone’s best interest to let a spoilt brat have his or her own way. History, even recent, is littered with examples of despots killing off their top supporters.
This is being played out on the other side of the coin as well, in America where another spoilt child is having a tantrum. Most parents and psychologists will tell you that a child, when caught red handed, will try to lie their way out and, not being aware that their parents (hopefully) have far more experience than they, often exert the most pathetic and transparent lies, believing that their reality controls actual reality. This is the behaviour of Donald John Trump. Despite being caught with his hand clearly in the cookie jar, he continues to lie about the documents found at his Mar-A-Lago estate, devising any ridiculous excuse and meeting any accusation with a preposterous rationalization. Even the vaguest suggestion of wrongdoing is met with a barrage of barbed, yet empty accusations of unjustified persecution.
When we see our reality as the only reality we ignore the will of others. By contesting the 2020 Presidential Election, which he still claims, with absolutely no proof whatsoever, was rigged, he is ignoring the vox populi – in his mind it is mindless chatter. Now, the Church recognizes that it is possible that countless poll workers, politicians and technicians were all involved in a carefully coordinated plot to steal the election, but Occom’s Razor would suggest that Donald Trump is a liar, especially considering his track record, recently reinforced by news of his wildly overstated and, allegedly fraudulent real estate estimates and the number of lawsuits which were thrown (nay, laughed) out of court following the result tally.
However, in Donald Trump’s mind, everybody loves him. On his popular show The Apprentice, he once said that everyone loves the Trump name. This highlights his delusion. He loves the Trump name and, in his mind he is everyone. In his mind there is only one perception, one “set of eyes”, one center of the universe: him. His properties are worth what he says they’re worth, not what other people are willing to pay for them because his reality is the only one that matters. It is the only reality. Putin’s referendum in Eastern Ukraine shows the same myopic, egotistical and self-centered viewpoint: he wants the Soviet Union back so that’s all that matters. His will counts. Others don’t have a will which is why he votes for them. He thinks everyone in Ukraine wants to be part of Russia, therefore, they do, just like everyone loves the Trump name.
These people, and others like them in other dictatorial countries and communities, are solipsists. They believe they are the only living, conscious beings and that the rest of us are automata. We, as Solipsologists, need to understand this because it demonstrates how the isolation of soul is destructive. If we imagine we share a soul, such behaviour should be looked on with distain. It abuses our collective soul. On the other hand, we must also, each ask ourselves, are we beyond their instance? Are we any less self-absorbed? Often revolution results not in power to the people but power to the new despot.
The Church supports civil disobedience in oppressive countries – it supports the protests in Iran against the antiquated dogma of state religion and it supports those who are brave enough to stand up to despots, would-be or otherwise. Such people must be brought to justice and people like them must not be permitted to achieve, let alone consolidate power. The world is currently at a tipping point where we will choose between dictatorship and democracy. The United States has an opportunity to be a true world leader. The question is: which way will it go?
It’s becoming clear that, as President, Trump carefully stacked the courts to support him in accomplishing his selfishness. This is shown by the judgement of U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, and the appointment of the three Supreme Court justices he forced through the system. He continues to spread his reality. He’s not really lying because he believes that he creates reality. He’s not deceiving people, he honestly believes what he says. As suggested by his “declassification” of documents, if it passes his lips, or even his mind, then it’s true. He truly believes that he should be President and that it was stolen from him (not from the Republican Party but from him, personally, The Donald – not just a Donald, The Donald, with a capital T), despite the fact that seven million more voters think that he shouldn’t than those who think that he should.
In his mind, Democracy is wrong. He should be President simply because he is who he is and he says he should be. That’s the way he ran his companies and that is how he thinks he should be able to run the country. In Putin’s mind, Ukraine is The Ukraine, and is part of Russia and always has been, despite the fact that it wants to be a separate state. In reality, it doesn’t matter if Ukraine was once part of Russia, most Ukrainians don’t want to be now, and their collective will should overrule Putin’s baby-tantrum selfishness.
Any good parent knows that you don’t pander to a child; a lesson Roald Dahl was quite vocal about in his children’s book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; Veruca Salt was a tempestuous, spoilt and selfish child who demanded anything she wanted at the moment she wanted it and would go to any lengths to get it. In the end, she wound up in the garbage, where she belonged and so it should be for narcissistic despots. We aspire to live in a civilized world and the acceptable form of punishment for mischievous adults is incarceration. As much as many of us would like to throw Mr Putin out of a high window, that would constitute, as the United States Constitution phrases it, “cruel and inhuman punishment,” and, while it would be a forceful, yet brief lesson in empathy, it reduces us to that same barbaric level, a line we must never cross.
With regards to Trump, the stakes couldn’t be higher. If the United States truly believes in the maxim originally laid down by the Magna Carta, tried and true over eight hundred years, that no one is above the law, then Trump must be held accountable for his actions, including inciting a rebellion on January 6th, 2021. If he is permitted, and succeeds in running for and securing the presidency then, effectively the United States has collectively supported lies and intimidation as acceptable campaign tactics. Those who tried to overturn the vox populi on January 6th will not only be freed by his promise, but will be spurred to further acts of oppression knowing they have the support of their leader, intimidating, corrupting and brutalizing judges, politicians, police, news outlets and anyone else who doesn’t subscribe to The Trump Vision. Other countries will watch and will conclude that if it can happen in America it can happen anywhere and every narcissistic would-be dictator will come out of the woodwork all over the world. There is a real danger of a domino effect.
However, that domino could topple either way. If Trump were to be found guilty and incarcerated for his crimes then other countries will see the example and conclude that it is true; not only does the United States proclaim the principle of law, as quite clearly and precisely stated repeatedly by Attorney General Merrick Garland, but upholds it and applies it equally, even to former presidents. Under the Trump regime, the credibility of the United States was abysmal and, historically, abroad, the arrogance and hypocrisy of the US is legendary. Now, however, is the acid test. Is America really the land of equality or does selfish arrogance win out over national image?
While it may seem that the Church is convicting Mr Trump before his day in court, the Church does recognize that Mr Trump is innocent until proven guilty. However, such a trial, if executed on the evidence presented so far to the general public, would be little more than a formality. He certainly should have the opportunity to defend himself, however, with the abundance of testimony and documentation against him, as well as his contemptuous personality in general, we feel that the odds make it exceedingly unlikely that he would be exonerated by a fair and impartial trial.
The consequences of a truly fair trial, a guilty verdict and a prison sentence would restore world credibility in America’s tarnished claims of being a nation of law. It was recently said by a foreign visitor to the temple that “America is a laughing stock because of Donald Trump.” We, at the Church, are not laughing (okay, maybe a little). If America does not hold to their belief in the rule of law then the consequences could be dire, but if America is bold enough to collectively dismiss the ludicrous lies and punish this impetuous child then, perhaps other countries will be inspired and will follow suit. It may be that the Russian people decide to send the baby having a tantrum in the Kremlin to bed without dinner, too.
