Putting down Trump: dilemmas for nice people
Here is the real dilemma: people are calling Trump all sorts of names. Some of these are nondescript: "jerk," "nut." Some are more specific: "bigot." Some are quasi clinical: "narcissistic," "unstable," "vindictive."
None of us have the access to make a clinical assessment and few of us have the training to make a valid one. But think: if the descriptions were given big Greek or Latin names and coded from the DSM-V, we would urge compassion acceptance and inclusion. That's what nice liberal PC people are supposed to do.
A crook is bad. However, a kleptomaniac is sick.
Is he wicked or is he the result of severe toilet training?
Aside from the personalities and the election - I've heard psychologists and psychiatrists use terms like: nut, jerk, crazy, evil about people. When they are clinical, they are clinical. When they aren't, they sound like the rest of us.
Look, no matter what our observations or manner of expressing ourselves, I don't believe the man should be president. I think he is unfit and that a Trump presidency would be a disaster. But all this gets to the heart of basic ethical matters. How do we see free will? To what extent must we be judgmental?