Trump’s Victory: The Result of Our Shared Stupidity
“The power of the one needs the stupidity of the other."
Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote those words three years before he was executed for his resistance against the Nazi regime.
All the bad in the world isn't caused by a massive number of bad people. It's caused by a limited number of bad people with a massive number of stupid enablers. The active ones and the passive ones.
That is what being a useful idiot is about.
Tycoons, autocrats and dictators cannot achieve anything on their own.
Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot needed massive support from millions of people who carried out dirty orders.
Can you imagine Trump with empty stadiums?
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These were excerpts from my “Stop Being a Useful Idiot” course.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s words from Nazi Germany ring true more than ever, as last week’s U.S. election made clear.
Trumpism is not about Trump. If it hadn’t been him, it would have been someone else’s -ism.
Trump won the election because of useful idiots.
It’s the useful idiots we need to address if we are to prevent America—or any country—from empowering a man-child who abuses women, has gone bankrupt multiple times, knows almost nothing, and cares about nothing but himself.
So, who are these useful idiots? In Trump’s case, they include everyone from his staff to donors and hesitant voters. Everyone from Musk and Melania to Manuel in Michigan. And not to forget—those who didn’t vote.
But let’s be clear: “useful idiots” are not just “them.” It’s a role we all sometimes play.
We excuse bad behaviour with phrases like, “he doesn’t mean any harm.”We applaud the speech of a toxic leader because everybody else does. We stay quiet when we should speak up. We nod and sound like mimicking sheep because it makes us feel good. We are easy to fool but refuse to accept it.
Trump’s victory is the result of our shared stupidity
And it’s not just Americans who need to confront this tendency to act as useful idiots.
Without useful idiots, cancel culture wouldn’t thrive. Brexit wouldn’t have happened. Sweden wouldn’t be rife with violent crime resulting from reckless immigration.
Even the oppression in Iran, Russia and China is upheld by millions who “just do their job.” And figures like Harvey Weinstein, P. Diddy, and Mohamed Al-Fayed couldn't have abused women—and in some cases men—for decades without the aid of hundreds of useful and, probably, well-paid idiots.
It might be human nature for us to act as useful idiots. But standing up for what is right, independent thinking and considering consequences is also human nature, even if it’s harder to summon.
For now, though, let’s stay focused on Trump and his useful idiots, and move on to what does not work in the fight against them.
What not to do
Mocking Trump voters with thousands of YouTube videos to show how stupid and ignorant they are, isn’t effective.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer warned against despising ordinary people who supported the Nazis, noting that contempt only makes us “victims of our opponent’s errors.”
In other words, scorning others for their misguided beliefs doesn’t make us better than them.
This isn’t an easy stance to take. Watching from Scandinavia, I’ve had more than a few “how-can-they-be-so-stupid” moments, a sentiment shared by most people here.
Many of us are waiting for that glowing feeling of schadenfreude when Trump voters realise what a self-serving and incompetent idiot they have voted for. “He doesn’t care about us!!” But that is what I hoped for the last time he won, and I am still waiting.
The wiser part of me knows that this approach won’t lead anywhere. Derision, especially when aimed at over 75 million people, achieves nothing.
And there was another reason why Bonhoeffer warned against showing contempt: “Whoever despises a human being will never be able to make anything of him.”
You will expect little from a person you despise
We risk overlooking that beneath the frantic “Trump will fix it!” slogans may be a rational person capable of changing their views.
If we want less Trumpism, with or without Trump, we must expect more from others—but also from ourselves.
Bonhoeffer asked, “How often do we expect more of others than we are willing to accomplish ourselves?”
We must make sure we are less of a “useful idiot” than those we criticize. It’s not enough to think, “I’m right because you’re wrong.”
Better Voters
In every democracy, we need to become better voters and citizens. We need to set higher standards.
Having knowledge –on a number of topics– should be the norm. Not just knowledge about the climate or the economy. Not just about immigration or education. But all of them and several more.
Expressing doubt, changing your mind and agreeing with an opponent is normal.
Recognising valid concerns—even if you don’t share the other’s conclusions is normal.
Saying, “I’m concerned about immigration too,” is normal.
It is not about left versus right. It is about being responsible instead of irresponsible.
That is what it means to be an adult.
I wish you a wonderful Wednesday,
