This image is based on photos by Gage Skidmore, via Flickr, used under CC BY-SA 3.0 US
The one thing that is consistent about Donald Trump and his supporters is that they want to be loved, and so do we. Watch Donald. He will say whatever makes him popular with the crowd. He loves getting a laugh and a cheer, and it doesn't matter who he hurts to do it. He is an entertainer, not a politician.
And his supporters love him for it, because they feel like they are in his living room getting his attention. These are white men who feel that they are being bypassed by history, who feel that their special place in the world is going away. These are women who feel like they finally have the strong man who cares about them and will care for them. These are all varieties of people who feel that the Donald notices THEM. They are in a special club.
And you can't shake their faith through rational argument about policies, because they are not supporting Trump for his politics. They are like frat brothers who are banding together against some rival group or fans of a rock band, who form a crowd united in adulation for the one who makes them feel special, like they belong.
For those who are not Trump fans, how different are they? Don't they also want to feel loved? Don't they want to feel that Hillary feels and hears them? But do they feel, in fact, that she does? Hillary has some genuine fans who feel that she cares about them. But many of Hillary's supporters believe or hope she is closer to them on political positions, that she is more likely to champion their rights and needs and the rights and needs of workers, minorities, women, the poor, the disabled. They believe she is competent, sane and articulate and that she has some degree of caring. But ouch, that doesn't FEEL like the same. Because she doesn't make us feel like she LOVES us and would really do anything FOR us.
And everyone feels it. When you campaign for Hillary, you try to convince people that she is right. When you campaign for Trump, you share your fervor and invite others into the club.
Everyone needs to feel loved. Love is part of what makes us feel safer in the world, and the need for love is essential to what makes us human. Donald's desperate need to feel loved resonates with his supporters. He needs them to be his friends, to believe in him, and they need him to care for and champion them. Hillary's need to feel loved translates into a need to be right and a need to win, and that doesn't create bonds of devotion. Let's get real. How many of us just adored the smartest girl in the class, the one who made us feel dumb?
This is a critical election, but emotion tends to rule, not reason or wisdom. I am praying for the defeat of Donald Trump, but I have compassion for the man who has such a desperate need for love that he'll say or do anything to make himself look like a hero to be worshipped. And I have compassion for his supporters who somehow feel like they have lost their special place in the world or never had it and who erroneously believe they have found their champion.
And I want Hillary to win, but I do not love her and I don't feel like she loves me. If Hillary wants to win, it would help if she could make us feel like she is really one of us and our champion, that she would do anything for us, because she IS us. But Hillary comes across as careful, self-protective and calculating, instead of passionate, principled and willing to walk through fire to help. And that is why it's hard for her to convert Bernie supporters.
It is a sad commentary about our nation that we are so desperate to feel loved and wanted that millions of people are choosing a man who is ignorant, selfish and a liar. But that's a fact that we need to understand. Whether it's a kid joining a gang to look popular, or a parent who neglects him/herself in order to create bonds of dependence, or a career-person who will do anything to succeed, we are a nation driven by the need for love and admiration. No wonder it is showing up in our elections.
Isn't it time to recognize the collective pain that is motivating our people to choose sides in ways that are polarizing us? Isn't it time to recognize our collective humanity and our collective need to feel wanted and cared for? Isn't it time to revolutionize our society so that the needs of humans, animals and our planet come first, before profits, prestige and ego?
Wouldn't the best way to defeat Donald Trump be to co-create a more loving world where we don't feel so desperate to start with?
Beth Green is founder of TheInnerRevolution.Org, host of Inner Revolutionary Radio on VoiceAmerica.com and creator of Beth Green TV & Radio on YouTube. You can download a free version of Beth's book Living with Reality at www.theinnerrevolution.org. And follow us on Facebook and Twitter where we're building an online community of people who are fighting for a revolution toward Oneness, Accountability and Mutual Support.