It’s time for us, like the boy in the story, to point out the bare, ugly truth. Trump’s followers need to see him for what he is and realize they are putting their trust in a sham, a fake, a fraud.
The first step, though, requires helping them to realize that no one is perfect, that ALL humans are fallible. Americans, especially, have forgotten a key principle of democracy: no man is divine, and America has no time for hero-worship or kings.
Some of us understand that perfection, while admirable, is not the end goal, and while we recognize that everyone has the propensity to do great things, we equally understand that our very humanity makes us open to reproach. We find our strength, though by acknowledging our weaknesses, improving on them, and subsequently improving ourselves and our world. Personal, societal, and political growth occurs only after we’ve learned from our mistakes.
People who can’t admit they’ve ever done anything wrong will inevitably lead us down a wrong path and hinder any progress we could make, personally, and as a nation.
Knowing we possess strengths and weaknesses is the ultimate human triumph, and denying existence of error and human fallibilities, believing that that there exists a perfect, benevolent leader will be the beginning of our downfall.
Human development, improvement, and growth begins with mindful self-reflection, but because Donald Trump has shown us that he is incapable of any of those actions, that he’s unable to ever admit any flaws, imperfections, or mistakes, we can determine that he will never bring strength to our nation.
Any leader who believes they are above reproach and who convinces people that they are wearing the clothing of a king while their naked crimes are on display will most certainly lead any nation down a path of destruction. In effect, believing the fairy tales we let other people create for us, is an epic mistake we can no longer afford to make.
Right now, the United States is a dystopian, fairy tale country where an emperor parades through the streets wearing nothing but a sinister smile, and while a certain group of people cheer him on, telling him how great he is, and how beautiful his figurative garments are, the rest of us and the rest of the world are pointing to the naked truth of his hypocrisy and to the bare facts that he’s a sham, a grifter, and common criminal pretending to be a hero.
Trump’s “kingdom” will not end well for any of us. We will only begin to heal when he is finally ousted from his counterfeit throne, when Americans reject the false fairy tale we are being fed, and when we return again to the reason, logic, and democracy on which our country was founded.
America doesn’t need a naked, fairy tale emperor whose only goal is money, fame, and power. We need a leader with humility, one knows strength comes from examining weakness, and who loves the American people more than his own selfish desires.