[Ask the Gulch] Does Donald Trump have a huge ego?
Posted by rbroberg 7 years, 4 months ago to Ask the Gulch
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The difference is subtle, but important. An "egotist" is not an "egoist."
You identified Trump's "not having problems with low self esteem" as being "egotistical." I agree that both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are egotistical. Neither one is an egoist.
Also, being open to new facts is not the same thing as being open to "different opinions." Uncritically accepting many points of view is not necessarily a virtue.
Finally, changing one's opinion in the face of new facts is not necessarily an example of rational thinking. It could be the reduction of cognitive dissonance, a form of irrational thinking.
When sketching an analogy about "how men used to do business," I find Donald Trump to be like a successful Willy Loman.
Trump is old school, not polished, not a good speaker, but a master of the deal. He works one on one.
Today we have a bunch of smooth talkers, who fell for TQM like it was the answer. Some eventually found that thinking on their feed at reacting was actually more important than endless meetings.We reached an era when if a guy could deliver a smooth talk, they were promoted, even though they did not understand their product. Gee, did I just describe Obama?
cates much true self-esteem (especially in the
Objectivist sense). He does have a big mouth,
and a tendency to put his foot in it. He seems to have a tendency to shoot off his mouth without thinking much beforehand.Somebody
with more true self-esteem would want to avoid
getting caught being in the wrong because of
what he had said, by being careful beforehand.
Still, I voted for him, considering the alternative.
But we have to watch him, to keep him under a
certain control. He is supposed to be account-
able to us, the people.
Neither Cerf nor Snider bears any resemblance to Donald Trump.
wmiranda wrote: "I believe Trump would be someone Ayn Rand would talk about and enjoy talking to, not necessarily agree with always, but maybe even be friends, if she were alive. However, since they're not contemporaries, we'll never know."
You have to at least have a sizable ego to run for president.
Me dino did not write my self in on the ballot but I did announce my candidacy here in the Gulch.
But so did a couple of other in the Gulch sizable egos that I noticed.
What is a bigger issue is whether or not he can make objective decisions in spite of his ego. So far, I haven't seen much evidence of that - from the billboard to Rubio's "hands" comment to any number of other personal attacks. I hope that it doesn't become his Achilles' Heel.
Reagan successfully made the transition from actor to governor and then to President. He had his terms as Governor to learn the ropes and the job. Trump is trying to make the leap straight to President, and people will be very unforgiving of the inevitable mistakes he will make along the way. But that is precisely where one's ego comes into play. Ego is the sense that I know what I'm doing and I don't need anyone else to help. It is arrogance and pride. When one is used to getting their own way, their ego gets in the way of learning from what didn't work and why - which is sometimes one's ego in the first place! Trump's comments that he "had never done anything wrong and didn't need to change anything" concern me greatly because that is an attitude of ego - not of learning.
Trump and Reagan differ significantly in almost every other major personal character attribute. It will be interesting to see which of those attributes plays out in the first 100 days, as they will be a huge clue as to the rest of his term.
And if he does that, he stands a much better chance at being successful - assuming of course that the people he is getting his information from are honest (and I don't see anything that leads me to believe otherwise ATM). Obama's Cabinet consisted of yes-men and patsies that told him what he wanted to hear - which is often the case when dealing with large egos.
Regarding Romney, I think Romney would have done a credible job as SoS. I would point out that during the 2012 debates with Obama, Romney was correct in pointing out that Russia was the most dangerous threat to world peace - even though he was laughed at on stage. No one is laughing now. I think it would have shown a lot of humility and objectivity to select Romney because it would have shown that Trump was willing to let bygones be bygones. Instead, he held a meaningless grudge. That isn't a trait I see in a great leader - it's the trait I see from a great ego.
Please don't get me wrong. I want Trump to succeed in "making America great again". I remain skeptical, however, that Trump has the necessary tools of character to carry out the necessary changes. I could be wrong. Time will tell. What I don't want anyone getting into is a Trump-mania similar to the Obama-mania that took over the left and led to Obama's Nobel Peace Prize. I won't have any problems lauding Trump after he does something right. I just find the celebration quite premature. Let's wait until after his first 100 days and re-evaluate then, shall we?
Putting own name on everything could an example of a strong ego. You might think easily of Ayn Rand's Hank Rearden or other heroes. The villains had corporations with vague names like Associated Steel and Amalgamated Switch. But in our time, with Donald Trump's generation, the "Me Generation" it could also be just the opposite.
For Donald Trump to "use reason in order to attain his objectives" leaves many questions unanswered about the man and his motives.
On the other hand, for someone who is intelligent and gifted - as he appears to be - impression management might be just a tool, like accounting or law, whether he "believes" in them or not.
I work in a military office and one day, on our way to meeting across base, I discussed Donald Trump with my Sergeant First Class. "What do you make of his success at military school?" I asked. We puzzled it out back and forth, all speculation, but pretty much decided that Donald Trump proved to himself, his father, and the world, that he could excel at whatever he chose to. That speaks well, of him, of course, but does not address the deeper issue of where he finds his inner visibility.
Blanco
"I do not know what I may appear to the world; but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me." -- Sir Isaac Newton.
Newton's colleagues called him fearful, cautious, suspicious, insidious, ambitious, execessively covetous of praise, and impatient of contradiction. Even his relatives and his true friends were modest in their praise of Newton. However great his accomplishments and however strong his personality, Newton was clearly did not enjoy good self esteem or a strong ego.
I agree that the creators and achievers of the past whether in 19th century America or 2nd century China deserve respect and praise from us today. However, it is an error to read into them and their lives what we understand here and now.
I just point out that here in Galt's Gulch Online, we tend to look to Objectivism for an over-arching explanation of the world and worldly events. Donald Trump does not display the actions of a man of strong self-esteem. More to the point, he is not in a position of weakness and never has been. He is free to be himself, whatever that might be... I think that he shows his true self quite clearly, and while he might have "a big ego" in the common vernacular - which daily talk condemns "selfishness" - he does not appear to have a strong ego in the Objectivist sense of the phrase.
I suggest that you look into the available works on Objectivist psychology.
By the way, while I'll put your suggestions on my reading list, I was pretty close to some original Objectivist shrinks. I was friends with Lee Shulman who was a psychologist who was pals with Nathaniel Branden. His break-up with Rand can only be described as a stupid event on both sides