Indeed, there's nothing complicated about Trump at all. His mindset is that of the average midwestern boomer, and is in no way particularly special. I've known a dozen Trumps in my life, even people who are worse on average than him.
In a way, he's the most average President this country has ever had, which is why we're doomed as a society.
Really can't agree with your general thrust on this (not the least of which because you identify him as a mid-western boomer...). But he's a narcissist, not a "typical boomer." To confuse the two undermines your point, as I've known many selfish people in
my time, and none are so nasty as the narcissists I know.
See, if you had said they weren't
unique or
special you could be very correct. There are many indeed, and curiously narcissists are profoundly similar in character and outlook, regardless of whether they are actually intelligent or fools, rich/poor or anything in between. But misunderstanding the narcissistic mindset is precisely how one finds themselves at their mercy, because they
don't act like "normal" people would, even people in their demographic strata.
Trump is an idiot, but that type of behavior is the one thing in the world that I think he's good at. And if you've ever had experience with an abusive person or narcissist, you know that it's not really about some grand strategy that involves thinking really far ahead. It's more of an evolved instinct. He probably isn't even consciously aware of the meaning of what he's doing. But even if it's not consciously intended, it's still a behavior that's learned for the purpose of laying the groundwork for being able to conveniently pick from an array of shifting narratives in the future. It's not even anything complicated. It's a really simple formula. It just appears like intelligent grand strategy thinking to people when you try to describe what it is, because it's not how most people think and short-circuits the things they take for granted about social fabric.
SalmonGod is (mostly) right - save that in my experience they are at least aware of it, enough to tell you how helpless you are. But regardless the behavior is, in my experience (both personal, and what I've heard from others, what I've read, and what I've seen on Jury Duty), remarkably similar across individuals in
profoundly different situations, so much so that it cannot be anything but convergent (personal) evolution. Certain circumstances, none unique to demographic backgrounds (namely certain childhood situations or long-term exposure to a narcissist as a child) can bring it out, and when brought out it acts the same, to a degree which is genuinely remarkable.
Trump acts out the precise formula of the Narcissist's Prayer, every time. So yes, it's not unique to him personally, although his personal circumstances (namely being the son of a realty mogul) allowed him to parley it into wealth and power. But it's not common, either, maybe 1% of individuals. They can't be too common, as narcissists ultimately need other, normal people to feed off of.
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