- Joined
- Apr 29, 2012
- Messages
- 17,856
- Reaction score
- 8,334
- Location
- On an island. Not that one!
- Gender
- Undisclosed
- Political Leaning
- Socialist
Does Trump's ignorance of the world outside of his real estate development bubble increase the danger of war? The link is to an opinion piece but Josh Marshall's opinion is shared by many, including the leaders of allied nations and not so allied countries.
Back in December, the Global Times, a Chinese state-controlled media outlet had a headline: State-run Chinese newspaper: Trump 'as ignorant as a child'
From Israel's Haaretz Reality Bites Trump as Syria Crisis Looms Large
"He should emulate predecessors such as Andrew Johnson and delegate strategic decisions to more able subordinates"
From Deutsche Welle:
Adding to the view that Trump is not only ignorant but actually believes that he is smarter than everyone else are the multiple reports that he prefers graphics and photos to words when he is being briefed on complex matters.
Ignorance is dangerous but refusing to accept one's ignorance multiplies the adverse effects greatly, when the ignorant one is the most powerful person on Earth.
Back in December, the Global Times, a Chinese state-controlled media outlet had a headline: State-run Chinese newspaper: Trump 'as ignorant as a child'
Trump and The Problem of Militant Ignorance
It is what we might call ‘the consensus judgment’ that President Trump is a deeply ignorant man and perhaps a profoundly ignorant President. But it is worth stepping back and considering just what this means, the different kinds of ignorance that exist and how they differ.
(. . .)
What is endearing, terrifying and hilarious about Trump is not simply his ignorance, really his militant ignorance, but his complete lack of self-awareness about his ignorance. Trump told a reporter for The Wall Street Journal that his understanding of the problem of North Korea changed dramatically after hearing ten minutes of history from the President of China. Needless to say, Trump didn’t need to admit this. But neither was it candor.
So far the Trump Presidency has been a sort of Mr Magoo performance art in which the comically ignorant Trump learns elemental or basic things that virtually everyone in the world of politics or government already knew – things that the majority of adults probably know.
(. . .)
Remaining ignorant is probably a good adaptive strategy for him because it allows him to pretend that everything is obvious, that he can solve any problem and generally act like he can do anything – in a way, this allowed him to become President.
What is key though is to understand that this is not just ignorance. Ignorance is just the first stage of Trump’s fairly advanced problem. He is not only ignorant but clearly unaware of his level of ignorance. This is compounded by a seeming inability to understand that everyone else isn’t equally ignorant to him.
From Israel's Haaretz Reality Bites Trump as Syria Crisis Looms Large
"He should emulate predecessors such as Andrew Johnson and delegate strategic decisions to more able subordinates"
From Deutsche Welle:
However, although mistrust of the intelligence agencies and their upper echelons is appropriate, it is presumptuous, naïve and downright dangerous to generally disavow their work - something President-elect Donald Trump has been doing for some time now. His claim, made in December last year, that he didn't need an intelligence service briefing on a daily basis, only if the situation required one, because he was "a smart person," not only bears witness to arrogance and ignorance. Quite possibly, it also puts security in the US and throughout the world at risk.
Adding to the view that Trump is not only ignorant but actually believes that he is smarter than everyone else are the multiple reports that he prefers graphics and photos to words when he is being briefed on complex matters.
For one thing, it's clear that Trump is not a devotee of reading, whether it's newspapers, books or memos. Instead, he is most moved by what he sees and hears in a most fundamental sense. When Trump began receiving intelligence briefings in January, his aides asked the briefers to reduce the number of words in their daily briefing book and instead use more pictures and other graphics. Trump, the aides explained, is a "visual and auditory learner," according to the Washington Post. After Trump took office in January, his staff assessed President Barack Obama's contingency plans for Syria and trimmed them into small pieces, illustrated by photos, the Post said, so Trump could get a better grasp on what was going on in his own way and so he could best improve the situation.
Ignorance is dangerous but refusing to accept one's ignorance multiplies the adverse effects greatly, when the ignorant one is the most powerful person on Earth.