A vast population of people believe that Trump is an unfit President and a complete lunatic on a personal level. I wonder what Ralph Waldo Emerson would have thought about him as a president if he were alive today. I would like to refer to Emerson's essay "Self Reliance" as I explore this idea. Recalling some main ideas from the essay, Emerson promotes following individual ideas, instincts, and experience over the knowledge gained from books, and views of past forefathers; he called it being "self-reliant" and believing in yourself because that is where the "truth" resides. The following are two quotes from the essay and how it may relate to Trump.
"What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think." -- Trump speaks his mind in front of the press, on his social media accounts, and during formal occasions. This began from his presidential campaigns and debates. Trump never appeared to care about what his fellow party member, opposition members, and the vast American people would think. While we thought that he may be disqualified for his misconducts and for holding racist ideologies as a potential leader (which goes against first-world society), he kept winning all the stages and eventually got voted in. As a president, he has changed the entire persona of the position, going against the preconstructed persona set by his predecessors. Did this happen because people admired him for his outright bluntness?
"Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles." -- Trump declared he would do many things for America and the people, such as build a wall on the Mexican border and reverse Obama’s healthcare policies. While quite a few of his declarations may seem “ridiculous” or “crazy” to us, Trump was fully confident in his ideas based on his personal notions of what is right. He does not care about going against the authorities there, and has surprisingly taken most on his side. When he wanted to declare Jerusalem as an Israeli capital, he was outright supported by his party members when he stated that he would hold a personal enmity against those countries that would vote against him.
The fact that Trump followed his instinctive decisions and eventually achieved his presidential position perhaps shows that Emerson's extreme ideas about the self-reliant individual can lead one to success. Would you think that perhaps Emerson would have been proud seeing Trump triumph over set legacies and principles, and make decisions to run the nation based on his own gut instincts? I mean, he is making his own mark as a president!
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