Some of Trump' s Supporters

One of the presidential candidates expresses sadistic and hateful rhetoric and ideas towards others; appears clueless and has contradictory ideas regarding many fundamental issues; has a history of exploiting others; has multiple wives; fails to release his tax returns; spends all hours of the night on social media; employs clichés, slogans and generalities; has tremendously high unfavorable ratings; and has mental health criteria associated with a narcissistic personality disorder. Regardless of these notions, there is a group of white high school educated males that support him. How can this be? The notion of work has had a long history and an extremely important component of the Protestant ethic. Work is a virtue and laziness is not. Productivity, saving, and providing for one’s family has been a religious cornerstone. Centuries ago, the artisan was admired because of his productivity, creativity and the way he spent his working hours. Physical labor was valued. With the rise of capitalism, the notion of work changed. For some, long hours of physical labor was enslavement. In fact, the South required the use of slaves for their agrarian economy. With the development of services, professions, banking, technological advances, etc. In an expanding and global market, using one’s brain instead of one’s back became more valuable. In other words, education, education, education became one extremely important vehicle for market success. Generally, more education resulted in potentially greater employment and possibly in a work environment that was not only creative but resulted in meaningfulness and self-satisfaction pursuits. On a side note, although monetary rewards was desired that did not always lead to happiness. On the other hand, expending physical energy, long hours, or slave labor to put food on the table does not necessarily lead to a sense of success and/or personal satisfaction. Often, drugs, alcohol, boredom and/or alienation became the ending result, along with a dysfunctional sense of hopelessness. Another resulting factor for this group is laziness, passivity, and an unconscious hostility toward self and toward others. If one has limited education, one is likely to be left far behind in our capitalistic economic system. It’s fairly easy to externalize, rationalize and project blame onto others for misfortune .This is our democratic election process.