They Not Like Us
Trump and Vance do not represent who we are. Zelenskyy does. If we forget this critical fact, we'll be lost.
Donald Trump and J.D. Vance, they not like us. For eighty years, we Americans, a creedal and patriotic people, have viewed ourselves as the defenders—and sometimes bringers at gunpoint—of democracy and human rights. We led a global system that delivered unprecedented levels of peace and economic development. Pax Americana wasn’t perfect, but it sure beat the hellscape of warfare that dominated the first half of the 20th century.
For three years, a brutal and pitched battle has roiled the heart of Europe following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Russian murder, torture, kidnap children, kill civilians. And yet, the Ukrainians have persevered, often heroically, in the face of overwhelming odds.
In the Oval Office last week, it was clear that Trump and Vance prefer Putin to Zelenskyy because they share Putin’s worldview. It’s the laws of the jungle, where only the strongest survive. Alliances are for suckers like Zelenskyy who believe that democracy, human rights, and self-determination are more important in this world than the raw exercise of amoral power.
The lack of humanity and empathy, the narcissism, the pettiness, the mafioso language about “having the cards” that we saw as Trump and Vance bullied Zelenskyy was disgusting. Because he is ethical and imbued with great moral courage, Zelenskyy stood up to them in a way that was honest, respectful, and firm.
Trump and Vance simply do not care about the legal, human, or moral consequences of their actions. Those with the power should wield it; as Trump said, “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.” What we all need to understand is that he really means that shit.
It’s why DOGE and Elon Musk are moving fast and breaking the government. The law is irrelevant to them; what matters is the accumulation and decisive use of power to break the Federal Government that came out of FDR’s New Deal.
The law may eventually come for DOGE, but it will likely be too late to matter, and it won’t come for Trump. If he pulls us out of NATO or decides not to meet our treaty obligation to defend the Baltic States when Russia invades, is the Supreme Court going to stop him? Is Congress going to impeach and convict him? Of course not.
A few Republicans will complain off-the-record, but God forbid they defend this country in the face of something as scary as a Musk-funded primary challenge (though I should say that the death threats that would come with such a vote are genuinely terrifying, especially with the FBI being run by Trumpists).
Here’s the problem: Trump operates in the realm of power, while our institutions operate in the realm of proceduralism. Procedures work well when everyone agrees on the rules of the game and adheres to norms. The challenge is that Trump doesn’t give a shit. Nor does Elon. In fact, none of them do.
This means that the bulwark against Trump cannot be waiting for the Courts or the GOP to save us.
The only thing that will save us is an alternative conceptualization of power that can confront and overcome what Trump is selling. And the answer lies in our history.
The US built and maintained a world order built on alliances, human rights, democracy, and free trade over the last 80 years because our leaders understood that an aligned group of nations with shared norms benefits America. The global system of today isn’t perfect, but it’s better than previous eras when Great Powers tried to carve up the world, suppressing human rights and democratic aspirations most everywhere.
Animals learned the power of collaboration long ago. It’s why wolves and lions live and hunt in packs. The Great White Shark may be terrifying to us, but they are sometimes food for the Orcas that hunt them in pods.
Other animals like ants realized that even if each individual was small, they could coalesce into a superorganism to accomplish amazing things. In many respects, a well-functioning society is like a superorganism. All of the pieces just work together.
Some people think that this is because of the magic of the market or capitalism. And while markets help, the reason societies work like a superorganism is because there are well-established norms about how you treat others. There’s an expectation that others will treat you fairly and not try to screw you. Business dealings rarely lead to court cases because most people act with integrity most of the time.
Which brings me back to Trump, who cannot conceive of a world in which people collaborate or are trustworthy not because there’s something in it for them, but because that’s just how you’re meant to behave as an ethical human. The sad irony, of course, is that if he really wanted to Make America Great Again, he’d help Zelenskyy and the Ukrainians win the war because a free, democratic, and EU-aligned Ukraine is in our interest.
So, who represents our era? Is it Trump, or his ideological peers like Putin and Xi, or is it Zelenskyy? The story of America has always been the story of Zelenskyy. We cannot forget this. If we do, we’re lost.
Let’s hope that our leaders continuously remind the rest of us, that, at their core, Trump and Vance—they not like us.
Right on