Angry leaders in the age of insecurity
analysts have long said that we are living an “age of anxiety.” The threat of nuclear war, the proliferation of terrorism, violent threats in peaceful settings like schools and social gathering places, and so on, have made us understandably nervous.
Anxiety, which is fear without an obvious threat, can progress from normal anxiety (e.g., stage fright, health worries, separation anxiety, feeling trapped) to psychological disorders (obsessive-compulsiveness, panic attacks, sleeplessness). Professional counselors make a living off these anxiety disorders.
When a disorder lives too long, becomes too powerful, or goes too deep, it makes a person very insecure. And when a culture becomes too anxious for too long, it fosters mass insecurity.
I believe that anxiety problems have become so “normal” that we’re now living in an “age of insecurity”, which is driving us mad. I don’t mean mad as in crazy, but mad as if we are itching for a fight to distract us from insecurity and anxiety. But it doesn’t really help.
We can make enemies of just about anyone or anything, but the real fight is within our own hearts and minds. We have to learn to better cope with anxiety and insecurity.
Part of our inadequate answers to this age are that we have allowed character lapses to be normalized. Public people have been allowed to be dishonest, sexually harassing, uncivil in their arguments, and just plain bullies. The #MeToo movement and our focus on stopping bullying are two examples of our culture waking up to these kinds of misbehavior.
During such times of insecurity we need leadership that has equanimity and confidence, leaders who can guide us through anxious times with clarity, courage, and integrity. Unfortunately, during such times we often get leaders who are reactive, judgmental, angry, and mad.
These demagogues offer us scapegoats to fuel a culture war, or even a literal war, for they know that rage is just under the surface with insecure people. Mobilizing rage can be very profitable and empowering.
Political rage is a way to cover up character weaknesses. Demagogues are trying to hide their own character flaws. We often call it “bait and switch” – changing the subject from character issues to issues that arouse deep insecurity.
President Trump is the embodiment of this difficulty. His vacillating values, his attention-seeking, lying, poor impulse control, sexual misbehavior, name-calling, ad hominem argumentation (focusing on the person, not the argument) point to character flaws and arrested development. His behavior demeans his character and because of his leadership position, it demeans our nation’s character.
I have friends who accept Trump’s presidency because they think other policy positions are more “dangerous” than Trump’s. Other friends like Trump’s policy initiatives and tolerate Trump’s character issues, arguing that the good he might do overrides his personal failings.
I think character matters more than policy in regard to high offices, particularly the presidency. It is not good to compromise moral integrity by supporting someone with serious character flaws.
All of us have dark places in our past that continue to haunt us, but when you or I refuse to look inward and recognize those immature tendencies, we put ourselves and our co-workers in serious trouble. At such times, the nation is lucky you or I are not the president.
Unfortunately for us now, President Trump does not appear to be open to his own disorderliness, his own inseCultural curity, his own character flaws. In this age of insecurity, he is making us worse.
Dr. Ron McDonald is a pastoral counselor and professor at Church Health and Memphis Theological Seminary. Parts of this commentary were previously published in friendsjournal.org. For more commentary, go to commercialappeal.com/opinion/
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