{UAH} Has Trump caused irreparable damage to America?

David...ex teacher . currently a butler to an aged cat.

No. It's not Trump's fault. He's simply done what he was elected to do; it was very clear right from the start what sort of President he would be.

What has caused very serious damage, possibly irreparably, to the USA is that he was elected in the first place, and, even more so, that even after nearly four years his approval rating is still so high. Today (19th July 2020) the latest polls show that he has an approval rating of 40.1%. (More people, 55.7%, disapprove, but that doesn't mean that the four in ten people who still support him have ceased to exist.)

I've always tried to believe that, although there is of course an eternal hate-filled ignorant tiny minority - who can perhaps be at least partially excused their hatred because of their ignorance - the enormous majority of people everywhere are basically good-hearted and want the best for their country and the world. Some of them may disagree with me about how to make things better, but it's an honest disagreement about which we could have a rational discussion.

I can no longer cling to this belief, at least as far as the US is concerned. Four out of ten can't be dismissed as a tiny minority. If those four out of ten people still support Trump despite everything (I'm going to take his numerous inadequacies as read) then, quite simply, I can't see a good future for their country. Good-heartedness and rationality just don't apply any more. Maybe they never have, and I've been deluding myself, but what is now entirely clear is that a tipping point has been passed, probably a long time ago when I didn't see it happening, and just a little short of half of the population of the US have been utterly consumed by ignorance and hatred. Without their votes and continuing support, Trump would obviously not be where he is now.

Please note that I've not called these four out of ten 'stupid'; the word I've used is 'ignorant'. (Neither do I claim to be supremely enlightened myself; there are very many things about which I am ignorant.) Their ignorance is the result of a complex set of circumstances largely out of their control. Nevertheless, ignorance has triumphed, and hatred, as always, has followed right behind.

I do have some sympathy for the four out of ten (no doubt they'd find it extremely patronising of me to say so). They feel marginalised and forgotten - with more than a little justification. They vote for Trump because they feel (almost entirely erroneously) that he speaks for them and is on their side. In fact they've been played; he regards them with complete indifference. (To be fair, he's completely indifferent to almost everyone.)

Trump is a symptom, not a cause. Even if he's voted out in November, which seems very likely, the four out of ten people will still be there. Their grievance will only grow when he's gone. Getting rid of him is a necessity, but it will only make their plight and anger and bitterness and the whole situation worse, and continue to damage the US. It's a paradox to which I can see no solution.

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