{"id":5583,"date":"2026-08-31T10:15:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T10:15:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5583"},"modified":"2026-08-31T10:15:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T10:15:16","slug":"a-philosopher-predicted-trumps-surreal-new-strategy-75-years-ago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5583","title":{"rendered":"A philosopher predicted Trump\u2019s surreal new strategy 75 years ago"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

I still come across people who believe Trump won the 2020 election, that the attack on the U.S Capitol on January 6, 2021, was an act of patriotism, that Trump\u2019s subsequent indictments and felonies were Biden\u2019s work, that most immigrants are criminals, that Democrats are evil, that Jews are trying to replace white Christians born in America, that Muslims can\u2019t be trusted, that a significant amount of voting is fraudulent, that we\u2019re winning the war against Iran, that the economy has never been as good, that climate change is a hoax, that Canada poses a threat to the United States and it\u2019s only fair for Lake Ontario to be renamed Lake America.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump drowning as sharks circle the White House and rats jump ship<\/a><\/p>\n

To label these people \u201cdeluded\u201d is to overlook an entire world created by Trump and his assistants, Cabinet secretaries, \u201cspokespeople,\u201d other political appointees, Republican enablers in Congress and state legislatures, and billionaire accomplices in the media (Musk, Murdoch, Pichai, Bezos, Zuckerberg, the Ellisons) \u2014 all of whom have reinforced Trump\u2019s \u201cartificially fabricated insanity,\u201d as the philosopher Hannah Arendt once termed the technique of totalitarian tyrants. <\/p>\n

Google, for example, just updated its Maps application to rename Lake Ontario \u201cLake America.\u201d <\/p>\n

(It\u2019s already relabeled the Gulf of Mexico the \u201cGulf of America.\u201d)<\/p>\n

Totalitarian movements, Arendt wrote, succeed not by convincing people of a specific lie but by creating a consistent, logical fictional world that defies ordinary common sense and human experience. <\/p>\n

Which raises the questions that a growing number of Americans are asking: Is Trump insane? Are those who believe Trump\u2019s artificially fabricated world insane? Are they making the rest of us<\/em> insane?<\/p>\n

I remember during the Biden administration when a panel of medical experts \u2014 the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force \u2014 recommended that doctors screen all adult patients under 65 for depression and \u201canxiety disorders.\u201d The advisory group said the guidance was intended to deal with a rise in mental health disorders that were going undetected and untreated. <\/p>\n

The advice highlighted the extraordinary stress levels that have plagued Americans in recent years, especially since Trump and his enablers and accomplices have come to power. Lori Pbert, a clinical psychologist and professor at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, who served on the task force, called mental health disorders \u201ca crisis in this country.\u201d<\/p>\n

But maybe we need to stop thinking about anxiety and depression as \u201cdisorders\u201d and start regarding them as rational responses to a society that\u2019s become ever more disordered under Trump, and to an economy that\u2019s been leaving so many behind. <\/p>\n

Read more Shockwaves ripple through the GOP after voters flip on key issues<\/a><\/p>\n

Sane Americans are outraged by Trump\u2019s continuous lies, terrified by his attacks on our democracy, upset by his arbitrary renaming and rearranging of our reality, angry about his brutality toward immigrants in our communities, and furious at his encouragement of homophobia, transphobia, and racism. They\u2019re also concerned about the soaring costs of living and growing insecurity of jobs. <\/p>\n

Let me be clear: Trump is out of his gourd. He\u2019s losing all connection to reality. His lies are becoming more brazen. His statements about Canada, his war in Iran, the economy, and immigrants, all increasingly bizarre.<\/p>\n

But his MAGA movement is just about over. His polls are in the cellar. Many of his followers now see through his lies. \u201cIt is in the moment of defeat that the inherent weakness of totalitarian propaganda becomes visible,\u201d Arendt wrote. At such point, the followers of tyrants \u201cquietly give up the movement as a bad bet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yes, of course, we need better access to mental-heath care. We also need better wages, more job security, and stronger safety nets. <\/p>\n

Perhaps even more important to the mental well-being of most Americans, we need an administration and media that don\u2019t promote artificially fabricated insanity but that consistently and reliably tell Americans the whole truth.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019d like Google to return to naming it Lake Ontario, I urge you to open Google Maps on your computer or mobile app and sign in, then click or tap the menu icon (three lines) or your account profile picture in the top corner, select \u201cEdit the Map\u201d or \u201cYour opinions about Maps,\u201d type your feedback explaining that the lake should remain designated Lake Ontario, and click Send. You might do the same for the Gulf of Mexico.<\/p>\n

Robert Reich is a professor of public policy at Berkeley and former secretary of labor. His writings can be found at <\/em>https:\/\/robertreich.substack.com\/<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more Legal expert reveals \u2018the worst part\u2019 of the Supreme Court\u2019s latest ruling<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Decades before MAGA, a legendary thinker explained how leaders manipulate reality to control the public.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5582,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nA philosopher predicted Trump\u2019s surreal new strategy 75 years ago - Next Address America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5583\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A philosopher predicted Trump\u2019s surreal new strategy 75 years ago - Next Address America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Decades before MAGA, a legendary thinker explained how leaders manipulate reality to control the public.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5583\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next Address America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-31T10:15:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=5583#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=5583\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a4840e0eb2094ec31aed2107d53108b3\"},\"headline\":\"A philosopher predicted Trump\u2019s surreal new strategy 75 years ago\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-31T10:15:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=5583\"},\"wordCount\":789,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=5583#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/40337f1ea79be73a627ea91307348932.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=5583#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=5583\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=5583\",\"name\":\"A philosopher predicted Trump\u2019s surreal new strategy 75 years ago - 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