Trump is the smoke generator

There is a famous phrase we use all of the time; “smoke and mirrors“. Do you know where it came from? It came from a German charlatan named Johann Georg Schröpfer. Mr. Schröpfer lived in the 1700s and gained notoriety by claiming to be able to raise the ghosts of the dead. Of course he could not. It turned out Mr Schröpfer used a simple projection mechanism, smoke and mirrors to give the illusion of ghosts appearing in front of his victims.

Since then, we’ve seen other forms of smoke and mirrors illusions. One of the more recent and notorious would be Bernie Madoff. Through smoke and mirrors he swindled his victims out of more than $50 billion (that’s a B, for Billion) over a span of decades. Though Madoff’s smoke and mirrors act is technically known as a ponzi scheme, the main principle of smoke and mirrors is present never the less. The smoke and mirrors are there as a tool to give the victims what they want. To tell the victims what they want to hear. And in the process to hide, and obscure, what the criminal is really after.

Mr. Schröpfer wanted to make money and gain fame. His victims wanted to believe the dead, were not dead. They wanted to believe there was an afterlife and when their time came, they would be OK. Mr. Schröpfer simply gave them what they wanted and in turn, he got what he wanted. Similarly, Madoff wanted to be rich. His victims also wanted to be rich, but with little risk. So he gave them what they wanted. He falsified documents claiming above average returns on a consistent basis. Even in a downturn, Madoff delivered. His victims wanted to feel safe in the unpredictable world of the stock market, and Madoff gave them that… the feeling of safety. In turn, he used their money to be what he wanted; rich.

None of this is new to us. We all inherently know when we’re being manipulated. This is why it is so difficult for charlatans to pull their trickery on individuals (it happens, but less often). One-on-one, the jig is obvious. But in a group, with a help of an accomplice, or a believer in the group, we fall back into group-think mode. This is where the charlatan has the upper hand. This is where they use the power of the group to chastise disbelievers, and gain consensus. And with the difficult work done, the rest is easy for them.

Trump is a charlatan. An individual that traffics in confidence. An individual that is willing to tell people what they want to hear in return for what he wants. In middle America you “build that wall” and “lock her up“. In front of world dignitaries, “you make deals for America“. All the while, you use various forms of smoke and mirrors, like making crazy statements in interviews, tweeting (is this really how a President should communicate?) nonsense and generally keeping the media busy chasing their tail. Leaving them with little time to do their job, to keep citizens informed. And if the media ever gets close the seeing behind the smoke, you call it fake news.

Schröpfer and Madoff would be proud that one of them has made it this far.