One of my beliefs is that life is a two-edged sword where everything cuts both ways. It is based in Existentialism. If there is one word that describes what is going on in our nation since Donald Trump’s election it is the word, chaos. Trump’s credibility has been stretched and the nation as well as Congress has given him negative feedback. Trump continues to blow up our national structures for helping the American people. 46% percent think he is doing OK and fully support him and see him as strong, courageous, and acting on his promises that he is keeping. Remember that he told us that he knew nothing about the 2025 plan, a lie.
However, that group is growing smaller by the day. Most of America is growing in concern of his erratic behavior and reversal of mandates and tariffs and do not understand what he is doing. He is ignoring the courts and there doesn’t seem to be the necessarily guardrails to keep his actions contained.
The two-edged sword to chaos has two forms. There are people who create it, and there are people who must respond to it. Trump creates it. An ER physician and people like me spend our time responding to it. There is Chaos Theory in psychology which reflects why one person will create it and others will respond to it. People who must respond to it are also police, 911 operators, those in the armed forces, and secretaries who are the glue of institutions to name just a few.
Let’s look at the dynamic that causes both people in these two groups who create it and others wo have to respond to it.
It is hard for me to find someone in our nation who presently is causing more chaos than Trump. His followers think that he is calm, cool, and courageous, and trust that he knows exactly what he is doing. I have had both groups in counseling, those who cause and those who respond.
Trump and his group of chaos producers are usually narcissistic focusing on their needs first. You can see the psychodynamics of Trump stemming from his lack of self-esteem and his desire for others to yield to his power. We can also see this aspect of chaos in his business history which is filled with his seven (7) bankruptcies which then results in stiffing his workers. When they challenge him, he responds with, “Sue me. I will tie you up for years in litigation.” Chaos makers are obsessed with their power and rarely apologize to others who are the people who he has harmed. Even in bankruptcies, he gets satisfaction from a form of winning.
There is also an aspect of “gaslighting” as well which are statements to make everyone feel that he is right and misunderstood and his critics are the people who are just out of their minds. Recall during Covid, he constantly said that it wasn’t a big deal and would soon just go away as quickly as it entered our nation. Now that we are enduring a financial crisis, he indicates that there will be “a little period of transition.” Can you imagine what it is like for our federal workers including vets that they receive an email that they are fired with a mortgage, possibly kids in college, and food to put on their table.
Responders to chaos have people come to them for help. These are people who see interruptions as part of their/my job. In fact, it is at the core their work. Picture arriving at an ER, and the doctor or nurse first says, “I am busy. Your situation may more than I can handle.”
Just as I tend to ask a surgeon how many surgeries he or she has performed on my condition, I want to hear a high number. I want people who come to me feel that “this is not your first rodeo,” which some do indicate. I have a friend who recently visited a surgeon friend of mine for a procedure and called me after his appointment and said, in a critical way, “have you ever met anyone as assured as him?” My response was “if I am having a serious surgery, I want the person operating to be self-assured to the max.
I think that people are made to be like Trump and to be like the ER doctor. First, I believe we are made by various people who have influenced us. We don’t become like Trump overnight, and we don’t become being able to handle tough chaos that the ER doc has coming his way. In the words of Rabbis Kushner, “Tragedy doesn’t have a ticket into our lives. It has a box seat.” It dawned on me at some point that I was most comfortable around people who were through something. In m own family my brother was the Mr. Fix It and fixed anything that was broken. When emotions ran high with anger and confrontation in the family, he was nowhere to be found. So, I became the person who fixed things when dealing when the family issues got out of hand. He became a physicist/engineer at the Pentagon with the highest clearance. Most of you who read these blogs know what I ended up doing.” That takes a skill set as well and a comfort level in the storms of life.
People who respond to crisis as their life’s work probably grew up like me, but I have no research to support that supposition.
If you are someone who doesn’t like crisis or chaos, you still probably will encounter it at some point. Here are three things to consider: Don’t make the mistake of adopting other people’s fears. When a situation arises focus on what you can control and know what you can’t control. Think about when you have handled something like it and got through it. We have conscious and unconscious memory trails in our psyche and behavior. Crisis for some people are like shooting a basketball after much practice. The odds are in your favor.
Remember there are certain things that you can handle and things that you cannot. Know the difference before a crisis is in front of you. People can tell right away if you have been to their rodeo! That’s what Trump doesn’t know. It doesn’t take much for a grifter to believe he can fool those around him or her.
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