Trumping Xenoism

The American political culture is going through its own period of disruptive innovation. Unfortunately, the only viable product coming out is the coining of a new concept, namely, xenoism. Since that term cannot be found in a definitional search on Google, clearly it has no true meaning in life -- at least not yet.

But the biggest BrainDump in US politics -- the actions and intentions captured by GOP presumptive fool Donald Trump -- is breaking new ground by trying to capitalize on its potential. It ain’t cool to be racist, but it “might,” in some circumstances, be cool to be over-the-top American First. Favoring grandiose ideal of national exceptionalism has risen time and again as the rallying call of people with … well … at least delusions of motivational glory, often under the mistaken belief that their worries justify unusual takes on the world they live in. Fortunately, in this day of virtual globalism, such conceptions cannot be allowed to stand. Doing so makes them come across as a hybrid of xeno fears hiding behind racial animosities.

Enter xenoism. Xenophiles might be explicit lovers of things foreign and different, but xenoists are dislikers, haters, fearmongers of the same. Try as they do to straddle the demarcations between admiration and jealous hatred, their efforts fail and do little more than birth a new form of unhealthy skepticism. This is, by definition, all that Trump and his kin are, particularly since they are likewise willing to film their "reality" takes on those ugly others.

If we let them get away with it -- stand back, giving them the benefit of the doubt -- we do the disservice of adding legitimacy to their misunderstandings. Not comprehending or appreciating the world we live in is like and yet judging it with hurtful superiority serves no purpose greater than bringing our culture down to race, class, and gender defilements.

Xenoism empowers nothing useful. A powerful lesson we all might benefit from even if it requires us all to face the realization that in a virtual world we are all foreigners in our own lands at some point.