Donald Trump has been hailed by friends and foes for beating the odds by winning the presidential election. I agree that the political establishment was relatively less supportive of him and he had to brave his way through, bashing and ignoring many universally accepted values such as human and women's rights, freedom of belief and expression, respect for the disabled and protection of minorities but it is hard not to observe that he greatly benefited as well from the superficial consumer culture of today. Here are five reasons why we should have never been surprised at seeing him win the 2016 Electoral College votes.
1. Wealth: In our wealth-infested society, money is the yardstick for measuring success. We constantly quantify the unquantifiable values such as intellectual prowess, artistic brilliance and even individual self-worth by measuring achievement in entirely monetary terms. Trump is not just rich; he is also blessed with the ability to showcase his wealth, a skill that is in essence his only true credential as a TV star and/or politician. His wealth was so threatening to his rivals that the Clinton camp worked hard to prove him being a few billions short of his bluffs, indirectly admitting the purifying power of monetary strength. With that argument in mind, a billionaire businessman was destined to beat a millionaire senator; after all it is basic maths that a billion is worth a thousand millions.
2. Narcissism: Narcissism was probably never as prevalent in history as it is today. In an age when taking selfie is probably one of the most regular activities of a young person's daily timetable; Trump should naturally be the fittest person to run for office. Actually, not electing Trump because of his narcissistic behaviour would have been quite hypocritical, considering the fact that our most common behavioural traits are the exaggerated sense of self-worth along with a carving for admiration and praise.
3. Fame: Our modern societies carve for fame and famous people so much so that the thin line separating fame from notoriety is constantly blurred. Trump has everything that you need today in order to be amorally famous. He was the star of a reality TV show, he is controversial and the media cannot stop talking about him. Does such a famous person not deserve becoming the president of a people who passionately long for what he has so easily attained?
4. Disrespect: We seem to have long forgotten that one can be honest and decent at the same time. Commentators and comedians keep telling us that being blunt and outrageous is not just cool; it is an indication of being truthful. After years of demonizing politeness and subtlety, it should be no wonder that the man with the meanest approach towards almost everything other than himself wins the highest office of the world. Let's not forget that Trump capitalized upon decades of political incorrectness preached by both leftist and rightist media commentators.
5. Simplicity of thoughts: A lot of Trump's opponents had assumed that the simplicity of his thoughts would be a drawback and a possible symptom of idiocy but fact of the matter is that in an age where people especially the youth get their news from comedy shows, their history lessons from podcasts and their moral and philosophical values from one-liners and memes, Donald Trump's popular tweets are nothing but normal. They are a portrayal of our general interest in simplistic utterances and our common disregard for sophisticated ideas and thoughts.