For Trump, the Political is Always Personal
A senior consultant in Saul Alinsky’s Industrial Areas Foundation used to teach progressive leaders that there is--and should be--a difference between public and private values, that in private life, relationships are ends in themselves while for public actors, relationships are, and should be, more instrumental and transactional. Self-sacrifice is normal in personal relationships, while self-interest guides public action. For political leaders, personal gratification should take a backseat to public service. Of course, there is often a blurring of these boundaries, but, in general, when these domains get too confused, the consequences are usually disastrous. We see in Donald Trump an extreme example of what happens when someone in public is unable to have any guard rails between the pressures of his or her private psychology and public actions. In Donald Trump’s world, the political is always personal.
