The meteoric rise of Donald Trump onto the political spectrum has confused, flustered, and even astounded an establishment who believes that they have programmed the masses enough to always vote and accept their way of leadership, no matter how far into chaos these leaders have taken us. And despite the fact that Trump has a history of flip-flopping on issues to accommodate what he feels the public itself is thinking on and below the surface, every time the mainstream feels he goes to far in his rhetoric or actions he keep gaining more support from the people.
And yet there is perhaps a parallel to Donald Trump’s cult of personality inside a fictional character named Jared Vennett from the movie, The Big Short. And it is not necessarily the integrity of both men that is enticing to those desiring deep down who want to change the way things on Wall Street and in Washington are going, but it is their message that so many have been afraid to ask or act upon due to herd mentality and fear of humiliation that is leading many to jump on their bandwagon.
Vinnie Daniel: I Don’t like this. He’s playing us. He’s playing us… he’s got too much skin in the game and he’s dumping his position.
Mark Baum: What if he’s right?
V.D.: You want him to be right.
M.B.: Yes I do. The banks have given us 25% interest rates on credit cards. They have screwed us on student loans where you can never get out from under them. And this guy (Jared Vennett) walks into my office and says, those same banks got greedy, they lost track of the market, and I can profit off their stupidity, Fuck yea I want him to be right.
V.D.: Why don’t you hate this guy, he’s everything you taught us not to trust.
M.B.: I can’t hate him… he is so transparent in his self interest that I kind of respect him. Would I buy a car from him? No. Is he right about the mortgage market? Yea, let’s find out.
Donald Trump is all about the Trump brand, and taking it to ultimate heights during his time spent on the earth. When it comes to real estate, his name is always mentioned in the top 3 of moguls, even with numerous losses both in the past, and following the 2008 Credit Crisis. But what stands out for Trump is his willingness to buck trends and stand up against the establishment in saying and doing what ‘conventional wisdom’ says is a losing strategy. And like in 2005 when Vennett came to Mark Baum with this unimaginable idea to short the housing market, Trump has recognized what the Beltway insiders can’t fathom… which is that there is an growing undercurrent ready to bring out the pitchforks and torches against corrupt and despot rulers who have turned a good system into something on the edge of collapse.
Would any of us do business with a man like Donald Trump? Maybe, maybe not, although in the game of finance losing is not necessarily a bad thing as most successful people historically lose and lose and lose until they find a winning way that leads to ultimate success. But in politics it is different, and the game is all about perception rather than the bottom line, and in this, Donald Trump doesn’t need to change who he is, or what people think about him as a person to offer up something that will give the people the potential to stick it to a government that has stuck it to them for a very long time.
Kenneth Schortgen Jr is a writer for Secretsofthefed.com, Examiner.com, Roguemoney.net, and To the Death Media, and hosts the popular web blog, The Daily Economist. Ken can also be heard Wednesday afternoons giving an weekly economic report on the Angel Clark radio show.
