Abraham Yeung - Blog Q2 #1 - An American Success
Trump: An American Success Story
That was the title of a book that I found, scrolling down the Amazon page of books for my POAS project. I initially laughed it off. Obviously, Trump is one of the last names that I, and probably most (if not all) of you attribute to being the embodiment of “American Success.”
American Success.
Those words stuck to me. Trump, of all people, with his simply outstanding moral character, an American success? As I mulled over the thought, I gradually came to the realization that Trump’s life is indeed, an American success story.
Just think: Trump managed to transform his father’s assets, some 400 million dollars of profit from creating middle-income housing, to a billion-dollar brand. Trump has grown from being called “just another real estate developer” in the newspapers to a man so famous, people know him by last name. Trump. The name itself invokes a sense of victory, of superiority. He has appeared in so much media, from Home Alone 2 to WWE, it’s practically impossible to not know him. And now, he’s President of the United States of America, the greatest nation in the world.
A rather glorified portrayal of the events I’m sure, but it certainly contains truth. Trump is without a doubt, an “American success story.” The man has done it all, and achieved the highest position he possibly can.
Having come to this conclusion, I’m starting to think that our definition of “American success” needs to be changed. Sure, achieving power and wealth is indeed a form of success, but that’s not all there is to life. Justice, kindness, philanthropy, and all the qualities we consider “good” are another way of measuring success, and Trump fails quite miserably at these aspects.
However, I think Trump is precisely who he is because he is able to ignore what other people think of him. The concept of “victory at all costs” is ingrained in him, and that’s what makes him stand out.
I believe that people love him, and consider him a success because he represents what America is as a whole. Trump is an extension of our glorification of the American Dream and how America is “the greatest nation” because of its capitalism, its expansion, and its freedom. He is the success story, the foul-mouthed underdog, the “guy I’d like to have a beer with.” If we do not accept Donald Trump as an “American success story,” we cannot hold onto the superiority of American capitalism as a way to maintain global dominance. The traditional American capitalist system simply cannot work without people like Donald Trump—it simply will not grow.
Obviously I didn't pick this book, it seems just a bit biased but here it is, it's a real book
Amazon.com: Trump: An American Success Story eBook : Inman, Arthur: Kindle Store
That was the title of a book that I found, scrolling down the Amazon page of books for my POAS project. I initially laughed it off. Obviously, Trump is one of the last names that I, and probably most (if not all) of you attribute to being the embodiment of “American Success.”
American Success.
Those words stuck to me. Trump, of all people, with his simply outstanding moral character, an American success? As I mulled over the thought, I gradually came to the realization that Trump’s life is indeed, an American success story.
Just think: Trump managed to transform his father’s assets, some 400 million dollars of profit from creating middle-income housing, to a billion-dollar brand. Trump has grown from being called “just another real estate developer” in the newspapers to a man so famous, people know him by last name. Trump. The name itself invokes a sense of victory, of superiority. He has appeared in so much media, from Home Alone 2 to WWE, it’s practically impossible to not know him. And now, he’s President of the United States of America, the greatest nation in the world.
A rather glorified portrayal of the events I’m sure, but it certainly contains truth. Trump is without a doubt, an “American success story.” The man has done it all, and achieved the highest position he possibly can.
Having come to this conclusion, I’m starting to think that our definition of “American success” needs to be changed. Sure, achieving power and wealth is indeed a form of success, but that’s not all there is to life. Justice, kindness, philanthropy, and all the qualities we consider “good” are another way of measuring success, and Trump fails quite miserably at these aspects.
However, I think Trump is precisely who he is because he is able to ignore what other people think of him. The concept of “victory at all costs” is ingrained in him, and that’s what makes him stand out.
I believe that people love him, and consider him a success because he represents what America is as a whole. Trump is an extension of our glorification of the American Dream and how America is “the greatest nation” because of its capitalism, its expansion, and its freedom. He is the success story, the foul-mouthed underdog, the “guy I’d like to have a beer with.” If we do not accept Donald Trump as an “American success story,” we cannot hold onto the superiority of American capitalism as a way to maintain global dominance. The traditional American capitalist system simply cannot work without people like Donald Trump—it simply will not grow.
Obviously I didn't pick this book, it seems just a bit biased but here it is, it's a real book
Amazon.com: Trump: An American Success Story eBook : Inman, Arthur: Kindle Store
Hey Abraham! I genuinely loved your analysis of Trump in your blog, and clearly our POAS assignment inspired you to do some deeper research! While I agree with literally almost everything you say, I don’t believe Trump is (fully) self-made, because not only did he inherit a huge amount of wealth from his father which allowed him to start his businesses, but he also, according to this article by the NPR (pulling up a source in a blog comment has to be d1 jobless :) ran a “spectacular con”, and the reputation that allowed him to build his businesses all derived from that. However, I do believe that even so he did build a huge empire out of $400 million, which is definitely an achievement. I believe your opinion that redefining what it means to have achieved the American Dream is absolutely amazing and reflects my own: do you think your new proposed identity should be reflected across the world too, or does it only apply to the US? In your writing, I believe your use of a very (very) short paragraph brought attention to exactly what you wanted to convey, which is fantastic! You italicize many words, which I think was crucial in delivering your sarcasm which really adds to your message, and your anaphora of the word “the” in the last paragraph also emphasizes what you perceive Trump to be. Overall, I think this is a fantastic piece because you not only taught us more about Trump but also were able to get your opinions through really effectively!
ReplyDeleteHi Abraham, I wanted to first start off by saying I really liked the topic you decided to explore in your blog. Donald Trump might be one of the most fascinating people on the planet today to learn more about, and I chuckled quite a bit at your joke in the beginning about Trump’s moral character. I think that calling Donald Trump’s story an American success story is just a bit of a stretch. I do not deny that he has amassed a lot of wealth and power, but the fact that the American public has been deluded to looking at the very few victories that Donald Trump has achieved is dangerous. Donald Trump has gotten out of trouble purely because he got lucky, he has a multitude of failed businesses, and if he didn’t come from wealth, he would just be a famous failed business wannabe. I think this is the problem with America today, everybody only has half the story and that is how he won. By becoming infamous with the American people and relying on those who are uneducated, especially uneducated conservatives whose thoughts and ways of life are rooted so deeply in the past to help him achieve victory. I really liked your description of him as a “foul-mouthed underdog”, but I do think that American capitalism can work without the likes of Donald Trump. It is also very dangerous to put people in power, especially if they don’t care about what others think about them to the extent that Trump doesn’t care. Does Trump’s name, or the mention of “Trump” really make you think about victory or the American dream first? Or does it also remind you of a failed business man, a man who doesn’t believe in global warming, or a man whose rhetoric has degraded so much that even he doesn’t know what he’s saying?
ReplyDeleteNow that I think about it, Trump does embody both “American success” and “success” in general, and I agree with your assertion that this shows that our definition of success needs to change. Even though other people do hold up Trump as a positive figure, the way his “underdog” (debatable) to wannabe-dictator story is so perfectly representative of American ideals does serve as a good wake-up call.
ReplyDeleteThere have been people who have said that we need to separate the idea of “success” away from how much power and/or monetary value we hold as individuals for longer than Trump has been a well-known political figure, but this is still an idea that most Americans have not taken to heart. It would benefit people to see satisfaction, if not happiness, with their place in life and the good they do for the world as success; while those things do still require money and therefore do not break away from capitalism completely, they are infinitely better than using people like Trump as role models and equating success to the amount of control someone has over those around them.
I’d also like to add that I have seen books like the one you have written about here at the library; they seem to radiate this specific kind of malice just sitting there on the shelf. For the sake of free speech I would never advocate for their removal, but it still makes me viscerally uncomfortable when figures like him are glorified. Either way, great job on your blog!
I was actually discussing this with my APUSH teacher last week! Despite being far from a part of the common people, Trump somehow succeeds portraying himself as the average Joe.
ReplyDeleteThe man was born into wealth. He once said: “My father gave me a small loan of a million dollars” when discussing how he started his company. “Small” is…definitely one way to describe that seven-figure investment! I must say, it doesn’t get more humble than that.
Yet, so much of his image implies that he’s a “rags-to-riches” story when that just isn’t the reality. Even if he fits under the criteria of American Success like you discussed, his exaggerated rhetoric presents him as an underdog, a self-made man. In a world of poorly-informed voters, it’s easy for populists like him to gain power. Fueled by capitalism, his authority over the country becomes more and more dangerous each day.