The Primary Difference between President Obama and Donald Trump

Some may argue that the primary difference between President Obama and Donald Trump is leadership. Others might point out the lack of Obama’s business credentials versus the business success of Trump. Still others may point out that President Obama is the consummate politician while Trump is the consummate Renaissance man.

While all of these comparisons have been made none is more important than President Obama’s and Donald Trump’s view of America.

A recent Gallup poll found that 75% think there is wide-spread corruption in Washington, a figure that has been fairly constant since 2010. The American people sense that something is very wrong in Washington and President Obama has been the cause of much of that distrust.

William R. Hawkins in his column Trump’s Campaign Slogan – ‘Make America Great Again’ – Reflects Rise in National Sentiment writes:

It is often said that a conservative is a liberal who has been mugged. The turn to the Right in America started with a backlash against the disastrous ideas, both social and economic, that came out of the 1960s and reached fruition with the “stagflation” and anarchy of President Jimmy Carter. A new generation has suffered through the painfully slow half-recovery under President Barack Obama. Thus, both the libertarian and democratic-socialist models have failed. This leaves only a genuine conservative model to save the day, if it can find a champion.

That model is strongly nationalistic. It puts rebuilding the American economy first. People must be able to buy property and plan for the future, if they are going to stand on the Right in politics. They must have something to conserve. Capitalism is very productive, but it must be harnessed, if it is to pull society forward.

The major difference between these two men is: Obama is a socialist but not a nationalist, while Trump is a nationalist who is a capitalist.

The classic statement of nationalism comes from French historian Ernst Renan in 1882, “To have had glorious moments in common in the past, a common will in the present, to have done great things together and to wish to do more, those are the essential conditions for a people.”

Wikipedia gives us this definition of American nationalism:

American nationalism is a form of nationalism found in the United States, which asserts that Americans are a nation and that promotes the cultural unity of Americans.

The key words are common will and cultural unity. A united American  is capable of anything, a divided one is incapable of doing everything. Since 2008 citizens have sensed a growing divide in America based upon class, income, race, religion and political affiliation. What Americans yearn for is a United States of America.

Only those who fit these definitions may be called conservatives and be trusted to work for the common good.

Ayn Rand wrote a short nineteen page paper asking: What is the basic issue facing the world today?

Rand, in her paper makes the case that, “The basic issue in the world today is between two principles: Individualism and Collectivism.” Rand defines these two principles as follows:

• Individualism – Each man exists by his own right and for his own sake, not for the sake of the group.
• Collectivism – Each man exists only by the permission of the group and for the sake of the group.

President Obama (Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and the Democratic Party) are Collectivists. Donald Trump is an Individualist and is fighting against his own Republican Party, the media and the Democrats to become the first nationalist who embraces capitalism since President Ronald Reagan.

I know, comparisons to Ronald Reagan have become a cliche. But in the case of Trump, he speaks in plain terms to the thirst to make America great again. A great America means a peaceful and more prosperous world. History tells us so.

Perhaps what Donald Trump has brought to the forefront was captured by  Francis Bellamy in 1892 in the Pledge of Allegiance:

I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

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