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{"id":17528,"date":"2015-09-02T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-09-02T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leithart.level2d.com\/?p=2353"},"modified":"2015-09-02T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-09-02T00:00:00","slug":"the-scapegoater","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2015\/09\/the-scapegoater\/","title":{"rendered":"The Scapegoater"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n<\/head>

A couple of weeks back, I\u00a0suggested\u00a0<\/a>that part of Trump\u2019s appeal lies in the fact that he resists the scapegoating dynamics of contemporary media and politics. He refuses to take blame.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That, Girard would have us believe, undoes the whole scapegoat mechanism; by unmasking the system, it energizes those who have been scapegoated by the system. Many ordinary Americans feel that they\u2019ve been victimized by American elites, and they relish the spectacle of someone standing up to the victimizers.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s another, more obvious, Girardian dimension to Trump, though. As much as Trump refuses to accept blame, renounces the sacred rites of apology, just as much he blames. He may be the anti-scapegoat, but he eludes becoming a scapegoat by relentless scapegoating.<\/p>\n

In Trump\u2019s case, the scapegoats are international enemies and competitors\u2014China, Mexico, the European and Middle Eastern countries that treat America like a \u201cpatsy,\u201d always ready to help but always left un- or underpaid.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s form of populist nationalism (perhaps all forms of populist nationalism) relies on the demonization of an \u201cother.\u201d If there\u2019s a problem with violence and drug gangs, it has nothing to do with our own moral collapse\u2014it\u2019s Mexico sending in the rapists and murderers. If American corporations have left the country, it\u2019s not because of imbalanced taxes or unions\u2014it\u2019s the Chinese playing dirty.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Girard wouldn\u2019t be surprised by the energy of the crowds that Trump attracts, or the semi-miraculous coalition he\u2019s building from all sides of American politics. This is the effect scapegoating has: It binds together a society suffering the fragmentations of a \u201csacrificial crisis\u201d by concentrating all energy on the scapegoat.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Girard would also warn us to beware of the profound dangers of founding our national greatness on scapegoating.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"