Donald Trump may represent financial success, but there is much more to New York than financial competitiveness. (Courtesy of Flickr).
By John Christen
Ross Douthat, a Harvard-educated author, blogger and columnist for the New York Times, successfully rationalized “New York media’s long-standing love affair with Trump” in an article published in the April 16 Times. He wrote that the New York Post’s recent endorsement of Trump is unsurprising. The New York Post is an embarrassment to journalism, a tabloid feeding off the same breed of misinformation fueling Trump’s campaign. The Post praised Trump’s adherence to traditional “New York City values,” a statement partly justified by Douthat, who agreed that Trump aligns perfectly with “New York’s distinctive culture (worldly, striving, ever-so-slightly-impolite).”
I do not claim to be an authority on what makes this great city “the Big Apple” or “the city that never sleeps.”
However, commercial success, a selfish attitude and the overly-polarized, often laughably subjective media characterizes not New York City, but Donald Trump. That being said, Douthat’s piece in the Times oozed not-so-subtle sarcasm. Sure, Trump became elevated to celebrity-status through the same liberal media outlets that want nothing to do with him now (NBC, Time Magazine, Spy, Esquire, etc.).
Yet, these companies did not realize the monster they were creating. Douthat’s article congratulates the New York Post for confirming Donald Trump’s embodiment of the world that created him: the entertainment industry.
It disappointed me, however, that Douthat did not explicitly defend the values that actually characterize the inhabitants of New York. Trump represents the unfortunate extremes that occur in any society: greed, narcissism, misogyny, manipulation, deception, and xenophobia — and the list goes on. The New York Post’s claim that Donald Trump exudes “the best of New York values” is horribly backwards. Anyone can come to the defense of Trump, citing any number of extraneous acts of good will (that likely mask a selfish motive), but his track record speaks for itself.
I do not think that New Yorkers support and condone actions such as Trump’s provocation of violence at his rallies, his disgusting comments about the attractiveness of his own daughter, Ivanka, or his advocating for the murder of possible-terrorists’ families. Perhaps the Post thinks they do, and perhaps that is the precise reason the New York Post does not win Pulitzer prizes.
I agree that Donald Trump is a manifestation of the purely-capitalist, profit-driven and extremely wealthy side of New York City, but the Post was not necessarily trying to appeal to the minority of New Yorkers who strive for financial success. The newspaper tabloid’s endorsement unintentionally misrepresented 8.4 million people.
That he has successfully preyed upon the anger of the politically underrepresented does not mean he has their best interests at heart. He appeals to some of the reported two-thirds of Americans who believe the United States requires a political overhaul. He does not, however, appeal to the values that many people would agree define this country, or the great symbol of its diversity, New York.
As a college student living in New York City, my understanding of its values have nothing to do with Trump’s greediness or over-inflated ego. The overwhelming majority of people in New York that I have encountered do not fall under the same values umbrella as the New York Post and Trump.
The racial, ethnic, socioeconomic and cultural disparities (among many others) that make this city incredible are not defined by the idiotic rants of a person tragically-underprepared to become the president of the United States. The Post’s grossly-incorrect and broad claim that Trump represents not some, but all of the best values that have propelled New York to its current stature is unconvincing at best.
New York is home to many of the intellectual, academic, scientific and artistic capitals of the world and was built by ordinary people striving to forge the best lives for themselves and their families. It is a place best categorized as progressive, though strongly rooted in its own sense of tradition.
Trump is a symbol of the values that cause many to frown upon New York City — values rooted in a sense of entitlement and greed. If you want to better understand the values that collectively form the foundation of the city that never sleeps, you must first comprehend the diversity of this city.
Ostensibly, Trump’s values align with the aspects of New York most commonly portrayed by the media, but they certainly do not align with the values held by the people who made this country great — and continue to do so — in the first place.
John Christen, FCRH ’19, is undeclared in his major from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
