We control the demographics that can vote Trump out

Being a white male, I’m sick of hearing how stupid white males are.

But it’s hard to ignore the evidence. Add my age bracket (I’m 57) to the equation, and it’s “three strikes and you’re out”: Majorities in all three of those categories — 50-something white dudes — have consistently supported a narcissistic con man for president.

Not everyone in those groups has been brainwashed. I haven’t, and I know a lot of others haven’t, either. But when you see Trump losing among young voters and senior citizens; and when you see him losing among Black voters by something like 80 percentage points, and with women by nearly 20 points, it’s easy to feel like, “What the hell is wrong with other people like me?”

Then it hit me: I can’t do anything about my gender, race, or age. If other people in that group don’t think like I do, that doesn’t make me a bad person — no matter how many jokes are made at the expense of “people like me.”

Because thinking is the crucial point.

There are some demographic groups I DO belong to who aren’t fans of Trump. For one thing, I’m not affiliated with a specific religious tradition, and three-quarters of people in that category disapprove of Trump. I also have a college education, and majorities in that group back Joe Biden for president — regardless of race or gender.

These two categories have something in common: They’re not set in stone. No one’s born with a college degree, and people of both genders, all races, and any age can (and do) obtain one. Faith traditions aren’t ironclad, either. You may have been exposed to a specific path in childhood, but you can choose a different one at any time, and many people do.

Digging deeper, pursuing a college education and choosing your own spiritual path have something in common: the process of thinking and deciding for yourself. Doing this is entirely within every individual’s power, whether they can afford a college education or not. It’s an openness to this process that, more than anything else, defines who I am.

A different measure

Why should we define our place relative to the Trump approval-disapproval line based on immutable factors such as race, age, or gender? Why not plot it on an axis that contrasts independent thought with dogmatism? If you do, a clear picture emerges: Dogmatists are more likely to support Trump, and independent thinkers are more likely to oppose him.

This should come as no surprise. Trump has consistently touted his own authority over scientific evidence, and Republicans in general have railed against higher education as a tool that’s used for liberal indoctrination. But the truth is, most colleges and universities aren’t indoctrinating students; they’re teaching them to think for themselves.

If you think for yourself, you’re more likely to embrace the scientific method and logical argument, rather acting in a certain way just because people in authority tell you what to do — whether they’re preachers, police, or politicians. We know preachers can be charlatans, police can be racists, and politicians in your party can be corrupt.

That doesn’t mean all of those people fall into those categories, any more than all 50-something white males are Trump supporters. What it does mean is that people who think for themselves look past labels and dogma, and make decisions based on reason and substance.

That’s my tribe. Not white 50-something guys in MAGA hats calling themselves Proud Boys and Patriot Prayer people (more labels). I’m not a Republican — or a Democrat — for the same reason. I don’t like being defined by partisanship any more than I like being pigeonholed based on my race or gender.

The way to escape that trap is to define myself.

Another kind of tribe

But when I mention that independent thinkers are “my tribe,” that label itself comes with a caveat: It’s not based on any kind of common belief; it’s based on common principles — which is something entirely different. People who hold common principles can reach different conclusions on any given subject, but they can still respect each other because they know those conclusions are based on thoughtful consideration, not blind faith.

That’s something we’re missing in this country today, because we’ve become polarized into groups based on labels and beliefs. More and more, we’ve come to define ourselves based on race and gender and myriad “brands” — on what we think, rather than how we think.

And that’s how Trump succeeded. It’s not because his businesses were successful, it’s because he was able to sell his brand. When you look behind the Trump name, there’s not much there. You’ll find a landscape littered with failed businesses, bankruptcies, lawsuits, smoke and mirrors.

Trump’s success came at the crossroads of his empty branding and the nation’s increasing dependence on labels over the process of independent thought.

At this crossroads, I’ve come full circle. I don’t support Trump precisely because I don’t believe in the dogmatism of blind loyalty to Trump embraced by so many in the Republican Party; by people who have abandoned their principles for the sake of labels. They haven’t done this because they’re white or middle-aged or male; it’s because they’ve decided to stop thinking for themselves and to trust a con man instead.

I haven’t. I just hope enough other people haven’t, either — or are having second thoughts — regardless of age, gender, race, or any other label.

If so, maybe we can dig our way out of this smoke-and-mirrors disaster of a presidency and get back to government of the people, by the people, and for the people.