I know why your parents like Trump, and you do not.
One of the most impressive investment decisions ever made was Peter Thiel investing in Facebook in 2004, where he invested $500,000 for a 10% stake, which valued Facebook at $5 million. At the time, and for years afterward, Facebook was not a popular investment. Even in 2009, Facebook had to take investment from Yuri Milner, a Russian investor. Peter Thiel’s secret weapon was Rene Girard, a philosopher who came up with mimetic theory, which basically states that imitation is at the root of all human behavior. So Peter Thiel knew how powerful Facebook would become because it facilitated mimetic behavior.
Most philosophy is useless because most of it is either “specialized research on trivial questions or grandiose but nihilistic claims that knowledge is impossible”. Rene Girard’s philosophy, on the other hand, is the opposite of both. He makes “sweeping arguments about big questions based on a view of the whole world”. And it turns out that you can also use his philosophy to make billions. The best philosophy is actionable.
As imitation is at the root of all human behavior, it follows that imitation is also at the root of all violence, which is a key part of mimetic theory. The more imitation there is, the more violence is caused. Invert this principle, and you can begin to understand where the phrase “opposites attract” comes from. Let’s consider some of the most ancient conflicts; Catholics vs Protestants, Sunnis vs Shiites, and college football rivalries. In these cases, the similarities between the groups in conflict are much more obvious than the differences. Today, Democratic vs Republican partisanship is at an all time high, but the list of their differences continues to diminish. As predicted, as they become more similar, the conflict escalates. To sum up, “familiarity breeds contempt”.
Let’s analyze Trump through a mimetic lens. Trump is a habitual liar, is part of the coastal elite, and his purpose is primarily to attract attention. Thus, he is almost identical to the mainstream media, and this explains the hatred the two have for each other. They are both competing for the same space. I think this also explains each individual's attitude towards Trump. Mimetic theory would state that the more similar you are to Trump, the more you hate him. If we invert this, we can also explain Trump’s base, which is made up of Christians who typically do not lie, live in flyover country, are poor, and feel that no one pays attention to him. It also explains his VP, Mike Pence, who is almost diametrically opposite of Trump in every way.