It's easy to hate.

Never has the United States of America had one person who has generated so much hate as the current occupant of the White House.

Donald Trump has unleashed a torrent of hatred of “the other,” meaning minorities and, especially at this time, Muslims, because he thinks that his base will be pulled closer and he might pick up a few million more votes in the coming election.

His relentless attacks on Rep. Ilan Omar, D-Minnesota during the past several weeks and his general attack on Muslims over his entire term of office have shown that he believes that his behavior will win him votes, acclaim, and devotion, things that he desperately needs to feed his perverted egoism and malignant narcissism.

This week, he used Twitter to falsely accuse Omar of being un-American or “anti-Semitic, anti-Israel and ungrateful” or of making “U.S. HATE statements.” There's a little projection going on in the twit's tweet. If there is anyone who leads the “hate America” movement in this country, it would be the president, because of his sowing of hatred of anyone he thinks is a lesser being. And, isn't everyone in that category? Not many are as rich and white as he is, so they are classified in his mind as “losers.” His comments about losers have been unending. Even if he were capable of love, there wouldn't be many he could love and therefore, the only extreme emotion he can call up for most of humanity in the U.S. and elsewhere is hatred. He seems to enjoy it.

His attacks on Rep. Omar were supported and encouraged by his broadcast propaganda arm, Fox News, and he must have been especially excited by the front page assault on Omar by the scandal sheet, The New York Post, which at one time and for generations was a respectable, liberal-minded paper. The paper published a full page photo of the World Trade Center being demolished and attempted to link the attack to Omar, a Muslim, reminding its readers that it was Muslims who were involved in the 9/ll attacks. In a recent speech in March before the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), she had said that, “CAIR was founded after 9/11 because they recognized that some people did something and that all of us were starting to lose access to our civil liberties.” That comment set off a firestorm from right-wingers who claimed that she was minimizing the 9/11 events. They, including Trump, ignored another comment in her speech: “Far too long we have lived with the discomfort of being a second-class citizen, and frankly, I’m tired of it, and every single Muslim in this country should be tired of it.” In no small part, Trump was the chief organizer for the wave of islamophobia that swept the country after he took the White House.

Both Fox and the NY Post are the products of the media magnate, Rupert Murdoch, who by far is richer than Trump, who apparently does not hold that against him, but they do think alike in that there is never enough wealth or power for either of them. They have been reported to be close friends in the past, well before the run for president. In Trump's case, it may be the lust for wealth, rather than wealth, itself, since he has yet to reveal his tax returns and it's not clear what his total worth is. He promised to release his returns at one time, but he is now fighting their release, even though every president starting with Richard Nixon has done so.

Trump's personality requires him to act in secret. That's how he did his business in casinos and in building his towers in various countries, but his aim always was New York. He had to conquer New York, particularly Manhattan, which his father as a developer was unable to do. His hubris was amply illustrated in the way he announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president, by descending the escalator in Trump Tower, his golden palace in Manhattan, with his wife, Melania. His attempt to mimic royalty was in full display and he has continued to do so, even though the U.S. presidency is supposed to be one that displays the precept of equality for all.

There was no small amount of hatred displayed in Trump's performance in the debates among the large group of Republicans vying for the nomination for president. He used his bully-boy tactics in all of the debates, heaping scorn and derision on all of his competitors, calling them names and generally showing his contempt for all of them. What is mystifying to so many is that, despite his treatment of what the GOP put forth as its best, as a whole, the party rallied behind him and has been the biggest cheerleader of what has been described as the Trump cult.

The list of objects of his hate is limitless, from people of color, the poor, anyone who expresses concern for (or alarm over) the state of the environment, those who call for taxing his 1 percent, those who call out his failure to keep most of his campaign promises, and those who call for equity in bearing the burden of the U.S.'s militaristic budget. The one that drew the most voters was the result of the “crisis” he created at the southern frontier. It was red meat for his base and those who think like he does. He promised a giant racist wall that would keep out the “invasion” of migrants from Central America, most of whom were fleeing unbearable conditions that have been largely created by U.S. policy over many years. But, he wouldn't know, because he doesn't believe history, just as he doesn't believe in science.

When ignorance and hate are combined, it makes for a deadly stew and the result can be seen in the chaotic condition of the White House. Since Trump claims to know more than all of the generals and more than all of the scientists, what he has created as president is nothing less than a country, an empire really, that is on the way down. Trump has caused the country's allies not to trust anything he says or agrees to (he's known as a congenital liar), since he can abandon an agreement or treaty or order the violation of international law at a whim. The rest of the world simply fears the U.S. Empire.

While most of the peoples of the world express their dislike or fear of the country, they insist that they like or love the American people. How is that possible? The American people are responsible for the conditions that have given us Donald Trump, who struts up and down before his cultish rallies like some tinhorn dictator, bathing in their admiration and adulation. Given that he did not win the popular vote, he was duly elected by way of the Electoral College. The election should never have been close, although the alternative was not something the electorate approached with any enthusiasm. Hillary Clinton would have carried on the relentless wars and policies that brought the country to the state it is in, but she would have appeared sane in conducting herself as president, something that in the past two years has not occurred.

The small number of the 1 percent who control much of the business of the country have not been of any benefit to the masses of the people, many of whom live on the brink of survival, paycheck to paycheck. Meanwhile, roads, bridges, housing, education, health care, and other signs of civilization have continued to deteriorate. Nevertheless, there are ways that the people themselves can effect change for the better, including cooperatives for food, housing, and other elements of civilization that will not be provided by Trump and his cohort of the 1 percent.

These things are possible, but only if the people can organize into a mass movement or a group of mass movements that can work together for the same beneficial goals that the powers-that-be will not provide, today or into the future. It's hard work, breaking from the yoke of people who care nothing about the least of us, but it has to be done. And, it is being done, slowly and in small areas, but it's happening. They're on the right track, but they need to forget taking credit for every little step and work together, in the knowledge that they will not get credit for what they do, but simply keeping their eyes on the prize, which is freedom from the tyranny of the rich and the corporations.

All of the electoral work and social justice work will go for naught if the world, and especially the U.S., does not acknowledge the mortal crisis of the planet's degradation by human activity. The cause of the degradation is human activity and most of it is caused by the 1 percent, including Corporate America. They are in it for the buck and nothing but the buck, and that's why they will fight to continue their depredations on all countries, large and small, and on the Earth, itself. Trump is their boy, because he thinks like they do and he will enable them to continue to destroy creation.

Is it just avarice and hubris that allow them to see themselves somehow as good and deserving people? Or, is it just hatred of anyone who gets in their way? Look to Trump's behavior for the answer.