Why Donald Trump should lose

History is full of human rights atrocities. Situations where one group of people was singled out for unfair, inhumane, and morally wrong treatment.

These situations are often compounded by the dehumanization of the oppressed group. The perpetrators of the atrocities are able to convince themselves that their actions are acceptable because they have managed, in a warped way, to put the oppressed into a labelled group and attribute nasty qualities to the group as a whole.

A psychological process has taken place that has demonized the “enemy” thereby taking away empathy for individuals by ignoring differences between and among individuals, the creative and interesting aspects of their personalities, and their value as individual human beings. They are Jewish, or Indian, or black, or Muslim, or gay and are treated as members of a demonized group, not as individuals. This can lead to large-scale violence and human rights violations – even genocide.

The rise of Donald Trump is, in my opinion, a case of dehumanization in progress. A sad repetition of history where someone is playing on the fears of others and demonizing groups of people for his own benefit or because he actually believes his own vitriol. Whatever the reason, the result is never good.

The opposite of dehumanization is humanization: the idea of putting the unique qualities of each person above their affiliation with any group – recognizing the identity of each person as an individual, independent and distinguishable from others, capable of making choices, capable of loving and supporting others, and worthy of consideration.

Great leaders treat each of their staff as individuals, recognizing each person’s unique gifts while embracing the diversity of the team. They look right past the labels of gen X, baby boomer, casual staff, union, non-union, Aboriginal, Greek, gay, straight, recent immigrant, etc. and they go straight to who someone is as person. Not only is this the only humane way to act, in my experience it is also the only way to find and nurture the most amazing people. People who pre-judge and demonize end up overlooking excellence. Their loss.

And it is why Donald should lose.