If you’re like me, you probably developed some habits when you were a kid. Some habits are good and some are not so good, but either way they became part of who we turned out to be.
There are plenty of good habits like being punctual, courteous, kind and organized. There are plenty of bad habits, too. Smoking and drinking alcohol are probably not great habits. Biting your fingernails is not so good. Some habits are addictive, like spending every waking moment staring into a screen. That would rank high on my list of bad habits.
How do we develop habits, both good and bad? Habits tend to be learned. If your parents had a habit of doing something, then in all likelihood you watched and learned from them. If your parents were good, loving people then there’s a good chance you turned out much like them. If they were not good people, then you had to work much harder to turn out OK than most people. Those raised by open-minded, tolerant, educated people usually turned out to be open-minded, tolerant and educated. Those raised by heavy-handed, authoritative parents are apt to be less tolerant.
What about those who were raised by a cruel, unloving, competitive, authoritarian parent who put more value on money than on love for his children or family? How might those offspring turn out? Here’s an example from a 2018 OpEd piece by Jonathan Chait in the New York Magazine:
“The New York Times has published a massive investigation of President Trump’s finances, revolving around two important revelations. First, Trump was given far more financial support by his father than previously known — at least $413 million in today’s dollars, not the measly $1 million he claims to have received. Second, the mechanisms by which he received these transfers often crossed the line from aggressive or creative maneuvering into illegality. That the Times presents these conclusions so baldly — accusing him of ‘outright fraud’ in the first sentence — in the face of Trump’s famous litigiousness, is a testament to the power and clarity of its findings.
“That is to say, Trump was in the money-inheriting business. And that business was essentially, and not just incidentally, illegal. The Times found 295 income streams created by Fred Trump for his son, many of them illegal on their face. The English language has terms for people who make large sources of money from illegal activity: criminals.”
On Wednesday, June 30, the Trump Organization, founded by Fred Trump, was indicted on 15 counts. Here’s an assessment from The Washington Post:
“These are the first charges stemming from the investigation, but they aren’t as serious as some wagered they might be. The 15 counts include conspiracy, grand larceny in the second degree, multiple counts of tax fraud and multiple counts of falsifying records. All 15 counts apply to [chief financial officer Allen] Weisselberg. Most also include the Trump Organization as a whole.
“The alleged crimes took place over a period of more than 15 years, between 2005 and today, with the indictment citing an alleged lengthy ‘scheme to defraud’ the government. They include Weisselberg allegedly evading taxes on more than $1.7 million of income.
“Prosecutors allege that Trump Organization executives received “secret pay raises” while failing to pay the proper amount of taxes.‘To put it bluntly, this was a sweeping and audacious illegal payment scheme,’ said prosecutor Carey Dunne.”
As of June 30 the former president, Donald J. Trump, is the head of a criminal organization. His corporation has allegedly been participating in a tax evasion scheme for many years. Trump has declared the indictments to be a “witch hunt,” a term that he uses frequently, because he has to. When you are raised by a shady character there’s a better than average chance that you will turn out to be a shady character. The desire to seek the approval of an unloving father may be responsible for the newest mess the 45th president now finds himself in. Fred Trump was an unloving person. Like father; like son. The former president’s lack of compassion and empathy is legendary. He caged children for political purposes, to make him look like the tough guy he isn’t. He has made a career of getting out of messes of his own making. I’ve no doubt that in his mind these indictments of the company of which he’s in charge are just another day in the office for him. He’s raised over a quarter billion dollars from his undying supporters to help him pay for his upcoming legal bills. That is should he decide to actually pay his lawyers. His track record is not very good when it comes to paying people.
This time it might be different. The 15 counts levied against his company appear to be just the beginning of what very well might be the end of the Trump Organization. It will all depend on who talks and what they have to say. If Trump can use his mob-boss tactics to keep people from talking, then he might skate on his new legal troubles. However, all it will take is for one person in the know to come forward. Then we could expect to see others come to the conclusion that it’s better to save their own hide versus their extremely disloyal boss.
Time will tell how his kids will turn out.
The Link LonkJuly 10, 2021 at 11:00AM
https://www.benningtonbanner.com/opinion/columnists/bob-stannard-old-habits-die-hard/article_9eafd950-e0cd-11eb-9669-031e399fc612.html
Bob Stannard: Old habits die hard | Columnists | benningtonbanner.com - Bennington Banner
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