Trump’s Magic Trick: Freedom from Responsibility

Why his illusion works, and what it reveals about the rest of us.

Photo by Mike Swigunski on Unsplash

I want the yacht. I want the EV truck, the house that’s already paid off, the ski trips, the takeout without guilt. I want the future that technology promised me: unlimited energy, a robot that does my chores, and financial freedom for life.

I don’t want more responsibility. I want freedom from it.

That’s what makes Trump’s hold so powerful—and so seductive. Not just for his base, but for anyone who’s been quietly hoping that maybe, somehow, this system will still work out for them. That if they just hang on long enough, the payoff will come.

Because that is the trick.

Trump doesn’t sell plans. He sells relief. He offers a story where you don’t have to do anything at all.

You don’t have to change. You don’t have to face hard truths. You don’t have to give anything up. Just believe.

Believe that the pain you feel isn’t your fault. That everything wrong with the world is someone else’s doing. That any sacrifice you’re asked to make is an attack. And that one day soon, it’ll all be made right without you having to lift a finger.

That’s a fantasy.

We talk a lot about Trump’s lies. But we don’t talk enough about the truth underneath them. Most people don’t want a better system. They want to win in this one.

And Trump tells them they still can.

He doesn’t ask for responsibility. He asks for loyalty. Not to the Constitution. Not to the rule of law. Not to each other. To him. To the story.

The story is simple: You were robbed. He’s your weapon. When he wins, you’re redeemed.

But it’s not just them.

The truth is, many of us are caught in the same emotional economy.

We say we want justice. But we also want comfort. We say we want equity. But we also want status. We want to be on the right side of history—but not if it costs us too much in the present.

We live in a system that tells us every day that our worth is measured by wealth, consumption, and control. Even if we reject that story intellectually, it lives somewhere deep in our bones.

That’s the emotional chokehold of capitalism. It promises us that one day, we might be free. Free from worry. Free from debt. Free from obligation. But only if we play the game. Only if we win.

And if we can’t win? Then at least we can try to disappear into distraction. Let someone else carry the burden. Let someone else make the change.

That’s not freedom.

The left asks too much. And it offers too little.

It asks people to give up comfort, power and fantasies without promising anything immediate in return.

It says: you won’t get the yacht. You won’t get the throne. You might not even get relief.

But you’ll have your conscience. You’ll have community. You’ll have a future that doesn’t rely on someone else’s exploitation.

That’s a harder sell.

Because freedom from responsibility feels better than collective obligation—especially when the world is on fire.

But here’s the thing.

Freedom without responsibility is fantasy. And responsibility without power is misery.

Trump’s magic trick is offering the fantasy. The left’s mistake is offering the responsibility without the power.

If we want to break the spell, we have to give people something worth belonging to. Not just morality. Not just truth. But vision. Purpose. Power they can feel.

The illusion Trump offers isn’t just appealing. It’s easy. And if we don’t offer something harder but better, the fantasy will win.

The magic trick only works because we are tired.

But if we keep mistaking fantasy for freedom, we will sleepwalk into collapse.

The next era will be decided by story—just like every era before it.

The question is whether we keep living inside the one they gave us, or start telling the truth with enough clarity, solidarity, and fire to break the spell.

Because fantasy makes you feel good.

But truth—when it’s finally spoken out loud—can make you free.

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If you’ve ever felt torn between your values and your desire to escape, you’re not alone. That’s the spell working.

But it’s also the first crack in it.

The illusion breaks when enough of us stop waiting for permission and start building something worth belonging to.

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