Many people consider personal pronouns
as relatively unimportant parts of speech. These pronouns are a small
set of words whose purpose is to “stand in place” for more
illustrative and descriptive nouns. Well, the truth is these
substitute placeholders are uniquely significant in their ability to
project different points-of view: they are powerful expressions of
personal voice rivaling more celebrated, emotive classifications of
words such as descriptive adjectives, adverbs, and verbs.
The first-person point of view is used
primarily for autobiographical writing, such as a personal essay or a
memoir. The first-person POV has certain limitations. First and most
obvious is the fact that the author is limited to a single point of
view, which can be narrow, restrictive, and awkward.
Less careful or inexperienced writers
and speakers using first-person may also fall to the temptation of
making themselves the focal subject – the sole subject – of the
essay, even in cases that demand focus and information on other
subjects, characters, or events.
Let's examine the overuse of the first
person pronoun “I.” It carries a great danger of projecting a
narcissistic point of view.
Some people – often those hampered by
inexperience – constantly use the first person “I” to attack
and to counterattack others. These people may feel as if they are the
“big fish,” or the smartest people, who must be admired and
praised by others. When things aren't working out, they start a
campaign of projecting themselves as prodigies while blaming others
they see as less important beings for any problems, hoping that the
“I” point of view will solidify their self-appointed sole
authority stance.
In actuality, this shows a definite
narcissism and a lack of awareness that many others contribute to any
one person's success or lack of it.
“I don't like losers.” --Donald
Trump
“I'm a bit of a P. T. Barnum. I make
stars out of everyone.” --Donald Trump
"I alone can fix it."
--Donald Trump
"The beauty of me is that I'm very
rich." --Donald Trump
“I don't make deals for the money.
I've got enough, much more than I'll ever need. I do it to do it.”
--Donald Trump
“I'm the No. 1 developer in New York,
I'm the biggest in Atlantic City, and maybe we'll keep it that way.”
--Donald Trump
“I rely on myself very much. I just
think that you have an instinct and you go with it. Especially when
it comes to deal-making and buying things.” --Donald Trump
“I've been dealing with politicians
all my life. All my life. And I've always gotten them to do what I
need them to do.” --Donald Trump
“I give to everybody. When they call,
I give. And do you know what? When I need something from them two
years later, three years later, I call them, they are there for me.”
--Donald Trump
"I love the old days, you know?
You know what I hate? There's a guy totally disruptive, throwing
punches, we're not allowed punch back anymore. ... I'd like to punch
him in the face, I'll tell ya." --Donald Trump about a protester
at his rally.
“I have women working in high
positions. I was one of the first people to put women in charge of
big construction jobs. And, you know, I've had a great relationship
with women.” --Donald Trump
“I deal with foreign countries. I
made a lot of money dealing against China. I've made a lot of money
dealing against many other countries.” --Donald Trump
“I understand the military. I know
the military.” --Donald Trump
"I think I am, actually humble. I
think I'm much more humble than you would understand” --Donald
Trump
"I’ve been treated very unfairly
by this judge. Now, this judge is of Mexican heritage. I'm building a
wall, OK? I'm building a wall." --Donald Trump
“I’m speaking with myself, number
one, because I have a very good brain and I’ve said a lot of
things." --Donald Trump
"I could stand in the middle of
Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters,
okay? It's, like, incredible." –Donald Trump
“I was a great student. I was good at
everything.” --Donald Trump
“My whole life is about winning. I
don't lose often. I almost never lose.” --Donald Trump
"I think the only card she has is
the women's card. She has got nothing else going. Frankly, if Hillary
Clinton were a man, I don't think she would get 5% of the vote. And
the beautiful thing is women don't like her, ok?" –Donald
Trump
"My fingers are long and
beautiful, as, it has been well been documented, are various other
parts of my body." --Donald Trump
Narcissists use other humans without accessing the cost of doing so.
"There were people that were cheering on the other side of New Jersey, where you have large Arab populations. They were cheering as the World Trade Center came down." --Donald Trump
I wouldn't mind a little bow. In Japan,
they bow. I love it. Only thing I love about Japan. --Donald Trump
"I'd like to hear his wife say something." --Donald Trump, smearing Ghazala Khan, the mother of a fallen American soldier, by implying that she was not allowed to speak, despite the fact that she has spoken publicly about her son's death.
"I always wanted to get the Purple
Heart. This was much easier." --Donald Trump
“I know where she went – it’s disgusting, I don’t want to
talk about it. No, it’s too disgusting. Don’t say it, it’s
disgusting." --Donald Trump on Hillary Clinton taking a bathroom
break during a Democratic presidential debate.“Now, the poor guy — you've got to see this guy, ‘Ah, I don't know what I said! I don't remember!'" --Donald Trump, mocking New York Times investigative reporter Serge Kovaleski, who has a physical disability.
So, if you like the first-person “I”
point of view, Donald Trump is your champion. His narcissism is
unbounded by influences of friends or foes. He forgets the other
first-person plural reference “we” when he speaks of his
successes. This, he believes, strengthens his superhuman image. In
reality, he reinforces his own self-admiration while showing the
world he pretends to be more than he really is.
Those who take too much credit while
caring little about others do not represent leaders who understand
community and effective policy. They use the guise of fighting
political correctness and tearing down the establishment for their
personal gain. I, I, I, I, … Donald Trump lacks one of the most
essential skills in discourse. He doesn't understand or believe in
anything but the first-person singular reference. His conceit, his
lack of substance, and his lack of civility spell
“n-a-r-c-i-s-s-i-s-t.”
No comments:
Post a Comment