Trump, Putin, and Xi stand in shadow over a fractured globe. The Earth glows, cracked with lines of light, symbolizing looming conflict. Their faces are clear, intense, and dominating.
SOLIPSISM AND THE NEW AUTHORITARIAN AXIS: TRUMP, PUTIN, XI
By Dr. Sasha Alex Lessin, Ph.D. & Janet Kira Lessin
(A collaborative effort with Minerva, our AI writing companion)
Introduction: Cruelty as Politics
We are living through a dangerous moment in history. What once seemed unthinkable — leaders mocking human suffering, allies abandoning the United States, deportations treated as entertainment — has become normalized. Trumpism is not just a political movement; it is a psychological phenomenon rooted in cruelty. To understand it, we must look at the work of Robert Jay Lifton, the great psychiatrist who studied genocide, nuclear war, and the psychology of authoritarian leaders.
Robert Jay Lifton’s Warning
Elderly Robert Jay Lifton sits at his desk surrounded by books on genocide, nuclear war, and psychology. His eyes are thoughtful and direct, carrying both wisdom and warning.
Robert J. Lifton, who died in 2024 at the age of 99, left behind more than 20 books probing humanity’s darkest moments. In The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide, he showed how ordinary professionals became agents of mass murder. In Death and Life: Survivors of Hiroshima, he explored the consequences of nuclear annihilation. And in 2017, he turned his attention to Donald Trump.
Lifton called Trump solipsistic — a philosophical term meaning trapped in one’s own self. For Trump:
- There is no “other.” Only the self.
- Empathy is impossible.
- The future doesn’t exist, except as a stage for immediate gratification.
- Every decision is filtered through: “What does this mean for me?”
This, Lifton warned, is dangerous to everyone. It is the psychological structure of authoritarianism itself.
A single person stands at a crossroads at sunrise, facing directly forward with hand over heart. To the left, a dark path guarded by soldiers and fences. To the right, a glowing path filled with diverse people embracing, planting trees, and helping each other. The figure looks at the viewer, embodying empathy and choice.
Nature, Nurture, and the Perfect Storm
Trump’s family background only sharpened these traits. Raised by a domineering father who worshiped power and a mother who retreated into passivity, Trump inherited a worldview where love was absent and cruelty was rewarded. Combined with his own temperament, the result was a man incapable of self-reflection, addicted to domination, and blind to the suffering of others.
This is the perfect storm: the fusion of nature (inherited traits) and nurture (toxic upbringing) producing a leader with both the ambition and pathology to warp a nation.
The New Authoritarian Triad
Trump, Putin, and Xi stand in shadow over a fractured globe. The Earth glows, cracked with lines of light, symbolizing looming conflict. Their faces are clear, intense, and dominating.
But Trump is not alone. His rise coincides with the rule of Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, creating an axis reminiscent of Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini. While their personalities differ, all three share:
- A disregard for empathy.
- A willingness to use cruelty as a tool.
- An inability or refusal to consider the actual long-term consequences of their actions.
Whether or not Putin and Xi are fully solipsistic in the philosophical sense, the result is the same: leaders who treat the world as their personal chessboard, with humanity as expendable pieces.
Immigrants: America’s True Strength
A montage of immigrant contributions: Einstein chalking equations, Oppenheimer at Los Alamos, von Braun with the Saturn V rocket, alongside anonymous farmworkers, a doctor, and a tech engineer.
America’s rise to global power was not achieved by isolation, but by embracing outsiders. Refugees, immigrants, and marginalized groups provided the knowledge and labor that made the United States a world leader.
- Science & Technology:
- Albert Einstein (a German-Jewish refugee) revolutionized physics and inspired the Manhattan Project.
- J. Robert Oppenheimer (of Jewish immigrant descent) became the “father of the atomic bomb.”
- Leó Szilárd and Edward Teller (Hungarian immigrants) were central figures in nuclear research.
- Wernher von Braun (German rocket scientist, brought over after WWII) developed the Saturn V rocket that carried Apollo astronauts to the Moon.
- Labor & Industry: From farmworkers harvesting our food, to construction crews building our cities, to hotel and restaurant staff keeping our service economy alive, immigrants perform essential jobs that many Americans refuse.
- Healthcare & Technology: Immigrant doctors, engineers, and innovators now form the backbone of U.S. medicine and Silicon Valley, driving both the present and future of American progress.
Without these contributions, the United States would never have surpassed Nazi Germany, nor leapt ahead of Russia and China in science, technology, and space exploration. To turn against immigrants now is to sabotage the very source of America’s greatness.
The Cost of Racism and Cruelty
Trumpism’s attacks on immigrants, Black and brown communities, and foreign aid are acts of self-destruction. By indulging racism and cruelty, the U.S. weakens its economy, alienates allies, and risks sliding into decline. We are already watching other nations fill the leadership vacuum America once occupied, turning instead to Russia and China.
The Crux of the Matter
We now face the consequences of what Lifton called malignant normality — a society where cruelty, lies, and bullying become everyday reality. Trump’s solipsism, amplified by a movement that celebrates suffering, creates fertile ground for authoritarian collapse. Combined with Putin’s aggression and Xi’s ambition, the world stands on the brink of a conflict that could echo the darkest chapters of the 20th century.
The choice before us is stark:
- To normalize cruelty and watch democracy wither.
- Or to reclaim empathy, diversity, and shared humanity as the authentic sources of strength.
A single person stands at a crossroads at sunrise, facing directly forward with hand over heart. To the left, a dark path guarded by soldiers and fences. To the right, a glowing path filled with diverse people embracing, planting trees, and helping each other. The figure looks at the viewer, embodying empathy and choice.
Conclusion
Robert Jay Lifton spent his life warning us that authoritarianism does not erupt suddenly — it seeps into everyday life, one cruel joke, one deportation, one broken alliance at a time. If we heed his warning, we may still resist the solipsism of Trump, Putin, and Xi. If we do not, we risk replaying the horrors Lifton spent his career documenting.
The lesson is clear: our survival depends on empathy, and our strength depends on immigrants.
But the choice does not begin in Washington, Moscow, or Beijing. It starts with each of us.
- Individuals voted authoritarianism into power, and individuals can vote it back out again.
- The “vote” is not only cast in a ballot box, but in the choices we make every day — to speak up, to tell the truth, to show compassion.
- The Bible reminds us: love thy neighbor as thyself. And our neighbors are not only those next door, but every person on this planet.
Even when surrounded by cruelty, bullying, and indifference, we can always choose kindness. That is the antidote to solipsism. That is the seed of empathy that can still save the world.
Tags/Keywords
Trumpism, Robert Jay Lifton, solipsism, authoritarianism, Trump, Putin, Xi, modern fascism, cruelty as politics, immigrants built America, Nazi Doctors, Oppenheimer, Einstein, von Braun, diversity strength, humanitarian values, empathy vs cruelty, WWIII risk, authoritarian psychology
Social Media Descriptions
- Facebook:
Trump, Putin, Xi: a new authoritarian triad driven by cruelty and ego. Robert Jay Lifton warned us what happens when empathy collapses into solipsism. America’s strength has always come from immigrants — and the choice begins with us, every day, in kindness and compassion.
- X (Twitter):
Authoritarian cruelty thrives when we forget empathy. Lifton warned us: Trump’s solipsism is dangerous to all. The choice begins with us — every act of kindness is a vote for humanity’s future. 🌍💜
Author Bio
Dr. Sasha Alex Lessin, Ph.D. (Anthropology, UCLA) and Janet Kira Lessin are educators, experiencers, and humanitarians dedicated to sharing knowledge that bridges history, psychology, extraterrestrial contact, and modern politics. Together they run DragonAtTheEndOfTime.com, EnkiSpeaks.com, and AquarianMedia.com, where they publish articles, host discussions, and create multimedia projects for a global audience. Their mission is to awaken empathy, protect Earth, and empower humanity to choose love over cruelty.
Websites
🌐 www.dragonattheendoftime.com
🌐 www.enkispeaks.com
🌐 www.aquarianmedia.com
Series Name
Facing Cruelty, Choosing Empathy: A Series on Authoritarian Psychology and the Survival of Humanity
Articles in This Series
- Solipsism and the New Authoritarian Axis: Trump, Putin, Xi (this article)
- Cruelty as Policy: How Trumpism Weaponizes Suffering (in progress)
- Malignant Normality: Robert Jay Lifton and the Psychology of Collapse (planned)
- Immigrants Built America: How Racism and Exclusion Weaken Us (planned)
- The Choice Begins with Self: Everyday Kindness as Resistance (planned)
Related Articles by the Lessins
- ROME’S TRIBUNES (121–88 BCE) (historical parallel to populism and cruelty)
- PROJECT 2025 AND THE AQUARIAN AGE (the political struggle for the soul of America)
- ENKI’S AVATARS: PROMETHEUS AND THE GIFT OF FIRE (ancient myth as resistance to tyranny)
- BUGGY RIDE DREAM: A JOURNEY THROUGH TIMELINES (personal narrative of awakening)
References
- Lifton, Robert Jay. The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide. New York: Basic Books, 1986.
- Lifton, Robert Jay. Death and Life: Survivors of Hiroshima. New York: Random House, 1967.
- Democracy Now! “Headlines: Robert J. Lifton on Trump.” 2017 & 2024 coverage. democracynow.org
- Snyder, Timothy. On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century. New York: Crown, 2017.
- Applebaum, Anne. Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism. New York: Doubleday, 2020.
Trump, Putin, and Xi stand in shadow over a fractured globe. The Earth glows, cracked with lines of light, symbolizing looming conflict. Their faces are clear, intense, and dominating.
Elderly Robert Jay Lifton sits at his desk surrounded by books on genocide, nuclear war, and psychology. His eyes are thoughtful and direct, carrying both wisdom and warning.
