Liberals believe they are smarter than the rest of us.  They believe that ordinary people should have little say in politics, because the so-called intellectuals know better.  That is the essential appeal of liberalism to most of its followers.  It's nice to believe that you are smarter than everyone else.

But it's not true.  That complex liberal mind, so intent on demonstrating its own superiority, has not governed well.  Based on the record of the past century, since the time of Woodrow Wilson in America and Mussolini in Europe, liberal rule has resulted in nothing but war, recession, and social division.

The fundamental reason for this failure is that for liberals, with their so-called "advanced" way of thinking, life is centered on the ego.  The "I" is always attempting to outthink and overpower others, supposedly for their benefit but actually for the satisfaction of the ego.  This exclusivism and elitism of liberal thinking is the source of endless despair for mankind.

Conservatives, of course, are not without ego – witness our current president – but conservatism at its core is a worldview that involves conserving what is of value outside the demands of the ego.  For conservatives, a real world of joy and suffering exists outside the self.  For liberals, who seem always caught up in the ideology of transforming the world into a utopia – a utopia that always turns out to be hell on earth – the realities of everyday life have little meaning.  The joy of 800 jobs saved and the suffering of victims of violent crime by illegals are hard facts in the real world outside the ego, but they hardly register for those caught up in a private fantasy of revolutionary change.  Hillary's lifelong fantasy of being the "champion of the middle class" was all about herself as champion, not about working people, about whom she seems to have known very little.

Likewise, because liberals filter their experience of the world through the delusional thought process that led Obama to compare himself not just to one great leader of the past, but to all of them, words lose their definite meaning outside the province of the individual.  They become part of a "narrative," and every statement is just a version of the truth.  "What difference, at this point, does it make?"

Actually, there is no "version" of Benghazi or the recent poison gas atrocities in Syria.  The gassing of civilians at Khan Sheikhoun was evil, and there can be only one response on the part of civilized people.  This is a truth that conservatives know but that liberals, who endlessly play around with the truth because they do not believe in the truth, can never really comprehend.

Likewise, there is only one way to view North Korea's buildup of a nuclear arsenal.  It is not intended for self-defense.  It is controlled by a fanatical dictator at the head of a fanatical totalitarian regime.  It is a mounting danger to the U.S. and its allies.  North Korea's nuclear program must be brought under control.  The same can be said for Iran's nuclear ambitions.  

Instead of facing up to these simple truths – truths based on the natural law of respect for human life and the legitimate right of self-defense – progressives have turned a blind eye as America was attacked by al-Qaeda in the 1990s, have ignored North Korea's repeated lies about its nuclear program, and have abetted Iran's nuclear program by signing an agreement that guarantees Iran the right to build nuclear weapons in ten years, based on the groundless assumption that in ten years, Iran will be "different."  In every case, liberals found excuses for actions that were politically expedient but fatal to democracy.

Donald Trump is not one of these "smart" intellectuals whose primary goal is to gratify the ego.  He is far more intelligent than that – smart enough to understand that strength is derived from a recognition of natural law and, beyond that, to recognize that the abstraction "natural law" is shorthand for the virtues of love, concern, and prudence in the face of the mystery of being.  Conservatives are wise enough to know that life is indescribably precious and that evil such as we have seen in Syria is real.  Liberals never make it past their shallow abstractions of "equality" and "social justice."  (As if one's concern should be limited to social justice – why not simply justice?  Because justice in its traditional meaning is too closely aligned with liberty from the state, the very thing liberals are intent on undermining.)  

President Trump's goals, with regard to both foreign affairs and domestic issues, are the product of deep reflection on the human condition.  To a wise man, it is obvious that North Korea must not be allowed to combine its nuclear program with the development of a long-range missile.  The U.N. has never demonstrated resolve on stopping them, any more than it has on dealing with Iran's nuclear program.  The U.S. and its allies must do so, hopefully through economic pressure but probably with at least the threat of military action – a threat that may already have awakened China to its responsibilities.  The president is a simple man who takes his obligation to protect America seriously, and in this he is wise.

Donald Trump takes his obligations seriously because of his deep love of life, and because of his appreciation of hard facts.  Obama's words with regard to the Iran agreement – and to much else – were spoken glibly and deceptively in support of a mad attempt to construct a personal legacy.  My legacy, Obama called it.  There was a huge abyss between words such as "a comprehensive plan of action that meets our objectives" and the reality of allowing Iran to continue its nuclear weapons program and legally obtain a nuclear arsenal in ten years.

The reality is that Iran will soon have the ability to wipe Israel off the map, and it is possible that her fanatical leadership will choose to do so.  That is a simple truth that can be masked only by the mental sophistry progressives engage in.

The same reality applies in the case of North Korea, whose missiles are minutes away from Japan and South Korea.  Soon North Korea's missiles may be able to strike the mainland U.S. as well.  Liberals speak of negotiation as if North Korea can be trusted, knowing she cannot.  There was always a bizarre unreality to John Kerry's conduct of diplomacy, the product of a mind so removed from facts that it refused to consider the possibility of American cities incinerated on the order of some mad dictator.  The Obama administration always seemed to confuse "concluding a negotiation" with actual security.

The same show-and-tell mentality applied to domestic policy.  Only a progressive ideologue could close his eyes to the brutal consequences of Democrat rule in America's big cities over the past 50 years.  Even the slightest observation of reality would reveal how destructive liberal policies have been.  Evidence: America's five most dangerous big cities (Detroit, St. Louis, Oakland, Memphis, Birmingham) all have Democrat mayors and have had them for decades.

A simple man can see in ten minutes what Democrat mayors have refused to see in forty years.  President Trump has spoken many times about the need in America's cities for more jobs and for more respect for police officers, not for more welfare.

The president is a simple man in the best sense of the phrase.  He sees, he understands, and he acts.  He knows, as all conservatives do, that words are pointless if not backed up by action.  He appreciates the boundless value of life, and he is determined, in both his foreign and domestic policy, to protect it.  That is conservative thinking at its best – devout, humble, and compassionate in the face of tremendous challenges and great opportunities.  

Jeffrey Folks is the author of many books and articles on American culture including Heartland of the Imagination (2011).