What keeps Trump was his false version of “Roses.” An uplift from everyday dullness. Looking at the upcoming election, our guest today Professor Ed Simon argues that “those that will be the most successful will be those that speak of meaning and purpose in addition to material concerns.” Americans today feel isolated with no sense of belonging or community, what Simon calls “a spiritual malaise” which has led to the opioid crisis. Trump’s revival-like rallies provide a sense of meaning, purpose, and transcendence. Establishment Democrats misdiagnose the problem, clinging to an insistence that neo-liberalism is still the solution, missing the appeal of resistance to globalism and corporate rule: “moderates off a thin gruel” to people starving for a sense of something beyond mere bread.  Trumpism is a kind of religion. The task, Simon says, is to offer a “better religion.” And he says that the mainstream dismissal of candidate Marianne Williamson is unwise. She speaks directly to this unmet need. A whole new perspective here.