This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Psychologists tell us that people often experience considerable emotional pain when forced to leave their comfort zone. Threats to the status quo, like changes in health care and policies that remove our dependency on fossil fuels, pose real threats to the established comfort levels of many Americans and are causing many, on both left and right, to lash back in irrational ways.

This mind-set has festered under the surface for decades and no doubt has been exploited by politicians and media talking heads to the detriment of the nation. The crowning blow to this established order came by way of Barrack Obama, an African-American progressive activist who, for the first time since FDR, seemed determined to disrupt the status quo. For those mired in antiquated economics and unable to cope with shifting demographics, Obama was simply to much for them to swallow.

But with Obama out of the way, Donald Trump, albeit on the right, has opportunistically "seized the day" peddling a hodgepodge of "snake oil" for everything that ails the nation, most notably the damage allegedly done by Obama. To the economically disaffected, Trump may look like their knight in shinning armor, while Hillary Clinton, as always, has been cast as the demonic force that must be exorcised.

Whether it's Obama's and Clinton's moderation or Bernie Sander's full-throttle socialism, opposition emanates in part from a sincere belief in the infallibility of conservative ideals, but more importantly from a real fear of the unknown. But those who adopt political positions based on fear and panic obviously become easy prey for flim-flam artists like Trump.

A victory for Trump in November may very well find those who voted him into office begging for forgiveness once they fully grasp what they have wrought.

Remember Brexit!

Thomas R. Smith

Salt Lake City