 Due to the title of this video I feel it's important to start off by letting you know that I'm no fan of Donald Trump personally I feel that he's a self-centered egotistical man who is unfit for president and even though I'm an agnostic each day I pray to a God that I'm not even sure exists that this man doesn't get reelected in November Because I don't know if I can take another four years But despite my vehement distaste for Donald Trump as someone who bought the Mary Trump book on launch day And binged it in 24 hours I feel I have a responsibility to give an honest review of this book since the launch of this book I've been bombarded with news that Mary Trump is breaking records with the sales of this book And the reality is that we're all playing into a system that we swear were against in this video I'll argue that the rich privileged members of our country Manipulate us by playing into our confirmation bias and irrational need for validation I'm also going to argue that Mary Trump wants us to believe that she's quote-unquote one of us who is against the rich While being all about progressive ideas But she's actually part of the problem and there's little evidence for us to think otherwise Like Donald, Mary Trump was born into wealth and has experienced extreme privilege throughout her life And we the readers just made a rich member of the Trump family a lot richer because she played into our disdain for Donald Now before making this video, I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something I felt that it'd make me look pretty foolish to make a video discussing how we made a rich person richer If she was actually using some of her money for good Well, I can confidently say that after quite a bit of research I haven't been able to find one ounce of philanthropy from Mary Trump In the beginning of her book, she acknowledged that she'll get accused of this book being a cash grab But she says that her intentions are noble Well, Donald Trump also says that he's the least racist person And has done more for African Americans than Abraham Lincoln So what people say isn't necessarily the truth This week, I was swarmed with news that Mary Trump broke records by selling 950,000 copies on launch day Although it's not public record, it's safe to say that Mary Trump was paid quite a bit to write this book up front And she's also making a ton of money from the book sales Although she claims that this wasn't a cash grab Again, we have no evidence that she's done anything with her pre-book Or post-book wealth to help her fellow citizens And after reading this book, I realized that it was clearly rushed She states that her intentions of this book weren't for money She states that her intentions of this book weren't for money But to not only give the perspective of a family member But also as a clinical psychologist Yes, she's Donald's niece And yes, she has a PhD in psychology But this wasn't the project she'd make you think it was that's been in the work for years How do we know this? The book was launched on July 14th, 2020 And in this book, she references the current COVID pandemic multiple times And she also references the George Floyd protest George Floyd passed away on May 25th So in less than two months, this book came out Based on the speed in which this book was written, I feel it's important to let people know That this isn't the book many of us thought it would be Before I make my argument about how privileged rich people like Mary Trump take advantage of us I want to explain why I bought this book and how it's not what most people are expecting I'm an avid reader and I read a variety of non-fiction books to improve my understanding Of the world and educate myself as much as possible To put it into perspective, at the time of recording this video I've read 105 books this year alone And quick side note, if you're on Goodreads, make sure you follow me over there But anyways, the primary genre of books that I read are in the realm of psychology But I also enjoy reading some books on politics Specifically, to have a better understanding of the conservative viewpoints that I disagree with I read quite a few books on moral psychology and philosophy Due to Mary Trump being a psychologist, I figured I'd break my Don't Read Books About Donald Trump Rule Now, you might be asking, wait, why don't you read books about Donald Trump rule, Chris? Well, it's because I don't like throwing money at people just because they know how to manipulate My confirmation bias Since being in office, Donald Trump has fired many people And they immediately write books For example, former FBI Director James Comey, former Secretary of Defense John Bolton And former reality TV star turned White House staffer Omarosa All released books within months of leaving their positions And they all made millions The illusion we're sold is that these people have inside information on Donald Trump And it's worth buying their books to learn about all of Trump's dirty little secrets But like I said, this is an illusion The reality is that millions of us know that Donald Trump is immoral, incompetent, and unfit to be president And all these books do is profit from confirming that belief It's an extremely low-hanging fruit and people fall for it every time I'm convinced that at this point I could write a book titled Trump Bad And sell at least a few hundred copies even though it's just 200 pages of me copying and pasting the words Trump Bad I can see the reviews now Short read and it makes a lot of really good points But why did I decide to buy Mary Trump's book? Well, I foolishly thought it'd be a book intertwining psychological theories with the story of Donald Trump Also, for as long as I can remember, people have been giving armchair diagnoses of Trump by saying he has narcissistic personality disorder and antisocial personality disorder I was curious to see how a woman with a PhD would navigate the Goldwater rule from the American Psychiatric Association while explaining Trump's psyche Well, if you're like me and this was one of the primary reasons you wanted to buy the book, let me save you the money In an introduction chapter, she mentions the armchair psychologist out there and she says she's going to give her personal and clinical perspectives But that's not the case There are a couple references to how our household environments and parents mold aspects of our personality But she provides little to no psychological insights on these subjects I actually wanted to return this book halfway through and stop reading it But when talking to my boss about it, she convinced me otherwise My boss is someone who shares a lot of the same progressive ideological beliefs as myself So after finishing the book, she thanked me for taking one for the team So if this book isn't what a lot of us thought it was about, then what's it about? In the rest of this video, I'm going to explain who Mary Trump is, what this book is actually about And why we all really need to rethink who gets our hard-earned money If you're like me and hoping to live in a country of equality and opportunity for everyone We need to stop being suckers by throwing more money at the already wealthy But before we get started, if you are new to the Rewired Soul, make sure you subscribe and ring that notification bell Here at the Rewired Soul, we make video essays trying to practice a little critical thinking and being skeptical to better improve our own emotional intelligence So who is Mary Trump? And what's this book actually about? Before we dive into those topics, I think it's important to address the current state of the nation After the death of George Floyd, not only has racism come to the forefront, but so has white privilege I covered the psychology of both white privilege and racism pretty extensively in some recent videos And for some reason, people still think that these are myths Privilege isn't just about pure status and it's not necessarily a bad thing The only thing that makes privilege bad is when we deny it exists while it holds other members of our society down But as someone who is constantly working on my mental health, I combine privilege with gratitude Gratitude is one of the best ways to improve our mental health And part of gratitude is being grateful for the things that we have absolutely no control of For example, as someone who overcame my drug addiction eight years ago, I have a lot to be grateful for I'm grateful that my mom got sober seven years before me And she was able to help me get sober when I was ready I'm also extremely grateful that during my first year sober, my mom allowed me not to work So I could focus on my recovery For that first year, she paid for my sober living for five months And then she allowed me to move in with her while she paid all of the bills Although I'm grateful for these things I also acknowledge how privileged I was to be put in this scenario As someone who has worked with literally thousands of drug addicts trying to get sober I see how many of them don't have the same opportunities that I did when I got sober Most people have family members who don't understand addiction But my mother is not only a recovering addict, but she's also a clinical psychologist Most people have to go immediately back to work when they get sober But I had the privilege of putting 100% of my energy into my sobriety While my ego wants me to take all the credit for staying sober and ask Why can't everyone just do this? I have to acknowledge the privilege I experienced That played a major role in where I'm at today And real quick, let's define what privilege is Privilege is reaping benefits in life Not through meritocracy, but through inevitable circumstances Completely out of your control Privilege surrounds us And the two major types of privilege are white privilege and male privilege As a half-black man who looks white I understand why so many people want to refuse And acknowledge that these things exist But the reality is that privilege is so unconscious That many of us don't even realize that we have it So when we ask who is Mary Trump It's extremely important that we address the fact That she was born into wealth and privilege That most of us will never know about And in her book, she has absolutely no problem Shamelessly discussing it Donald Trump's father Fred Sr. Was a multi-millionaire real estate tycoon in New York When you're born into a rich family You're going to experience a lot of privilege Whether you want it or not Even if your parents aren't buying your way into college Like we saw in recent years You still have an enormous amount of benefits Which has nothing to do with your own merits Let's discuss a few privileges you receive The moment you come out of your mother's womb When you're born into a rich family First, you're more likely to live in a nice house In a nice neighborhood Which gives you the opportunity to go to better schools And receive a better education Next, whether you want it or not You're associated with your rich, powerful parents This leads to more powerful people Knowing who you are And increasing the likelihood That you'll receive better treatment So that people have an in with your parents And the fact that you're never going to have to worry about Whether your parents will keep a roof over your head Or food in your stomach Is an extreme privilege that many people don't get to experience On top of that, there are all these little extras Like being able to travel all over the world And have experiences that most people will never have In an entire lifetime In her book, Mary Trump explains how her father Freddy Was the disappointment of the family Rather than following in Fred Sr.'s footsteps He became an airline pilot This led to Donald taking his place And bullying Freddy with their father Eventually, due to feeling like a disappointment Mary's father Freddy developed alcoholism Which ultimately led to his divorce And his early death in his 40s It's very clear throughout the book That Mary blames her grandfather and Donald For her own father's alcoholism Which led to his death And as someone who has worked with many alcoholics and addicts I agree with her that Freddy's family was a major factor Now, along with learning about her father's story We also learn about Mary's story Growing up as a Trump She went to the best schools in New York And eventually she wanted to go to a private boarding school I don't know about you But if I just told my parents I wanted to go to a private boarding school When I was growing up They would look at me like I was insane And ask me where I thought this money was coming from Mary Trump was set for life Because her father had a very large trust fund I don't believe she gives an exact amount But my guess is that it was in the millions Due to the stipulations of the trust fund Mary couldn't access the money until she was older Fortunately, she was still living a luxurious life And could get money from her wealthy grandmother Whenever she needed it After high school Mary Trump attended an Ivy League college Although it's clear that Mary Trump Is an extremely intelligent woman And I don't want to take away from that We also need to acknowledge the privilege Being born a Trump Mary experienced the best education And due to her family She had a leg up Being accepted into an Ivy League college She's an excellent writer And I don't doubt that she succeeded in school In great part due to her intelligence But it's important to note That privilege played a role Throughout the book We learn more about Mary's life And we hear stories of her taking limousines To different events And other experiences that people like you and I Could only dream of At one point Donald hired her to write one of his books And she has more stories of limousines As well as flying around in private jets Towards the end of the book We get to the point where Fred Sr passes away And his hundreds of millions of dollars are up for grabs After not getting money from the will Mary and her sibling took that matter to court To try to get their fair share While I'm not arguing that Mary wasn't entitled To some of her grandfather's money What I am arguing Is that Mary has been substantially wealthy And privileged her entire life So what's this book about? I just told you Keep up This book is not what any of us thought it was And it essentially click baited us Into thinking it was a book about Donald Trump If I had to break it down into percentages I'd say that 75% of this book Is about Mary Trump's life Along with the life of her father For those of you looking for a book exposing Trump Maybe 25% of the book discusses him And that's a generous estimate Like many others, I purchased this book For a psychological perspective And it wasn't there The only redeeming part of this book Was the final chapter Mary did an excellent job discussing Trump's presidency And how her family created a monster But again, it was just one chapter The entire book could have just as easily Been an op-ed for a publication Like the New York Times or Washington Post But that wouldn't have netted her Nearly as much money So she had to write a book I personally fancy myself as a skeptical optimist And I really try to give people the benefit of the doubt But as I'll discuss in this final section of the video If you share a similar ideology as me You'll stop making the rich like Mary Trump richer And we're also going to use a little psychology To explain how we get manipulated Into fueling a capitalist agenda That does most of us no favors In a best case scenario Mary Trump's intentions were pure And she truly believed she needed to share her story To get Trump out of office this November Unfortunately, this book missed the mark big time If that was the ultimate goal For a moment, I want you to ask yourself some questions How many people who plan on voting for Trump Bought this book? And if they did, based on what you know about this book Do you think it made them change their mind? When critically thinking, I'd assume That little to no people who are avid Trump supporters Bought this book On the off chance that Trump supporters did buy this book My bet would be that they just did so To strengthen their own belief in why Trump should be re-elected I'd also guess that some of the sales Came from conservative journalists and staffers So they could do their best to discredit this book Like they have over on Fox News Now, I want you to ask yourself some more questions If you don't like Trump What would this book have to tell you To make you dislike him more? Next, do you believe that aside from some anecdotal stories It'll tell you anything you didn't already know about Trump? If not, why did this book sell so many copies? The confirmation bias is the most powerful cognitive bias that we humans have We crave validation like it's a drug And we'll seek out confirming evidence for our beliefs like we're bloodhounds When someone agrees with us Or confirms what we already believe It's like we just got the ultimate high Neurological studies show that we get hits of dopamine When we read or hear information that confirms our beliefs Not only that, but our brain literally goes into a frenzy When we read or hear information that contradicts our beliefs Every living creature lives in one of two states Attraction and aversion We want things that make us feel good And we avoid things that make us feel bad So in the age of abundance It's easy for us to put ourselves in a cozy little bubble Of people who confirm our beliefs and make us feel good An example of easily finding people to confirm your beliefs Is in the realm of conspiracy theorists Whether you believe in lizard people or flat earth You can find thousands of people online Who agree with you and make you feel good In order to avoid cognitive dissonance We confabulate all sorts of logical fallacies To justify our decisions In the case of Mary Trump's book We appeal to authority by basing it on the fact That not only is she his niece But she also has a PhD in psychology Speaking of logical fallacies Let's talk about the appeal to celebrity and popularity This book is at the top of the charts Based on some incredible marketing From famous people falling into the same cognitive traps As the rest of us Since before this book was launched Celebrities and trusted others like Michael Moore Have promoted this book everywhere Since we feel that famous people know better than us Their endorsement of the book means a lot In his book Predictably Irrational Behavioral Economist Daniel Ariely Discusses how we value things we've chosen Or paid for much higher than we should So after we buy something like this book We're less likely to be critical of it As a way to ease our dissonance If you don't believe me The next time you make a purchase Think about your reasons for why you're going to buy it Then after you buy it You'll notice that you have even more reasons For why you made that choice As the last bit of marketing genius Mary Trump's book made a bunch of sales Based on the opinion of someone who hated the book Donald Trump Donald Trump repeatedly falls into what's known As the Streisand effect Before the launch of this book Trump tried to block it from being released Just like he did John Bolton's book A few months ago Which helped boost book sales This is called the Streisand effect Because after Barbara Streisand's home address was leaked She made a big deal out of trying to hide it Which resulted in more people trying to look it up Although Donald Trump believes himself to be a genius businessman He doesn't realize how often he's helping the people Who are against him After trying to block John Bolton's book The publisher then marketed it as Quote The book Donald Trump doesn't want you to read End quote To make you want it even more So why does any of this matter? Being anti-Trump doesn't help anybody Taking action is what helps people Our country is in an absolute mess right now At the time of making this Black Lives Matter protests are still going on And Breonna Taylor's killers still haven't been arrested On top of that Our administration is denying scientists To try and send kids back to school I want you to think about how irrational it is To want kids to get an education While simultaneously saying we don't trust the educated Although we may love our ego being stroked By reading a book from Trump's niece Confirming our belief that Trump isn't a good person That doesn't help anyone Mary Trump wants you to believe that she's one of us And believes for the same rights and equality That the rest of us are looking for The reality is that she's a privileged white woman Who was born into wealth And her book did nothing to move the needle On making legitimate social change Right now some of the issues our country is facing Include the following A global pandemic Millions of people are out of work The unemployed don't have health insurance While this pandemic is happening Millions of black people are incarcerated For non-violent drug crimes Despite protests Police officers are still using excessive force And disproportionately targeting black people The opioid epidemic has been ruining the lives Of millions in this country for nearly two decades And it continues to get worse With all of this going on I want you to ask yourself If buying Mary Trump's book Really helps with any of these situations At the end of the day Is this book actually fighting for social change Or was it just a cash grab From an angry niece who grew up rich And privileged her entire life Based on her recent tweet About how more people tuned into her interview Instead of Donald's on Fox News My guess is the latter Honestly with the amount of money that Mary Trump has She could have donated 90% of the profits From this book to organizations around the country And still be worth millions But none of us should hold our breath Waiting for that to happen All right everybody Thank you so much for making it all the way To the end of this video And yeah I really want to make this video Because we have to be more mindful About what we're supporting And where we're spending our hard earned money Like a lot of you I've been sitting and reflecting On all the changes that we need to see In this country, in our world Right so we need to be mindful Of what we're supporting Like is this a valuable use Of our time or our money Could this go somewhere else And like check it out Like I get it I get it, it feels so good To hear somebody who agrees with us But like I said in this video People are profiting off the fact That they know that we will buy Just about anything that confirms our belief That's why you can go and find a million books On why Donald Trump sucks All right But like I said I don't believe that anything going from this book As far as profits is going towards Any kind of social change And we all need to collectively think about this stuff All right but before I let you go Make sure you follow me over on Twitter and Instagram I'm always up on there If you ever want to chat Or you have any video ideas Or whatever Reach out, all right But again That's all I got for this video And if you like this video Please give it a thumbs up If you're new Make sure you subscribe And ring that notification bell And a huge huge thank you To everybody who supports the channel Over on Patreon Or who gets my books Over at therewiredsoul.com Or the merch from the merch store Like this shirt You help out a lot And it helps support the channel with all the work That I put into these crazy video essays All right Thanks again for watching I'll see you next time