I’m used to writing about life, specifically urging us to treasure our rare chance at life: to live fully and to fully recognize our opportunity in living.
The age of Trump, however, is a pivotal moment for democracy and threatens to severely undermine the concept of “life” as we know it. It’s a concept of life that we Americans have gotten used to and have probably taken for granted for too long.
I will occasionally be shifting some of my writings towards politics, in defense of liberty and against the existential threat to liberty that Trump represents. Life is precious in all situations—but life’s value is exponentially diminished as we shift towards tyranny. The Dark Ages is no place to live if you can help it.
By the way, here’s a couple of books I’ve been enjoying recently:
Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson
Why Nations Fail gave me a bit of hope for America, even if Trump drags us toward tyranny. There is an inertia to institutions that tends to bring them back to their normal state. Often this is bad, such as when good movements try to improve bad states. But it could also help us drag America back away from tyranny once Americans who are not used to it see what it’s really like. Thankfully, the U.S. has a history of pluralism and inclusiveness (albeit patchy), which has built in us an expectation of how human beings are supposed to be treated. That history may be hard for tyranny to overcome in the long run. Fingers crossed.
The Presidents and the People by Corey Brettschneider
I’m still not finished with this book, but it details how often threats to constitutional liberty have occurred in our history and how often there has been an ultimate backlash against these evils. Unfortunately, the backlash often takes years or even decades to bring us closer to the spirit of America (liberty for all). Still, it’s better than feeling like there’s no hope as we descend into the depths.
And now for something completely different….
I’ve been watching The Lord of the Rings again with my family. It has never had as much meaning for me as it does now in the period of Trump. Not surprising given that the threat of tyranny in both World Wars influenced Tolkien’s writings. I see great concretizations of Trump in Sauron and Vance in Saruman. Especially with Saruman (Vance) being the arch amoralist and sycophant to Sauron (Trump). Vance used to be anti-Trump—until it looked like Trump would win. Fight recognized evil? No way, Vance says: far better to join ‘em than to fight ‘em.
Alright. That’s enough of my geek-fest. :-)