Marx said history repeats first as tragedy, then as farce. Something that amazes me is just how many ways Donald Trump embodies the second coming of so many of the Presidential tragedies of the Baby Boomer era. Nixon was a man who used resentment and greed to win, a crook unpunished who escaped out the back door. Trump has all Nixon's wo…
Marx said history repeats first as tragedy, then as farce. Something that amazes me is just how many ways Donald Trump embodies the second coming of so many of the Presidential tragedies of the Baby Boomer era. Nixon was a man who used resentment and greed to win, a crook unpunished who escaped out the back door. Trump has all Nixon's worst qualities, and none of his intelligence or reverence for the office of President, and so we get All The Presidents' Men by way of Yes, Prime Minister. Bill Clinton was a genuine Aristotelian tragedy; a man whose appetites drove him to overcome a terrible childhood and become President, only for that lack of control to lead him to some horrible acts against vulnerable people. Trump too is a man who made it to the Presidency purely because of his appetites; his overwhelming desire for respect and love drove him to pursue the Presidency, and then his inability to control that desire meant that he was singularly unable to navigate a pandemic in a way that would make people feel the sort of psychological comfort that could have helped him cruise to reelection. Even now, he and the Republicans are reenacting the tragedy of Hillary in 2016; party leaders convinced that they have the only possible candidate, an alternative pulling 20-40% who is ignored by those leaders Even though it should be a giant, flashing warning sign, and an opposite party running a guy who most people think can't possibly win, even though he's actually better at campaigning than his detractors give him credit for.
I firmly believe that the current Trump drama is the denouement of the Baby Boomer era. Catharsis is coming.
I think it's more complicated than that. I'm a big guy (physically, I mean) and I still remember the day I understood what that meant. I gave a friend what I thought was a playful shove, and he went flying across the room. I thought he was clowning, but no, it was a really hard shove. Being big means you go through life checking your strength, or you hurt people. I don't think Baby Boomers, writ large, ever learned that lesson.
Maybe we never learned it as a country, now that I think about it.
I have a knee-jerk negative reaction when any generation receives blanket condemnation even when it comes from that generation’s own members. Your response was so considered—thoughtful. I think you’re right. Thank you.
Boomers also fought and mostly won many battles for freedoms that subsequent generations take (or took as in Roe) for granted. Equal rights for women, civil rights and in particular voting rights for minorities, increased awareness of and respect for cultural rights particularly for indigenous people. Yes, I'm a Boomer. We didn't succeed as much as we could have or should have but for a while we moved the needle in the right direction. The focus changed in the eighties when many discovered that while money can't buy you love it can get you personal power faster than utopian daydreams ever can. For most, the dream was over but not completely. You can still find it in our grandchildren. They are better and smarter and more practical than we ever were. I really wish I could be here to see the world they will build, despite the enormous handicaps they face.
Marx said history repeats first as tragedy, then as farce. Something that amazes me is just how many ways Donald Trump embodies the second coming of so many of the Presidential tragedies of the Baby Boomer era. Nixon was a man who used resentment and greed to win, a crook unpunished who escaped out the back door. Trump has all Nixon's worst qualities, and none of his intelligence or reverence for the office of President, and so we get All The Presidents' Men by way of Yes, Prime Minister. Bill Clinton was a genuine Aristotelian tragedy; a man whose appetites drove him to overcome a terrible childhood and become President, only for that lack of control to lead him to some horrible acts against vulnerable people. Trump too is a man who made it to the Presidency purely because of his appetites; his overwhelming desire for respect and love drove him to pursue the Presidency, and then his inability to control that desire meant that he was singularly unable to navigate a pandemic in a way that would make people feel the sort of psychological comfort that could have helped him cruise to reelection. Even now, he and the Republicans are reenacting the tragedy of Hillary in 2016; party leaders convinced that they have the only possible candidate, an alternative pulling 20-40% who is ignored by those leaders Even though it should be a giant, flashing warning sign, and an opposite party running a guy who most people think can't possibly win, even though he's actually better at campaigning than his detractors give him credit for.
I firmly believe that the current Trump drama is the denouement of the Baby Boomer era. Catharsis is coming.
Wow. Great comment, Sherm. Thank you for writing this.
Later Boomer here saying you're so right.
We Suck.
I think it's more complicated than that. I'm a big guy (physically, I mean) and I still remember the day I understood what that meant. I gave a friend what I thought was a playful shove, and he went flying across the room. I thought he was clowning, but no, it was a really hard shove. Being big means you go through life checking your strength, or you hurt people. I don't think Baby Boomers, writ large, ever learned that lesson.
Maybe we never learned it as a country, now that I think about it.
Insightful, Sherm. And an apt allegory.
I have a knee-jerk negative reaction when any generation receives blanket condemnation even when it comes from that generation’s own members. Your response was so considered—thoughtful. I think you’re right. Thank you.
Your word in every voter's ear.
Wonderfully put, all I can say is mega dittos.
Boomers also fought and mostly won many battles for freedoms that subsequent generations take (or took as in Roe) for granted. Equal rights for women, civil rights and in particular voting rights for minorities, increased awareness of and respect for cultural rights particularly for indigenous people. Yes, I'm a Boomer. We didn't succeed as much as we could have or should have but for a while we moved the needle in the right direction. The focus changed in the eighties when many discovered that while money can't buy you love it can get you personal power faster than utopian daydreams ever can. For most, the dream was over but not completely. You can still find it in our grandchildren. They are better and smarter and more practical than we ever were. I really wish I could be here to see the world they will build, despite the enormous handicaps they face.