Why is it that some people are able to trumpet themselves without shame, whereas others seek the shadows? I’ve met both types. There are some who have a superstition, that getting any publicity will somehow lead to ruin, while others who are comfortable shouting their names from a mountaintop.
There’s no doubt that certain people, if they could, would have the moon made into a likeness of themselves so, looking up at night, they could see their reflection in the sky. Maybe one day, using a large selection of strategically-aimed nuclear bombs, a multi-trillionaire will accomplish this, carving out the moon like at Mount Rushmore. How depressing! From then on, every night we’ll have to contemplate Man’s Folly, like Shelley’s Ozymandias, but a thousand times worse.
Privilege and feelings of entitlement are funny things. They don’t require any special talent; they’re dispositions of the soul. At least an Olympic athlete, concert pianist or chess genius can do something, so if one of them is a pompous ass there’s an explanation. Imagine meeting one of these people who self-identifies as an artist. Then you learn that they’ve created next to no work. There’s a simple explanation. Instead of saying they have a lack of ideas, or lazy, it serves as proof they only produce rare masterpieces. Let others produce in bulk, they say, churning stuff out like a factory.
Imagine someone who hires and underpays his workman. But in his eyes he’s a Good Samaritan. Why? Because the workman would just spend his money on drink. By underpaying him, the employer is acting as his benefactor, helping the poor soul overcome his alcoholism.
Often these people are charismatic and that pulls others towards them. It’s not unlike the charisma of a baby or a small child, they seem innocent in their total self-absorption. Of course they require special consideration. Not to pander to them would be cruel.
I don’t hate Donald Trump as much as others. Maybe it’s because I feel all leaders are suspect. Maybe it’s because I live “over there” as France was called during WW I. He isn’t part of my daily life: though always in the headlines, he’s “foreign” news. Still, the things I see sometimes shock me. Tearing down parts of the White House to build the Trump Ballroom. Unbelievable. The Rose Garden, maybe the last bastion of gentility in the USA is gone. Putting his name on a new battleship. Isn’t that supposed to happen posthumously? Sharing the name on the Kennedy Center, again, isn’t this something earned through artistic patronage? That’s why Kennedy’s name was on it, he and Jackie loved the arts. Trump’s not going to stop, the question is, what to do?
I think there’s just one solution. All public buildings, airports, swimming pools, governmental edifices , public toilets, bus-stops, streets, highways, alleys, theaters, parks, cities and states, everything should carry the Trump name. Why not call the United States of America Trumpland? Many people already feel the use of America without a North in front of it is small-minded and bigoted. What about South America they ask? This would solve the issue forever. We’d all be Trumplanders! It has a ring to it. Imagine the following conversation:
“Excuse me, can you tell me how to get to the Trump Theater?”
“Sure. Take Trump Road, straight for two blocks, then take a left on Trump Street, go straight, then get on Trump Highway. You can’t miss it, the turn off is just after Trump Memorial Plaza. After that take the exit to Trump Street North, go past Trump Topiary Gardens, and it’ll be on your left.”
Who’d ever get lost again?