As someone who had relatives occupied in Denmark and Norway and grew up with the lessons of fascism from WWII, I find it incomprehensible that anyone could support this creature. But I am now alienated from my family over this, so there it is - not everyone got my parents memo. His candidacy was a dealbreaker for me, not just with my fam…
As someone who had relatives occupied in Denmark and Norway and grew up with the lessons of fascism from WWII, I find it incomprehensible that anyone could support this creature. But I am now alienated from my family over this, so there it is - not everyone got my parents memo. His candidacy was a dealbreaker for me, not just with my family, but my neighbors and country, so I confess to being an expat. I'm also a retired ancient historian, and here is what keeps me up at night.
Trump wins. NATO loses the buckle on its belt, which is the US. Although it has done so imperfectly, and been wrong in so many ways, the hegemony of that western alliance, in conjunction with our alliances in Asia, have helped to maintain a relative stability, a unity, and a prosperity that is essential in a nuclear armed world. To relinquish it, to give up on it, is not an option.
In my retirement I have turned from a scholar of Rome's late republic and high empire to late antiquity and the Middle Ages. You would not want to have been around as centralized Roman power collapsed and Europe morphed, from a series of cities with all manner of amenities, all connected with roads, and mostly unwalled, to become a hodgepodge of fragmented barbarian states, each at war with the other, each pursuing its own interests, and none coming close to the resources Rome could once upon a time muster.
Of course, as the nation state began to take its modern shape in the 16th century going forward, the fragmented states that once made up the empire and emerged as modern European states rarely lived in peace until the post war order was set in place after 1945. NATO is not to be discarded with levity. Putin will see fit, if Ukraine is abandoned, to eye Poland and the Baltic States next. It is an old story of revanchist visions of glory.
Looming over all of this is the catastrophe of climate change. Individual nations are already being impacted by the stress as climate chaos becomes an increasingly lived reality. Hence events such as the war in Syria, conflict in East Africa, and political instability in the Middle East, with attendant immigration crises which puts further stress on democracies in the north. Climate change is not the cause of difficulties on our own southern border, but it is a contributing factor - what historians call a stressor that leads to other unintended consequences, such as racist demagogues casting doubt on democratic norms.
It is unfathomable to me that anyone could be so reckless or foolish as to support Trump, but here we are. There are but three choices, none of them good, for doing so: either one lacks moral character, is profoundly ignorant, or a person of malice, spite, and hate. There is no other reason for supporting a criminal, racist, rapist, insurrectionist, ignoramus, traitor, and fascist. To conclude, let me add qua Roman historian that there is no remote comparison to Caligula, Nero, Commodus, Elegabalus, or any other ne'er-do-well Roman emperor you care to name. He is far more dangerous and, I suspect, equally as deranged.
Thanks for the kind words. I hope to gods I am wrong and Harris is elected. Yes, if not, we will confront historic shame, but at least posterity will know some of us were on the right side.
I like your assessment here, Steve! I have thought long and hard about why so many of my fellow cop retirees are so supportive of fpotus, beginning with their loss of respect for the FBI following first the Muller probe, and then the search warrant service at Merde a Lardo and continuing to this day with their reliance on Russian disinformation sources for their position articulations. I am not a student of history or a student of human behavior. What I do see is that apparently, what appeals to them is that they crave a strongman who will "return" white, Christian, heteronormative, cisgendered men to the top of the heap, placing all the rest of us below them. Many of them have completely abandoned all critical thought, and eat up negative memes like candy, along with the disinformation peddled by their favorite "news" sources.
Your conclusion that fpotus is far more dangerous and equally deranged as any of the Roman emperors you name is accurate.
Thanks for your thoughts - fyi I am a native Oregonian, though I lived in New England, Europe, and DC for many years. I was sorry to feel compelled to leave, but did so both for professional (I still continue to write and am a pre-modern European historian - it made no sense to spend retirement in the US) and political reasons. Cheers and keep up the fight!
As someone who had relatives occupied in Denmark and Norway and grew up with the lessons of fascism from WWII, I find it incomprehensible that anyone could support this creature. But I am now alienated from my family over this, so there it is - not everyone got my parents memo. His candidacy was a dealbreaker for me, not just with my family, but my neighbors and country, so I confess to being an expat. I'm also a retired ancient historian, and here is what keeps me up at night.
Trump wins. NATO loses the buckle on its belt, which is the US. Although it has done so imperfectly, and been wrong in so many ways, the hegemony of that western alliance, in conjunction with our alliances in Asia, have helped to maintain a relative stability, a unity, and a prosperity that is essential in a nuclear armed world. To relinquish it, to give up on it, is not an option.
In my retirement I have turned from a scholar of Rome's late republic and high empire to late antiquity and the Middle Ages. You would not want to have been around as centralized Roman power collapsed and Europe morphed, from a series of cities with all manner of amenities, all connected with roads, and mostly unwalled, to become a hodgepodge of fragmented barbarian states, each at war with the other, each pursuing its own interests, and none coming close to the resources Rome could once upon a time muster.
Of course, as the nation state began to take its modern shape in the 16th century going forward, the fragmented states that once made up the empire and emerged as modern European states rarely lived in peace until the post war order was set in place after 1945. NATO is not to be discarded with levity. Putin will see fit, if Ukraine is abandoned, to eye Poland and the Baltic States next. It is an old story of revanchist visions of glory.
Looming over all of this is the catastrophe of climate change. Individual nations are already being impacted by the stress as climate chaos becomes an increasingly lived reality. Hence events such as the war in Syria, conflict in East Africa, and political instability in the Middle East, with attendant immigration crises which puts further stress on democracies in the north. Climate change is not the cause of difficulties on our own southern border, but it is a contributing factor - what historians call a stressor that leads to other unintended consequences, such as racist demagogues casting doubt on democratic norms.
It is unfathomable to me that anyone could be so reckless or foolish as to support Trump, but here we are. There are but three choices, none of them good, for doing so: either one lacks moral character, is profoundly ignorant, or a person of malice, spite, and hate. There is no other reason for supporting a criminal, racist, rapist, insurrectionist, ignoramus, traitor, and fascist. To conclude, let me add qua Roman historian that there is no remote comparison to Caligula, Nero, Commodus, Elegabalus, or any other ne'er-do-well Roman emperor you care to name. He is far more dangerous and, I suspect, equally as deranged.
PROLONGED APPLAUSE!!!
But no joy to be living through such times and to think of the suffering to be visited on all those who will follow us.
Thanks for the kind words. I hope to gods I am wrong and Harris is elected. Yes, if not, we will confront historic shame, but at least posterity will know some of us were on the right side.
I like your assessment here, Steve! I have thought long and hard about why so many of my fellow cop retirees are so supportive of fpotus, beginning with their loss of respect for the FBI following first the Muller probe, and then the search warrant service at Merde a Lardo and continuing to this day with their reliance on Russian disinformation sources for their position articulations. I am not a student of history or a student of human behavior. What I do see is that apparently, what appeals to them is that they crave a strongman who will "return" white, Christian, heteronormative, cisgendered men to the top of the heap, placing all the rest of us below them. Many of them have completely abandoned all critical thought, and eat up negative memes like candy, along with the disinformation peddled by their favorite "news" sources.
Your conclusion that fpotus is far more dangerous and equally deranged as any of the Roman emperors you name is accurate.
Thanks for your thoughts - fyi I am a native Oregonian, though I lived in New England, Europe, and DC for many years. I was sorry to feel compelled to leave, but did so both for professional (I still continue to write and am a pre-modern European historian - it made no sense to spend retirement in the US) and political reasons. Cheers and keep up the fight!