Discussion for article #237564
Comparing Trump to Franklin must have Ben rolling over in his grave, the only thing they have in common is fathering a child out of wedlock.
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People believe there must be some logical connection between extreme wealth and intelligence, no matter how long or how often The Rump disproves the hypothesis empirically.
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sR:dr (spotted Railton:didn’t read)
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Camels attempting to pass through the eye of the needle.
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It could be wealth envy but it seems simpler even than that. The conservative mind is ripe to be led astray. Opportunists like Huckabee, Romney and Trump just play on the mental weaknesses and innate desires to be led that is the main component of conservatism. It damned for sure isn’t being conservative that’s one thing we know for sure.
Someone paved the way, but I wouldn’t say that it goes as far back as Ben Franklin. Nixon with the divide and conquer southern strategy made a huge swath of the nation imagine themselves as better than the other half of the huge swath of the nation. Greed set in and helping thy neighbor exited stage left.
Money and wealth replaced kindness and caring and those with a bit of wealth respect those with a bit more and their life’s focus becomes, get to the next level as fast as possible and by all means.
Equality can not exist where class envy thrives. Those who hold Trump on high basically deny their own existence and live through a fairy tale always focused on what might be instead of what really is. They are told that money is what matters and the need to have an authority over them causes them to follow this advice.
Conservatism paved the way for neo-conservatism which paved the way for wealth through phony political posturing. Its hucksterism in the most modern mode.
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I would have gone with P.T. Barnum for a comparison. Like Franklin (but unlike Trump) he too had a rags-to-riches story. Like Trump he wrote autobiographies and “get rich” books that sold extremely well, dabbled in politics (only elected to the CT state legislature), connected himself to famous people, was shameless self promoter, and of course, ran a freak show.
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Nice points on Barnum for sure. I would only add that in at least some ways (particularly as a legislator) he was pretty progressive, including on issues of race in that dark Reconstruction era. So yet another case of Trump extending the earlier example but also turning it into something far more ugly at the same time.
Thanks,
Ben
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One positive thing about … him … is it gives us an insight of a rich-mans’(?) mind , or … you fill in the “blanks”.
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