Quotes That Help Us Understand Our Troubled Times, Part l

We're in a time of trouble indeed.  We've elected a president who is unfit for office, and, if left unchecked, will most likely cause a lot of damage both here and abroad. As I made clear in previous essays available on my blog, Trump is a pathological narcissist; he is, yes, mentally ill.  This is not a partisan position; nobody wants, or should want, an incompetent, impulsive, troubled, egomaniacal bully in the White House.

I'm pleased, however, that resistance to his racist, misogynist, anti-Muslim positions is on the rise.  I'm writing this at a time of mass protests regarding his recent bizarre, anti-American executive directive that no one from seven Muslim-majority countries be allowed entry into the United States for the next 90 days. (Why is it bizarre?  I'll give one reason: citizens of Saudia Arabia are responsible for more terrorist actions against the United States than the population of all the seven proscribed countries combined.)  He must be stopped by non-violent means.

While reflecting on the state of the world today, some of my neurons sent messages to other neurons in their Google-like search for recondite memories that apply.  My mind, on separate occasions, received, as if out of nowhere, four quotes while watching the news--news which elicited from my astonished mouth exclamations such as "OMG!" or "WTF??!!" each time. They are perhaps nothing more than one mind's responses to mindlessness from the White House; they also might cause your neurons to send messages to the muscles in your neck, so that you, dear reader, nod your head in agreement.  If the quotes increase your understanding of the present situation even slightly, and, better yet: if they increase your resolve to resist, the purpose of this essay will have been met.

First Quote : Was Hände bauen, können Hände stürzen, What hands build, hands can tear down

This line comes from Act l, Scene 3 in Friedrich Schiller's famous play, Wilhelm Tell.  I had read the play earlier, but this quote stayed in my mind only after I heard an actor speak it on stage. (I don't remember much else; I must have seen the play in Germany at some time between 1965 and 1966). It deeply impressed me, since the quote is still fresh in mind, although I have never read the play again,  or seen it performed since.

In the play, Hapsburg bullies are attempting to annex the Swiss cantons.  Gessler, the tyrant governor,  has constructed an enormous dungeon, striking terror in the minds of the people. What follows is my translation of the moment when the quote which we are discussing occurs:

Master Steinmetz
O Sir, if you could only see the dungeon
among the rubble.  Yes, whoever is imprisoned there
will never hear the cock crow ever again.

Stauffacher
Oh, God!

Master Steinmetz
Observe the sidewalls  and the buttresses;
they stand as if built for eternity!

Tell
What hands build, hands can tear down.
                              (pointing to the mountains)
God has established the house of freedom.

Schiller was an idealist and firmly believed in the power of individuals to transform society for the better.  Written over one hundred years before Word War l's bloody introduction to the horrors of the past century, the play evinces Schiller's belief that
progress is inevitable. There can be no turning back.

Kant defined the Enlightenment as "the withdrawal of human beings from their self-caused immaturity."  Once the light of reason dawns upon the world, gradually dispelling the darkness of ignorance, societal improvement  cannot be halted.  There will be no tyrants left  at high noon, and the day of justice and freedom, one supposes, will last forever. 

We can no longer share that degree of idealism.  Yet, we have reason to be optimistic; faith in life and in ourselves is part of human nature.  The difference between Schiller's time and ours is the conviction of the former that very good times will come in the near future.  Yes, our epoch asserts, we might come to the top of the mountain, but it's Everest, Schiller, it sure ain't a hill. We moderns know only too well that the ignorant armies of greed against greed, power against power, and  prejudice against prejudice will clash by night and fight us all the way.

We might not be able to swallow it whole, but I think a dose of Schillerian optimism is much needed in these difficult times and will do us much good.

As you might have guessed, the quote came to mind as our misguided president proceeds with the building of an inhumane and unnecessary wall between Mexico and the United States.

When I first heard this quote, so long ago, I shrugged it off as another example of Schillerian naivete.  How can the two hands of David tear down the walls built by Goliaths?  How can two hands tear down the brutal edifice of fascism?  But what if we join hands and prevent those edifices from being constructed?  If we don't do it sooner, we just might live to regret the later for the rest of our lives.

Interpret the quote figuratively.  Replace "hands" with "resistance," "wall" with "threats to democracy and justice". Thus, the quote can be applied to our current sad state of affairs as follows: Trump is constructing dangerous and irresponsible walls; we can tear them down.

Better yet: let's act like grownups  and do the right thing now.



Part ll will follow soon.

Quotes That Help Us Understand OurTroubled Times, Part l

We're in a time of trouble indeed.  We've elected a president who is unfit for office, and, if left unchecked, will most likely cause a lot of damage both here and abroad. As I made clear in previous essays available on my blog, Trump is a pathological narcissist; he is, yes, mentally ill.  This is not a partisan position; nobody wants, or should want, an incompetent, impulsive, troubled, egomaniacal bully in the White House.

I'm pleased, however, that resistance to his racist, misogynist, anti-Muslim positions is on the rise.  I'm writing this at a time of mass protests regarding his recent bizarre, anti-American executive directive that no one from seven Muslim-majority countries be allowed entry into the United States for the next 90 days. (Why is it bizarre?  I'll give one reason: citizens of Saudia Arabia are responsible for more terrorist actions against the United States than the population of all the seven proscribed countries combined.)  He must be stopped by non-violent means.

While reflecting on the state of the world today, some of my neurons sent messages to other neurons in their Google-like search for recondite memories that apply.  My mind, on separate occasions, received, as if out of nowhere, four quotes while watching the news--news which elicited from my astonished mouth exclamations such as "OMG!" or "WTF??!!" each time. They are perhaps nothing more than one mind's responses to mindlessness from the White House; they also might cause your neurons to send messages to the muscles in your neck, so that you, dear reader, nod your head in agreement.  If the quotes increase your understanding of the present situation even slightly, and, better yet: if they increase your resolve to resist, the purpose of this essay will have been met.

First Quote : Was Hände bauen, können Hände stürzen, What hands build, hands can tear down

This line comes from Act l, Scene 3 in Friedrich Schiller's famous play, Wilhelm Tell.  I had read the play earlier, but this quote stayed in my mind only after I heard an actor speak it on stage. (I don't remember much else; I must have seen the play in Germany at some time between 1965 and 1966). It deeply impressed me, since the quote is still fresh in mind, although I have never read the play again,  or seen it performed since.

In the play, Hapsburg bullies are attempting to annex the Swiss cantons.  Gessler, the tyrant governor,  has constructed an enormous dungeon, striking terror in the minds of the people. What follows is my translation of the moment when the quote which we are discussing occurs:

Master Steinmetz
O Sir, if you could only see the dungeon
among the rubble.  Yes, whoever is imprisoned there
will never hear the cock crow ever again.

Stauffacher
Oh, God!

Master Steinmetz
Observe the sidewalls  and the buttresses;
they stand as if built for eternity!

Tell
What hands build, hands can tear down.
                              (pointing to the mountains)
God has established the house of freedom.

Schiller was an idealist and firmly believed in the power of individuals to transform society for the better.  Written over one hundred years before Word War l's bloody introduction to the horrors of the past century, the play evinces Schiller's belief that
progress is inevitable. There can be no turning back.

Kant defined the Enlightenment as "the withdrawal of human beings from their self-caused immaturity."  Once the light of reason dawns upon the world, gradually dispelling the darkness of ignorance, societal improvement  cannot be halted.  There will be no tyrants left  at high noon, and the day of justice and freedom, one supposes, will last forever. 

We can no longer share that degree of idealism.  Yet, we have reason to be optimistic; faith in life and in ourselves is part of human nature.  The difference between Schiller's time and ours is the conviction of the former that very good times will come in the near future.  Yes, our epoch asserts, we might come to the top of the mountain, but it's Everest, Schiller, it sure ain't a hill. We moderns know only too well that the ignorant armies of greed against greed, power against power, and  prejudice against prejudice will clash by night and fight us all the way.

We might not be able to swallow it whole, but I think a dose of Schillerian optimism is much needed in these difficult times and will do us much good.

As you might have guessed, the quote came to mind as our misguided president proceeds with the building of an inhumane and unnecessary wall between Mexico and the United States.

When I first heard this quote, so long ago, I shrugged it off as another example of Schillerian naivete.  How can the two hands of David tear down the walls built by Goliaths?  How can two hands tear down the brutal edifice of fascism?  But what if we join hands and prevent those edifices from being constructed?  If we don't do it sooner, we just might live to regret the later for the rest of our lives.

Interpret the quote figuratively.  Replace "hands" with "resistance," "wall" with "threats to democracy and justice". Thus, the quote can be applied to our current sad state of affairs as follows: Trump is constructing dangerous and irresponsible walls; we can tear them down.

Better yet: let's act like grownups  and do the right thing now.



Part ll will follow soon.

The Schaefer Effect

"The mayor wants us to go outside and cheer President Reagan as he passes by.  The motorcade is scheduled to pass Pratt and Charles in about fifteen minutes.  Get your coats on now."  The man who gave us this abrupt order was the Commissioner of Health of the Baltimore City Health Department.

The year was 1980.  We had no choice--that is, if we wanted to keep our jobs.  So the entire staff of the Health Department, dozens of us, marched into the cold, waiting to cheer The Gipper.   We had to wait a long time.  (Ronald Reagen was scheduled to give a speech somewhere in Baltimore, I don't exactly remember where or why.)

Finally, the motorcade whizzed by.  We assumed that the cars raced past along the closed-off thoroughfare for security reasons.  I doubt if the president had time to notice us. or that he even cared if he did.

I felt like a South American peasant having no choice but to execute a dictator's command.  After that, chilled and unfulfilled, we returned to work.

The man who gave the Commissioner of Health that command was the Mayor of Baltimore at the time, William Donald Schaefer.

Mayor Schaefer was a member of the City Council for some years before he began his long service as mayor of Baltimore.  He was thought by many not to be very bright, but got things done in the vast red-tape sea upon which many bureaucrats floundered.  He had a temper and often got his way by yelling and browbeating others.  He had a huge network of powerful friends; if you crossed him, you were in for trouble.  He was dedicated to Baltimore, however, and accomplished many good things. For instance, as manufacturing left Baltimore, which was inevitable, Mayor Schaefer switched the focus from factories to tourism.  Baltimore's famous Inner Harbor is a testimony to the many successes of his administration.

After serving four terms as mayor, he became governor in 1986.  He had accomplishments as governor as well, but he was much more effective as mayor.  Yelling didn't work as well in Annapolis; he couldn't boss state representatives around  as if he owned the state.  Calling Maryland's Eastern Shore a "shit house" and referring to women, including female politicians, as "pretty little misses," certainly didn't help his state-wide reputation either!  He worked hard, however, learned to compromise somewhat, and had several successes.

The point I am trying to make here is that strategies for success in one context might not work well at all in another.  Resultant difficulties from failure to adapt and change to a new situation is what I call "the Schaefer Effect."



2.

I contend that "The Schaefer Effect" is going to assure Trump's failure as a president.  He is a master of inflaming his base with lies; he tells his fans just what they want to hear.  They are opposed to immigration.  He tells them that Mexicans are sending rapists to the United States.  They hate Obama.  He tells them that Obama's administration has been the worst ever.  They hate Hillary Clinton even more.  He tells them that she is a crook and, if elected, he'll appoint a special prosecutor and send her to jail.  He will replace the disastrous Obama care with something great--even though he has no plan.  He will build a wall between Mexico and the United States and Mexico will pay for it. He's going to "drain the swamp" and free America from the machinations of the big banks. Climate change is a Chinese hoax. Etc. Etc.

It is clear to me that the only reason he tells these lies is to receive the cheers of the crowd.

He has disparaged the C.I.A. and F.B.I. about the Russian hacking, because, if he acknowledged it, it would be an indication that he might not have won, had the Russians not done what they did.  Here is a tweet of his from January 7, 2017:

"Only reason hacking of the poorly defended DNC is discussed is that the loss by the Dems was so big that they are totally embarrassed."

Never mind the truth: he didn't "win big" at all--Hillary Clinton received about three million votes more than he did.  (He refused to acknowledge this with another lie, namely that there was widespread voter fraud.)

The lies that went over so well with the angry members of the white working-class, however, will not go over well with Democrats and Republicans in Congress due to the Schaefer effect.  Republicans are understandably delighted that the party controls all three branches of government, but they're not going to be his cheerleaders.  If Trump indulges in bizarre outbursts (and he assuredly will) that challenge Republican interests, they will let him know about it. Conservative politicians such as Lindsay Graham and "I like heroes that don't get captured" McCain are understandably shocked by Trump's response to the hacking.  It is not an exaggeration to call it borderline treasonous. Not to mention all those conflicts of interest that are not going to go away!

Political pundits, especially the liberal ones, are shocked and dismayed.  However, I believe they're missing an important point: Trump is crazy.  I don't use that word lightly.  He is a pathological narcissist and thus in need of constant praise.  He will deny reality to get that praise.  He is not able to endure the slightest criticism, however justified.

Senator Dick Durbin recently said the following: "I spent months never believing he would become president.  I sincerely hope that the office makes the man."

This is NOT going to happen.  I repeat: Trump is crazy. This isn't name-calling; this isn't a partisan insulting of a man whose policies one doesn't like.  Trump's pathology trumps content.  If Putin had insulted him and supported Clinton, the former would get the brunt of a string of vicious Trump tweets. 

No party wants to have a truly crazy man in charge.  Even Republican opposition will become more and more apparent.

All presidents have to endure criticism, some of it justified, some if it not.  In Trump's case, any criticism shakes him to his pathological core.  He reacts to it as many a toddler would: by throwing a tantrum.  

How did this man ever get to be president?  Let's hope he's removed from office before serious damage is done to our already endangered republic.

A doctor friend of mine, a conservative, recently told me how he viewed the oncoming Trump presidency: "I just hope we don't get vaporized."

I repeat: Trump is crazy.

It's a different ballgame--one in which the home team is going to lose badly.  Every czar beyond our shores is going to be pleased.