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| Bust of Seneca at the University Club (actually, the "pseudo Seneca," as I discuss in a post 10 years ago. The real Seneca, a rich man at the court of Nero, was far chunkier). |
MAGA types coined a term, "Trump Derangement Syndrome" to describe those who, in their estimation, focus too much on the man who was recently the president of the United States and will be again if we're don't fight hard against him and maybe even if we do.
While, like so much of their rhetoric, TDS isn't real, but just a negative term attached to something which is in fact positive — caring for your country intensely and wanted her not to be run by a demagogue and madman is a good thing. Yet sometimes I wonder if I'm not seeing Trump in places where I ought not to.
For instance. The Roman philosopher Seneca does not write about current events. He killed himself on orders of his former student Nero, speaking of deranged tyrants, in 65 AD. Yet I was reading his Letter No. 48 on Monday (hey, don't judge me — it's a free country, for now; we may still read what we like) and came upon this:
"No one can live happily who has regard to himself alone and transforms everything into a question of his own utility."
And I heard, "Trump," as clearly as if someone in the room had spoken his name. The guy never seems very happy, does he? It's his own boundless and inflamed ego, an insatiable hunger to be the center of all things, eating himself alive. Then Seneca offers up what could be a precise, dozen-word synopsis of the liberal mindset: "You must live for your neighbor, if you would live for yourself." (In Richard Gummere's 1917 translation of "Alteri vivas oportet, si vis tibi vivere" in volume 75 of the Loeb Classical Library. A more updated translation would be, "You must live for others if you want to live for yourself.")
I might have left that be — if I wrote about every noteworthy passage I find in classical literature, it's all I'd ever do. Then Seneca sets the stage for the 2024 election:
"Lo, Wisdom and Folly are taking opposite sides. Which shall I join? Which party would you have me follow? ... The one wants a friend of his own advantage; the other wants to make himself an advantage to his friend."
It is shocking that this choice is still a head-scratcher for many Americans, but Seneca dives right into that: "It is clear that unless I can devise some very tricky premises and by false deductions tack onto them a fallacy which springs from the truth, I shall not be able to distinguish between what is desirable and what is to be avoided!"
Bingo Lucius (Seneca's first name).
He urges his friend not to turn his back on others:
"Men are stretching out imploring hands to you on all sides; lives ruined and in danger of ruin are begging for some assistance; men's hopes, men's resources, depend on you. They ask that you deliver them from all their restlessness, that you reveal to them, scattered and wandering as they are, the clear light of truth. Tell them what nature has made necessary, and what superfluous; tell them how simple are the laws that she has laid down, how pleasant an unimpeded life is for those who follow these laws, but how bitter and perplexed it is for those who have put their trust in opinion rather than in nature."
That last part surely overstates the case. You can respect nature and observe law yet somehow not enjoy a "pleasant and unimpeded life." But still, grist to chew on in 2024, doubly impressive in that it was written nearly 2,000 years ago, found in a book first published in 1917. Lies curdle quickly — that's why Trump has to keep spewing them, to replace them as they fester and fall apart. The truth never grows old.
While, like so much of their rhetoric, TDS isn't real, but just a negative term attached to something which is in fact positive — caring for your country intensely and wanted her not to be run by a demagogue and madman is a good thing. Yet sometimes I wonder if I'm not seeing Trump in places where I ought not to.
For instance. The Roman philosopher Seneca does not write about current events. He killed himself on orders of his former student Nero, speaking of deranged tyrants, in 65 AD. Yet I was reading his Letter No. 48 on Monday (hey, don't judge me — it's a free country, for now; we may still read what we like) and came upon this:
"No one can live happily who has regard to himself alone and transforms everything into a question of his own utility."
And I heard, "Trump," as clearly as if someone in the room had spoken his name. The guy never seems very happy, does he? It's his own boundless and inflamed ego, an insatiable hunger to be the center of all things, eating himself alive. Then Seneca offers up what could be a precise, dozen-word synopsis of the liberal mindset: "You must live for your neighbor, if you would live for yourself." (In Richard Gummere's 1917 translation of "Alteri vivas oportet, si vis tibi vivere" in volume 75 of the Loeb Classical Library. A more updated translation would be, "You must live for others if you want to live for yourself.")
I might have left that be — if I wrote about every noteworthy passage I find in classical literature, it's all I'd ever do. Then Seneca sets the stage for the 2024 election:
"Lo, Wisdom and Folly are taking opposite sides. Which shall I join? Which party would you have me follow? ... The one wants a friend of his own advantage; the other wants to make himself an advantage to his friend."
It is shocking that this choice is still a head-scratcher for many Americans, but Seneca dives right into that: "It is clear that unless I can devise some very tricky premises and by false deductions tack onto them a fallacy which springs from the truth, I shall not be able to distinguish between what is desirable and what is to be avoided!"
Bingo Lucius (Seneca's first name).
He urges his friend not to turn his back on others:
"Men are stretching out imploring hands to you on all sides; lives ruined and in danger of ruin are begging for some assistance; men's hopes, men's resources, depend on you. They ask that you deliver them from all their restlessness, that you reveal to them, scattered and wandering as they are, the clear light of truth. Tell them what nature has made necessary, and what superfluous; tell them how simple are the laws that she has laid down, how pleasant an unimpeded life is for those who follow these laws, but how bitter and perplexed it is for those who have put their trust in opinion rather than in nature."
That last part surely overstates the case. You can respect nature and observe law yet somehow not enjoy a "pleasant and unimpeded life." But still, grist to chew on in 2024, doubly impressive in that it was written nearly 2,000 years ago, found in a book first published in 1917. Lies curdle quickly — that's why Trump has to keep spewing them, to replace them as they fester and fall apart. The truth never grows old.
Since it's still is a free country for a few months more, I spent my LDW listening to Liz Cheney's Oath and Honor. It's blood curdling, enraging and heartbreaking. In a million years, I never expected to be grateful for Mike Pence or feel for Ms. Cheney so much admiration for standing up to the buckets of horribles she had to contend with before, during and after Jan. 6. I'm sickened wondering how the orange menace is planning to mete out his vengeance. She will certainly be top on his list. We might be living through something we could never have imagined possible.
ReplyDeleteFrom Heather Cox Richardson today: "No one has a right to interfere with a presidential election. Several federal laws prohibit such interference. Legal analyst Joyce White Vance added: 'This is the banality of evil right here—Trump asserting he can override the will of the voters to claim victory in an election he lost. And, he will do it again. We must vote against him in overwhelming numbers.'"
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, the 'check and balance' in this case, the judicial system which SHOULD enforce voting laws, has been SEVERELY compromised by "tricky premises and...false deductions". Or more directly, 45 years of increasingly asinine and unrealistic "guidance" by YOUR Republican party.
DeleteThis weekend, I wasn’t reading philosophy, but when the 1971 song “Smiling Faces Somtimes” by The Undisputed Truth played, I told my husband that every line in that song refers to Trump.
ReplyDeleteApplying the words "derangement syndrome" to presidents did not start with the Trumpies. Before that there was "Obama derangement syndrome," and before that, "Bush derangement syndrome." It's basically just a way by partisans of a president to dismiss criticism of him.
ReplyDeleteIn Obama's case, of course, much of the "criticism" actually WAS deranged. But as we all learned a long time ago, what is actually true and what isn't matters little in contemporary American politics.
To clarify, Neil and others, I did NOT mean "Neil's" Republican Party when I commented. I was making a play on the typical sports stadium announcer when shilling for the home team. sorry for the unclear words.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I did wonder about that, but decided you might be riffing off the guy the other day accusing me of tacit Trumpery.
DeleteTrump Derangement Syndrome is real. Anyone who votes for the candidate whose campaign speech includes the talking point that people are not eating bacon because of windmills is deranged.
ReplyDeleteJoe and Kamala and Tim appeared at a union rally in PA yesterday. Wish I coulda been there. I've seen Joe twice, here in OH. I still love Joe. He makes you feel inspired and encouraged.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hoof, Orangy Boy and Jethro Doofus had NOTHING to say to American workers, anywhere...union and non-union alike...on Labor Day.. That's because they've never gotten their hands dirty in their whole lives. Silence speaks volumes.
Lovely September already. Nine weeks to go. Time is flying. Gotta kick those asses back to Florida and...unfortunately for me and my fellow North Missituckians...Ohio. Make that Ahia. We're red...and rednecked now. And we're stuck with the serial couch molester for at least four more years. Unless the unthinkable happens. Don't let it. Organize. Work. Vote.
I was talking to my new daughter-in-law on the phone last night, and my son brought up the subject of my retirement, and doesn't the blog take a lot of time away that could be spent on books. I said I could see jettisoning the blog if time became too short, and she said, "Oh no! You can't! It would be awful for Grizz!"
DeleteThose horrible clear plastic furniture covers of the 1950s were just made for JD. He could wipe them clean after he abused the couch. He's just living in the wrong decade!
Deleteobey your daughter-in-law, she has uncommon wisdom for someone so young.
DeleteIt's okay, Mr. S. I need to get away from this damn keyboard. I spend WAAAY to much time at it, every goddamn day. Still probably banned from WaPo...but I've long since stopped asking to return. A beehive of activity...at which the hundred thousand or so Blue Team bees merely delight in stinging their own kind. Meh. Huge time suck.
DeleteBut never fear, Mr. S--I clicked on an old link in July, just for shits and grins, and...VIOLA! There, with no explanation whatsoever, was my old Nextdoor account, just sitting there and waiting for me, like a faithful canine companion with a leash in his mouth, after two years away. My neighbors seem to have become even more paranoid and ignorant, if that's possible.
And if I really want stupidity, hell...there's always Facebook. I can't help correcting people, and they get pissed off, and then I have to block them. By the hundreds. But Facebook is as addictive as tobacco...probably worse. And just as bad for you. I routinely snark at ageists and Trumpers...often one and the same. Almost a certainty I'll be in FB jail by November.
Used to be a member of a private message board. Boredom, attrition, mortality, internal squabbles, and terminal insularity finally withered it away, from a few hundred members, to a diehard dozen or so. Like a ghost town on the Dakota prairie. After the owner died of the Plague in '21, it stumbled along for a couple more years...until his daughter finally pulled the plug last August..
. I've been at EGD for a little over six years. I was at the little private board for nineteen .So I can take what will inevitably come, One fine day, you'll decide you've had enough, and pull the plug. You'll mosey on, and that will be the end of your years-long streak. Like Lou Gehrig's... but hopefully without the wasting away--and the dying.
Like you said, Mr. S, just the other day: "No worries." Ain't no big thang. Don't mean nothin'. And tell your daughter-in-law thanks, from me. It's nice to have a fan.
Off topic, but a fascinating & brilliantly written article by Michael Lewis in today's Washington Post.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/interactive/2024/michael-lewis-chris-marks-the-canary-who-is-government/
That was an interesting article, indeed, Clark St., with some wonderful photos and graphics. Uh, it was quite a bit longer than I expected! ; )
DeleteIt's almost as if "government regulation" is not simply an easy target for Republican politicians to trot out and ridicule.
Anyway, thanks for posting the link here.
Like Lat111, it has occurred to me in the past that Trump Derangement Syndrome is definitely real; it's just that his followers are (rather obviously) the ones affected by it. It takes a complete absence of rational thought to continue to believe that that bully man-child is actually the best qualified to run this country, if not the world.
ReplyDeleteI have occasionally in past years been disappointed when my preferred candidate didn't win, but never in the past have I been worried about the actual future of the country, or democracy in general, when that happened (though seeing Trump win his first term was a deep shock to me and many others). This year is different.
Four days after the 2016 election, Kate McKinnon, at the piano and in her Hillary Clinton wig and pantsuit, delivered a memorable cold open on NBC's Saturday Night Live with a stunning rendition of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," and conveying all the emotions of that week. As quoted in a 2022 Esquire article, she said of that evening, "I suddenly understood it as, like, the love of this idea that is America. That all people are created equal, and that’s the most beautiful idea in the world, but the execution has been long and tough and we’re still just trying to get it right. But that it’s worth it, and that it will always be worth it."
https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a40097372/kate-mckinnon-snl-hallelujah/
I attended a CSO concert on the Friday after the 2016 election. After Brahms' Requiem was played, the atmosphere was quiet, quite somber. Many in the audience had damp eyes and tears on their faces. Hearing Kate McKinnon's rendition of "Hallelujah" was a similar experience for me. Let us do what we can to ensure that there is not a similar result this year.
DeleteThe first time I heard the phrase Trump Derangement Syndrome I assumed it was a disease named after its infection source and therefore was a fit description of his followers. Nothing since has convinced me differently.
DeleteSeneca's first man was Bingo?
ReplyDeleteFirst name,
Delete