July 1, 2024 at 9:22 AM

Apes in the Agora, Trump as a Totem and what the Presidential Debate was really about

@HenryCastaigne

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It is quite noticeable how much the two Presidential candidates hate each other. Sadly, I think this is one way the candidates do represent the two major American political parties.

Andrew Klavan, in about seven minutes, tells a revelatory story of why Trump is so hated by the elite.

Klavan went to a musical at the Kennedy Center. There, Seth MacFarlane did some singing and told jokes. Klavan quite liked the music as it came from the 1950s, which he considers the best time in American music. Sadly the jokes were anti-Trump, anti-religious, anti-flyover country. There was constant cursing by MacFarlane, which disturbed Klavan as there were kids everywhere. The Kennedy Center is incredibly beautiful but it was as incredibly expensive. (A glass of white wine cost fifty bucks.)

So while in wealth and splendor, there was an elite without any manners but with disdain for the middle-class folks who grow their food and build their houses but can't afford to go to the Kennedy Center. It was as if in Ancient Rome, the forum, with all the beautiful pillars and noble sculptures, became occupied by gorillas wearing togas.*

I prefer the metaphor of monkeys wearing top hats.

At about the time JFK died, there developed an attitude of contempt for middle America by the 'right-thinking people' in the media and the arts. The elite has said for over sixty years to the Americans in the middle, "Your religion stinks. Your preference for nice houses in the suburbs is ignorantly conformist. Your way of life is ugly and dumb. Your appreciation for family and tradition is barbaric."

Trump is a totemic representation of middle America's response to elite condescension. And that totem is a particular finger defiantly rising upward.

I would prefer a more Lincolnian or Reaganesque totem. Someone classier, with nicer manners, who could quote Thomas Jefferson, the Bible and Thomas Sowell from memory. But when Trump goes away, that hatred will remain. It will remain aimed at you and at anyone else who advocates for what you believe in.

While the debate might push Trump into victory come November, it still represents a sad state of affairs because it accurately depicts what this election is about. I would prefer it be about the Constitution and the best policies to provide for the common defense and promote the general welfare. But until the elite gives up its enmity for the middle people of America, the debate will be about men and totems.

*I prefer the term Apes in the Agora for the alliteration.

P.S. These images are AI-generated and free to use under law. Also, the chimp is wearing a sari and not a toga, but he looked very cute so I went with it.

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CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill@CarolJoy2y

ReplyingtoHenry Castaigne

Globalitarian Misanthropist (View Comment):
Good article.
I’ve been thinking lately about hockey. I know nothing about hockey and don’t even know players’ names. But I once heard an interview in which a player said that his team (apparently all teams) had, I think he called him an “enforcer.” When a teammate got high-sticked the enforcer, who had the skill and inclination, would throw down his gloves and beat up the offending player. Apparently this was considered acceptable in hockey.
I view Trump as one such enforcer.
Henry Castaigne (View Comment):
I wrote something like that as well.
I heard a story from my martial arts instructor about how to deal with biased referees. In one tournament, one of the referees was biased towards his own school. In a light contact sparring match, the other guy was whaling on my instructor’s student. My instructor objected and appealed to the referee, but his protestations fell upon with deaf ears. My instructor then took his student aside and advised him to return the violence in kind. The referee broke up the match and both parties agreed to abide by the rules.

A story about physical bullying that comes to mind and serves as a parable about Trump and his Sun Tzu approach to life.

After the Vietnam war, many who served were against bullying.

One man I knew was in the habit of telling his three sons that under no circumstances should they respond to bullying with any type of physical reaction. The guy punches you, turn and run.

But his youngest son was getting hit hard by a bully. His dad's advice rather sucked.

This was happening during a miserably cold winter so the 4th grader was always bundled up in a parka.

The dad took the son aside one morning and said, "I gathered these for you."

He then filled up his son's parka's pockets with a bunch of large flat rocks.

"Now when he hits you, turn so his fists hit the rocks."

That was the last day the bully picked on that kid.

####

Discussion (11)

CHARTER MEMBER
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David Foster@DavidFoster2y
My post The Phobia(s) That May Destroy America is relevant to this topic.
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Globalitarian Misanthropist@Flicker2y
Good article.
I've been thinking lately about hockey. I know nothing about hockey and don't even know players' names. But I once heard an interview in which a player said that his team (apparently all teams) had, I think he called him an "enforcer." When a teammate got high-sticked the enforcer, who had the skill and inclination, would throw down his gloves and beat up the offending player. Apparently this was considered acceptable in hockey.
I view Trump as one such enforcer.
To read this bio, please join Ricochet.
Henry Castaigne@HenryCastaigne2y
ReplyingtoGlobalitarian Misanthropist
Globalitarian Misanthropist (View Comment):
Good article.
I’ve been thinking lately about hockey. I know nothing about hockey and don’t even know players’ names. But I once heard an interview in which a player said that his team (apparently all teams) had, I think he called him an “enforcer.” When a teammate got high-sticked the enforcer, who had the skill and inclination, would throw down his gloves and beat up the offending player. Apparently this was considered acceptable in hockey.
I view Trump as one such enforcer.
I wrote something like that as well.
I heard a story from my martial arts instructor about how to deal with biased referees. In one tournament, one of the referees was biased towards his own school. In a light contact sparring match, the other guy was whaling on my instructor’s student. My instructor objected and appealed to the referee, but his protestations fell upon with deaf ears. My instructor then took his student aside and advised him to return the violence in kind. The referee broke up the match and both parties agreed to abide by the rules.
To read this bio, please join Ricochet.
CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill@CarolJoy2y
ReplyingtoHenry Castaigne
Globalitarian Misanthropist (View Comment):
Good article.
I’ve been thinking lately about hockey. I know nothing about hockey and don’t even know players’ names. But I once heard an interview in which a player said that his team (apparently all teams) had, I think he called him an “enforcer.” When a teammate got high-sticked the enforcer, who had the skill and inclination, would throw down his gloves and beat up the offending player. Apparently this was considered acceptable in hockey.
I view Trump as one such enforcer.
Henry Castaigne (View Comment):
I wrote something like that as well.
I heard a story from my martial arts instructor about how to deal with biased referees. In one tournament, one of the referees was biased towards his own school. In a light contact sparring match, the other guy was whaling on my instructor’s student. My instructor objected and appealed to the referee, but his protestations fell upon with deaf ears. My instructor then took his student aside and advised him to return the violence in kind. The referee broke up the match and both parties agreed to abide by the rules.
A story about physical bullying that comes to mind and serves as a parable about Trump and his Sun Tzu approach to life.
After the Vietnam war, many who served were against bullying.
One man I knew was in the habit of telling his three sons that under no circumstances should they respond to bullying with any type of physical reaction. The guy punches you, turn and run.
But his youngest son was getting hit hard by a bully. His dad's advice rather sucked.
This was happening during a miserably cold winter so the 4th grader was always bundled up in a parka.
The dad took the son aside one morning and said, "I gathered these for you."
He then filled up his son's parka's pockets with a bunch of large flat rocks.
"Now when he hits you, turn so his fists hit the rocks."
That was the last day the bully picked on that kid.
####
Banned Member@BryanGStephens2y
What has been interesting to me is the reality that many on the right also feel this contempt. Trump’s emerging reveled that.

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