Letter: The idea of Donald Trump and you
After nearly 63 million Americans elected Donald Trump in November, he compliments Russian president Vladimir Putin as “very smart” following his do-nothing response to Barack Obama’s sanctions. The question that vaguely pervades national media is how much do you care? The nuke is in our arsenal, now.
Putin is smart, indeed. We should fear his ingenuity, above that of Russia’s military capabilities, which thankfully lag far behind our own. Coincidentally, Trump is a genius, too, and my worry is that we stop ourselves just shy of fathoming it. How come? His incandescence betrays what we were taught about history’s utility: an assessment of worthiness. Worthiness to your condescending values, worthiness to the higher grace from which we fell from: worthiness as it is by your definition. Should we weigh Trump’s worth to history against your own values, beliefs and definitions? To how many great people have we done this to in our past?
Remember, Obama has given history allowance to judge dictator Fidel Castro after his death, but has not yet accepted the permanence of Trump’s victory over Hillary Rodham Clinton.
There is an impersonal way to think about history. Possibly, this way of thinking may cure us of our national doubt, and even doubt within wherever it may exist. Great historians (of which Obama is not) value history as a whole consciousness. History does not become from the persistence of your own volition; popes and kings of past have tried this so desperately, and look at how we look at them now. Instead, the American people will benefit from observing their relation to the whole consciousness.
At this moment, Trump is entering into the new year as the world’s most powerful man at the helm of world’s most powerful country. Unlike Obama, take a breath and judge this man’s actions as if he were a part of your consciousness. Otherwise, great historians in the future will do so appropriately and forget entirely about your condescending judgement.
Steven Jensen
Glenwood Springs
