Saturday, 21 January 2017

Inauguration Note.

I’ve never agreed with the maxim that manners maketh man. My view is that it’s mind which makes and defines man – especially higher mind.

And that’s what’s so worrying about Trump. Such a big body, such a big ego, such a big bank balance, but such a woefully small mind. Or maybe his mind isn’t so small, for how can I really know? Certainly his words and behaviour indicate a paucity of decency and adroit thinking, but maybe he’s only pretending to be dumb in order to garner the approbation of a certain corner of the American electorate. I haven’t failed to notice that bigger minds than mine even in America have called him a fraud often enough.

And that makes the situation all the more worrying. It’s why thinking people in the rest of the world are concerned about the pernicious influence his presidency might have on us. He says he wants to make the world a better place, and he also says he wants to get the Mexican wall built quickly. There’s an odd paradox there because if you want to make the world a better place you don’t build walls, you build bridges. He says he intends to put America first. Didn’t Hitler say the same about Germany?

No comments: