Jul 12, 2016

U.S. Presidential Elections: Screwtape and Wormwood

C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters is one of my favorite stories. Lewis crafts the story through a series of letters to Screwtape, a young demon trying to tempt an Englishman, from his kin Wormwood. [SPOIL ALERT] Screwtape fails, despite Wormwoods advice and prompting, and Wormwood looks forward to cannibalizing his former protege.

The 2016 elections have become the Screwtape Letters. Mr. Trump is our Wormwood. He became a Democrat in the Clinton era and has long supported the Clinton brand financially and politically. It is only after Screwtape, that is Ms. Clinton, utterly failed against President Obama that Ms. Clinton ultimately fell out of Mr. Trump’s favor. Like Wormwood, Mr. Trump seeks to devour her and looks forward to the hellish feast.

In a contest between Wormwood and Screwtape, who do you pick? The interesting aspect of the analogy, which carries over so well, is Screwtape and Wormwood both wish to devour and destroy the Englishman. In true form, a Ms. Clinton and Mr. Trump will devour and consume the spirit that made America exceptional. The result is the same. A vote for either is meaningless.

As such, we can take the route the Englishman took when he rejected what Screwtape offered him. We can pick a third-way. Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush consider Gary Johnson ticket a possible alternative. While they disagree with Mr. Johnson on several issues, they recognize that he actually represents the spirit that makes America exceptional. His running mate, Bill Weld, also represents this spirit. Individually, Mr. Johnson and Mr. Weld have more political and business success than Mr. Trump and Ms. Clinton combined. To say it frankly, we would be utterly and completely foolish not to vote for them.

That is where we are at. People generally vote for the lesser of two evils. But this election is different. This year we are asked to pick for the lesser of two demons. And when you understand the demons represent the same evil and end, the third-way becomes infinitely more appealing.