President Trump as King
“I did not know how to reach him, how to catch up with him… The land of tears is so mysterious.”
“What makes the desert beautiful,’ said the little prince, ‘is that somewhere it hides a well…” — The Little Prince
n his book “The Little Prince,” Antoine de Saint-Exupéry describes his encounter with a Little Prince who at one point tells of meeting a king who claims to rule over everything-and-all with absolute power. Until the visit of the little prince, his only “subject,” it seems, was a sad old rat that he hears in the dark of night. The king uses his power over the sun by ordering it to set, for instance — but only at the proper time for sunset. After all, since a such a king wants little more than the adoration and fealty of his subjects, he sees it as proper to only order things that are going to happen anyway as the best and most expeditious means to satisfy his thirst for power.
“You’re beautiful, but you’re empty. No one could die for you.”
resident Trump seems to have few core beliefs other than that he is smart and rich and that the ends justify the means.
If this idea is coupled with the apparent truth that what he cares about most are:
1. Winning
2. Not losing
3. Being loved by increasingly large crowds of adoring fans
— then he might well consider making a deal with himself to his obvious benefit.
“You — you alone will have the stars as no one else has them…In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night…You — only you — will have stars that can laugh.”
ince it is apparently no problem to say one thing one day and then dismiss it as “silly” the next (or deny that he said it even with clear evidence to the contrary), wouldn’t it make sense to him (and for him) to simply change his clothes and become The Adored King?
Oh, the profit potential! President-King Trump could reasonably become a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious leader whose first waking thought each day is that he will do whatever it takes to make the world a better place for the Common Man, and in the process, for all — common or not. He could become a twenty-first century pluripotent potentate with but one aim: to help everyone have a better life. He could house the homeless. He could welcome immigrants to help make America great again. He could raise wages for those who are now just scraping by. He could revolutionize education and healthcare and institute a Universal Basic Income rather than promise to bring back jobs that are gone forever due to automation. He could renew the infrastructure. He could recreate American democracy as a land of opportunity for all — an ideal to be admired and loved all across the world.
“A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.”
He could asseverate that (scientific) evidence rather than flimflam will be the foundation of his actions as a leader. (It is important to know exactly when the sun will set, for instance.) He could give Americans renewed hope through a common sense of renewed purpose. He could give us uncommon leadership by using his ability to control the media to the benefit of all — just as he uses it now to benefit only himself. He could use his power to create a Supreme Court as an apolitical, non-partisan bastion of compassionate wisdom and judgement. He could return civility and cooperation to Congress simply by demanding it from all and leading by example. He could show the rich that prosperity for all is in the best interest of even the most wealthy among us.
President-King Trump could side-step the destructive power of hyper-partisan politics by becoming entirely nonpartisan himself. He could call out the fantasy that all Men are created equal and decree that though we are not equal in background, wealth, health, intelligence or power, we are nevertheless all Human and therefore have a right to become the very best that we can be.
“People have forgotten this truth,” the fox said. “But you mustn’t forget it. You become responsible forever for what you’ve tamed. You’re responsible for your rose.”
resident-King Trump could do all this and more.
And in the process, he could become the most loved and admired leader America has ever known — and deserve it.
“If you love a flower that lives on a star, it is sweet to look at the sky at night. All the stars are a-bloom with flowers…”
