Saturday, February 27, 2016

Black Swans of History in the Year of the Fire Monkey: Donald J. Trump

Pictured: Nassim Nicholas Taleb's The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable (2007, 2010+) 

This tumultuous year puts the spotlight on many "black swan" (unpredicted, unpredictable) events and people. Let's consider one. The emergence of Donald J. Trump (Donald John Trump, b. Queens,  New York, June 14, 1946) as Republican frontrunner in the US Presidential elections certainly fits the bill as a black swan event.

Donald the Terrible, Trump the Destroyer.

Set aside ideology, worldview, etc., and consider this: Donald J. Trump has politically destroyed most of his Republican opponents with a brilliance as dazzling in strategy, tactics and "triumph of the will" as the rising Napoleon Bonaparte. He has exploited free publicity outlets as skillfully as Napoleon used communiqués, bulletins and pronouncements. Like Napoleon, Trump appeals to nationalism and the desire for high drama and glory. Like Napoleon, with Trump there's never a dull moment. 

And like Napoleon, Trump relishes both the challenge and thrill of the fight and their resulting achievements: "Everybody that's attacked me has gone down" (I heard him say this to Anderson Cooper a few evenings ago). 

Like Napoleon, Trump is a master Pied Piper. 

Inevitably, one day the Pied Piper's bill comes due. His backers will have to pay it, or have their most precious loves marched like lemmings into either a) the drowning waters or b) the deathly magic mountain. 
June 2015: Butterfly Bar, Hotel Majestic, San Francisco.  This beautiful hotel was built in 1902 and survived the great earthquake and fires of 1906. 

Freely grabbing the TV spotlight in June 2015 and for every single day since? You tell me. 

Donald J. Trump is well-seasoned by many years of "Reality TV," professional wrestling and casino ambience -- all fake realms of the fantasy mind involving the transfer of money and fool's gold. 

If elected, Trump would alchemize that fakeness and fantasy into 3D reality. For millions of people, this would not be any leap at all. 

The drama of a Trump presidency would be daily, addictive and crazy. Bread & Circuses. Any way you'd cut it, "Trump wins!"
Lunar Year of the Fire Monkey, portrayed in Chinatown, San Francisco, June 2015. It's living up to its nature.
Are you ready to open this door in the Year of the Fire Monkey?  On the other side, there could be Heaven, could be Hell, could be the Las Vegas Lady, could be the Vegas Tiger. Aren't you just dying to find out?

Today's Rune: Protection. 

2 comments:

t said...

no, not dying to find out.
prefer to snuggle in Pisces season, head-in-the-sand if need be. it's bliss.

Barbara Bruederlin said...

How well you analyzed this. Indeed, fakery, spectacle and megalomania seem to be driving this unforeseen rise to power. Safely above the 49th parallel, we are starting to get scared. I can't even imagine how frightening things must be in your country.