Anticipating the hollowness and cowardice of #MAGA nostalgia by 50+ yrs.
“I don't like the way America is opening its attic, dragging out all kinds of junk and dressing up as if it could be young again just by playing the old songs. When the kids do that, I'm afraid they're afraid, and a sense of future doom is moving them rather than a sense of history. When middle-agers try it, they look as desperately foolish as the fat drunk at the fraternity.”
—Art Seidenbaum (1971)
Am I correct in saying that Trump almost never talks about the FUTURE?
Is it because he ceases to exist and holds no sway there?
He often delves into the PAST, which he raids for whatever can validate his worldview and political ambitions.
He never lets us forget he is with us in the PRESENT.
But I rarely (never?) hear him talk about the world 30, 50, or 100 years from now. I don’t hear him talk about what world his grandkids will inherit.
The world ceases to exist w/o him?
@xankarn I remembered the conversation we had yesterday about this as I read Gary Kasparov’s newsletter today—on this very topic!
He quotes Adm Wm McRaven: “How will we inspire the youth of America to serve? Will we tell them that they are vital cogs in the business transaction? That their sacrifice got us a better deal at the bargaining table?”
https://open.substack.com/pub/thenextmove/p/admiral-william-h-mcraven-we-are
The American war hero offers a vision of what the United States has been and can still be.
Alexander Karn
f*cking b*tch club