Tag Archives: Elon Musk

Trump and Company’s Hitlerian Aspirations

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The message of the final chapter of Douglas Kelley’s 22 Cells in Nuremberg is clear: The Nazi leaders were not spectacular types, not personalities such as appear only once in a century. They simply had three unremarkable characteristics: overwhelming ambition, low ethical standards and a nationalism which justified anything in the name of their country.

Hitler was elected by democratic methods in a democratic system and the democratic forces failed to prevent his election because of a fundamental apathy and lack of interest.

Kelly goes on to state the four principles of preventing these people from staying in power: a. Vote b. Ensure that every individual citizen is allowed to vote c. Refuse to vote for anyone who uses race as a platform d. Reform the education system to teach students to think.

How crazy would that be to have an engaged populous interested in forwarding a thoughtful set of policies? Yeah, well, dare to dream. The good news is that the majority are now aware of what Trump is and will get rid of him and his cronies soon. Right?

The American Tragedy

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If I were to have dinner with anyone living or dead, I would choose Jafar Panahi, the Iranian director of The White Balloon (1995), This is Not a Film (2011), Taxi (2015) and this year’s It Was Just An Accident. Even though Mr. Panahi speaks no English and I speak no Farsi, I believe there would understanding through his entrancingly beautiful films and the humility he shows in every interview I know.

Jafar Panahi silently aghast of the Shark Tank Guy

Mr. Panahi and I would talk about films and books, living in this chaotic world and the American Tragedy. Mr. Panahi understands that there is no such thing as the American Dream, no success story of rising to the top of the capitalistic ladder, that there is only tragedy, a sacrificing of everything for personal greed.

Daniel Day Lewis’ portrayal of the American Tragedy

This tragic tale has been told throughout Western history – from Aeschylus’ Agamemnon slaughtered by his wife, Clytemnestra, through Scotland’s Macbeth beheaded by Duncan to the American’s Daniel Plainview sitting in blood and piss – each furiously violent stories of how the attainment of power leaves you desolate and dead.

Yes, Macbeth, those trees are moving coming for you.

The fates of Gates, Zuckerberg and Musk are not hard to determine; like Trump, the bitter and ignominious final chapter is coming fast. None of us will be sad. Mr. Panahi and I would laugh and nod about that and then talk about better things, films to come and maybe even of one day living in a tolerant and empathetic worldÂ