Tag Archives: Donald Trump

Le Guin: Imagining Trump Alternatives

By Robin Bates | Published: January 24, 2025

In wrestling how to counter Trumpism, Le Guin counsels us to expand what we see as possible.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Dispossessed, One Who Walk Away from Omelas, Ursula K. Le Guin, Utopian thinking | Comments closed

On Odysseus & Trump’s Desecration

By Robin Bates | Published: January 21, 2025

Odysseus lambasts the suitors for desecrating all that is holy. One can imagine him doing the same to Trump.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged climate change, Covid, Homer, Odyssey, World Health Organization | Comments closed

Trump and Satan, Both Miserable

By Robin Bates | Published: January 14, 2025

Trump is as miserable as Milton’s Satan (and also a character in a Trollope novel). Unfortunately, like Satan, he does all he can to pull others into his well of misery.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Anthony Trollope, Beowulf, Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus, John Milton, Paradise Lost, resentment, ressentiment, Small House at Allingham | Comments closed

On Election Night 2024, The Tempest

By Robin Bates | Published: January 1, 2025

On Election Night 2024, I turned to a subplot in Shakespeare’s “Tempest” to understand what was going on.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Election 2024, Kamala Harris, Shakespeare, Tempest | Comments closed

To Survive Trump, Be Like Lizzie

By Robin Bates | Published: December 31, 2024

How to survive Trumpism’s anticipated assaults on democracy? Reading Rossetti’s “Goblin Market” is a good place to start.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Christina Rossetti, cults, Fascism, Goblin Market, Herman Melville, Moby Dick | Comments closed

Trump as Long John Silver

By Robin Bates | Published: December 17, 2024

Trump has mercurial escape powers similar to those of Long John Silver in Stevenson’s novels. There a sliver of optimism in this comparison.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Project 1925, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island | Comments closed

Wicked, a Parable for Our Time

By Robin Bates | Published: December 5, 2024

“Wicked” (the movie) shows us Trump-type scapegoating while “Wicked” (the book) also provides insight into how and why people are drawn to his sadism.