There must be a dearth of honest work for lawyers these days. It seems more and more of them are devoting billable hours to being published. It must be part of their contract to get their firm noticed and to attract real lawyering work. One such example of this phenomenon is the recent op-ed in the Toronto Star by former Ontario premier as well as former interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada Bob Rae.
It seems Bob is also a reader and his op-ed provides an interesting discourse on the similarities between Donald Trump’s rather sketchily defined plans for America and the dystopian views of the British author who wrote under the pen name: George Orwell. Bob might as well make the observation that U.S. President Donald Trump has characteristics of the leader referred to as ‘Big Brother’ in Orwell’s book 1984.
While it is not our intention to spoil a good read for anybody, the entire point of the book seems to be to explain how those of us in the middle class of a rebellious or left-of-centre political bent can also come to love Big Brother.
Bob’s intent though is to show how President Trump—as Big Brother—knows what his people want and is providing for their desires. It has always been our opinion that Orwell purposely never defined Big Brother as the vagueness of his character could attract a greater cross section of the populace. The more flexible the politicians’ policies the bigger their success.
The trouble with Trump is that there is the strong possibility he is promising things that even the President of the United States cannot deliver. There is even a growing awareness that building that wall for Mexico is impractical. Big Brother would never be called to account for such an error.
What Bob finds disturbing though is the “dark, grim nature” of Trump’s view of America expressed in his inauguration address. Like Big Brother, he is the only person who can fight off this “carnage.” He is convinced that only he can save the nation because only he knows what the people want.
Bob finds it fascinating how many in business and politics are willing to placate Trump’s protectionist policies. He thinks that too many business people are trying to accommodate Trump’s views without realizing the ultimate harm they will cause.
What Bob Rae does not seem to realize is that Trump is hardly the first American President seeking to create a world dominated by America’s self interest. He is just the first to handle it so blatantly and badly.
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Copyright 2017 © Peter Lowry
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