Government of The Miserly And The Mad

By this time, of course, we have all seen the news about Trump’s Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, who (it is alleged) may be one of the greatest thieves in human history. It is said, by those who have had the misfortune to work with him, that he pockets the cash of those around him. Forbes is reporting that he may have illicitly transferred to himself no less than $120 million.

Understand, he didn’t need to do it. He was rich as Croesus long ago—the Forbes article estimates he’s now worth at least $700 million. You would think that that would be enough. But, no. He cannot seem to control himself. According to Forbes, he stole from his friends and business partners, he failed to pay his employees and contractors (shades of Trump, himself), and he even lifted Sweet & Low packets from local restaurants so that he wouldn’t have to buy them.

And now, this man, is our Secretary of Commerce. He must fit right in. He, like everyone else in this Administration, cannot conceive of a penny which shouldn’t be in his own possession, no matter how little he needs it, nor how precious it might be to its current owner.

Which is our greatest problem, and our social tragedy. All these men and women, Trump’s associates, the billionaire boy’s club…they have a common conception of the universe. To them, the whole, sole, and total purpose of the world is to enrich them personally. We, the people, the nation that we inhabit, the planet that supports us…are to be exploited brutally. Because we, and the nation, and the world, have no rights. We are merely there…just manikins to provide them with labor, just resources to be strip-mined, just a chunk of mud and rock in space…which somehow, they believe, they will be able to leave once they have consumed it to the core.

On some level, they are actually guiltless. In their sickness, in their madness, they cannot help it. Their obsession is so great that it obliterates any capacity they might have for self-awareness, or even for foresight, in that they cannot now understand that their actions might be horribly self-destructive. Thus, we have now a kleptocracy…a government of thieves. But, also, we are governed by the insane. The inmates rule the asylum.

And so it is that when all this is done and said, and the Fascists have fallen…we may need more than merely political solutions.

We may need, indeed, the straight jacket, the padded cell, and the therapist.

To make any sense of it at all…