Temporary Kings

The Golden Bough, of Sir James Frazier, is a  powerful work of cultural anthropology focusing on religious mysticism.  An important chapter of it is called "Temporary Kings", and deals with the issue of religious regicide, the formal, institutionalized execution of leaders, after a time, to ensure the continuing survival of the people they represent.  The idea here is that leaders, Kings,  were responsible for the good of the people, so, if they themselves showed signs of weakness or illness, they must be ritually disposed of.  Or, if the people were suffering some great calamity such as famine or plague or military disaster, the death of the leader might in some way alleviate this problem. There is a kind of logic to this. A sick leader is unlikely to be an effective leader, at much of anything, might as well get rid of them.  And, if the nation is plunged into disasters, one way or another, this probably does have something to do with the nation's leadership, so, changing Kings might not be too bad an idea, under the circumstances. I think we can see, if we look rather closely, that Adolf Hitler, perhaps intentionally, actually fulfilled the role of a "temporary king" rather precisely.  While many contemporary Germans attempt to scapegoat Hitler for all Germany's problems in the 1930's and 1940's, in fact, the nation was in a totally disastrous condition when he came to power, the Germans were well aware that Hitler was not the most mentally stable individual, they would never have trusted him with their destiny unless they felt absolutely desperate, and were willing to try anything. Hitler was a charismatic figurehead for the inevitable right wing military dictatorship in Germany that was going to try to redo what Otto von Bismarck did with the military in the nineteenth century -- make Germany once more the dominant military power in Europe.  It failed miserably, largely because the USSR was much more powerful and effectively run than Tsarist Russia had been, something which Hitler himself expressed open shock and surprise about. But, what Hitler did, was serve the role of the "King", the leader, the symbol of state power to rationalize the brutality and ruthlessness of the whole process, and, then, when it failed, his suicide, and subsequent denigration, have allowed the Germans to transfer their guilt and responsiblity to his person, and effectively disclaim responsibility as a nation for their failures.  A true, made to order, "temporary king".   I wonder if we aren't seeing a rather similar phenomenon currently with Donald Trump, in the US.  Trump has been soundly routed by the Iranians in the Middle East, leading to a catastrophic increase in oil prices, as the American military is driven out of the region by expanding Iranian power, that cannot be curtailed.  His immigration policies have also led to near civil war in the US, particularly in Minnesota, but, actually throughout the country.  Nevertheless, as American power in the world wanes faced with the increasing power of China in particular, Americans actually wanted to try something desperate like this, many of them anyway, rather like Germans in the 1930's.  So, salesman Trump has become the American symbol for these aspirations to Make America Great Again. But, instead, like Hitler, promising the Moon has just caused America to fall on its face, looking weak and incompetent militarily, and shaky economically.  So, it appears likely at this stage, that Democrats will retake House and Senate, and will use their power at the very least to control Trump and reverse his policies, and possibly, if things look bad enough to remove him and "punish" him, for his obvious failures.   So, the parallels between Trump and Hitler are not exactly death camps and the Russian Winter, but, rather, ICE detention centers and the Strait of Hormuz.  A bit of stretch, perhaps, but, good enough, really. So, the question is, what is to be done with the "Temporary King", Donald Trump, now that he has proven contrary to the nation's interest.  I suppose he could be removed from office and imprisoned.  Or, he could be turned over to the International Court of Justice.  A low stress possibility, would simply be not to give him and his family very much secret service protection after he leaves office, and let the Iranians deal with him.  I suspect that latter possibility may be exactly what happens to him.  As Richard Nixon was made to pay a price, not for Watergate, but for total national failure, so will Donald Trump, one way, or another.  Both disciples of the late great right wing activist lawyer Roy Cohn, who was disbarred from legal practice shortly before his death from AIDS, having made a few too many enemies in his illustrious career.  Karma.  Temporary Kings. #religion #anthropology #sociology #hitler #donaldtrump #adolfhitler #history #wwii #philosophyofhistory #uspolitics #uselections #nixon #impeachment #richardhixon #watergate #roycohn #nazis #bismarck #germanhistory #maga