Reason #24: Hedonism
Why do we need to defeat Donald Trump and ensure that a Democrat occupies the White House?
Hedonism is characterized by “egoistic pursuit of short-term gratification at the expense of others”
At the turn of the century, Jacob Riis examined the social question in American cities and documented the terrible living conditions of the poor, subsisting in squalid dwellings rented from slum lords. Thorsten Veblen looked at the flip side, American high society during the gilded age and dissected out the lifestyle of the robber barons. (No pun on Trump’s choice for his son’s name intended.) Veblen did not paint a pretty picture. Although classical economic theory dictated that profit from business is plowed back into capitalist investment, much plunder was shunted off into what he termed “conspicuous consumption”. Veblen described how wealthy individuals indulged in “pecuniary emulation” via outward display of expensive baubles to the public. Connecting the dots, Veblen concluded that “accumulation of wealth at the upper end of the pecuniary scale implies privation at the lower end of the scale.”
Wikipedia: Thorsten Veblen
So, what does this have to do with the Trumps? Fred Trump accumulated hundreds of millions of dollars by renting apartments, at least some of them clearly meeting the definition of slums. His son squandered much of this inherited wealth in weird and repellant conspicuous consumption. There are many examples of this but let’s examine just one. Join me on a brief cruise on the Trump Princess.
If you are a James Bond fan, you will remember the first Trump Princess for its appearance as the floating lair of SPECRE nuclear terrorist, super villains in the film ”Never Say Never Again”. The yacht was built originally for notorious Saudi billionaire arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi for $100,000,000, Trump bought the “obscenely luxurious” 282-foot-long yacht for $29,000,000 and extensively refit it, including a pool, helicopter pad and theater, for another ten million.
Nice, but still not sufficiently conspicuous for Donald; no sooner was the refit completed, than Trump announced that he would be building the128 meter long Princess 2. Yes, you read that correctly, a yacht long enough to host a track meet. When Trump’s casino empire in Atlantic City (more conspicuous consumption) swirled down the fiscal toilet, he was forced to unload his fabulous toy to another Saudi prince. Princess I was sold at an approximately twenty million dollar loss in 1991. The Princess II project was later abandoned.
https://www.thegentlemansjournal.com/article/history-donald-trumps-luxury-yachts/
What should this voyage teach us? First, Donal Trump is a loser; a hopelessly inept “dealer” who lost more money than 99% of Americans will ever accumulate, in a single foolish transaction that lost an immense fortune with absolutely nothing left to show for it. More important, would any sane individual, really want to waste their vote on a crass hedonist who cruises in wasteful ostentation while tens of millions of Americans struggle to stay afloat?
Have a heart; use your mind, search your conscience, and vote for Democratic candidates – across the ballot – on November. 5th.
Please share this message with your friends and please, add your thoughts, to expand upon what are only brief sketches here.
Fred Grannis
August 10, 2024