It’s evident Donald Trump never learned the lesson of Sisyphus, mythological Greek king of Ephyra. The gods placed a curse on the king for his much lying and deceitfulness. As punishment they required him to repeatedly roll a huge boulder up a mountain, only to have it always tumble back down just before it attained the pinnacle. This was to be his fate for all eternity.
Although it’s based on myth, I feel the account is worth taking note of in our time because powerful individuals around the globe are resorting to fabrications to create a pervasive toxic culture. We see this in Russia, Brazil, Venezuela, several African states and elsewhere. While in the White House, Trump wove a web of lies that ensnared many leaders in the Republican Party, as well as numerous rank and file party members.
I was especially disappointed when I heard former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani promoting Trump’s deceptive assertions. Giuliani had won the respect and admiration of Americans with his calm leadership when the twin towers were destroyed by terrorists. His book, Leadership, impressed me greatly. Now he is facing a $1.3 billion lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Machines for claiming the company had deliberately rigged its machines to ensure Joe Biden would win. It is well known that in spite of recounts and denials by election officials and judges, millions of American citizens still choose to have their minds entangled in the former president’s web of deceit.
I recently heard a Syrian writer interviewed on CBC speaking about the disheartening experiences of people in his country. He said “the point of writing is not to change the world. It is to keep truth alive.” Fortunately, there have always been leaders who struggled for truth and justice. In the 1980’s Lech Walesa, an electrician in the shipyards of Gdansk, Poland and leader of the Solidarity movement, made decisions that were in the interest of his people, not himself.
The Polish Communist Party arrested and threw Walesa in prison several times. They attempted to tarnish his image of absolute integrity by offering him a nice house and a good job if he gave up his struggle against the government’s heavy handed rule. In the face of overtures, prison sentences and death threats, Walesa and his family chose to continue living in cramped quarters under constant surveillance, knowing danger lurked incessantly in the shadows. To retain power, the communists killed even priests who supported the Solidarity movement.
From the beginning of time, there has been a continuous tug of war between the forces of deception and the forces of truth. Ambitious, ruthless individuals are eager to undermine democracy wherever it exists, even in America, until recent years considered by many to be its greatest defender.
George Orwell said “a society becomes totalitarian when its ruling class has lost its function but succeeds in clinging to power by force or fraud.” Donald Trump confidently assured his followers he would be the first U.S. president to serve more than two terms. It was by fraud that he came eerily close to winning the 2020 election. Having observed his various devious ploys to overturn the election results, it seems quite safe to assume he planned to consolidate power and rule indefinitely. His laudatory comments about dictators elsewhere suggest he envied them and was keen to emulate them.
It’s easy to be lulled into thinking the Canadian system of government is too robust and entrenched to be rocked. In “The Cellist of Sarajevo”, Dragon, one of the characters offers a comment we probably should take note of. He says, ”Civilization needs to be built, recreated constantly. It vanishes far more rapidly than we ever would have thought.”
A British researcher (whose name I’ve lost) said, “we need to know what we believe, and live by those principles. Otherwise outside forces will manipulate us.” With some in the media asking if there will be a federal election in spring, this is a good time to give consideration to the truths and values that undergird our way of life. It’s a good time to listen carefully to the words of those who want to govern, and to observe what they do.
Fortunately enough of our neighbors to the south became aware their president, like Sisyphus, was seducing them with an insidious web of deceit. We need to be alert so it doesn’t happen in Canada.