Is Trump’s narcissism severe enough to be classed as a personality disorder? What is it with Donald Trump? Why has he adopted this petulant, belligerent, accusatory style of governing?The explanation offered by a growing range of commentators is narcissism. They don’t mean simply extreme self-absorption. They mean narcissism in its more stubborn, malevolent state: … [Read more...] about Hitting out at the world: Trump’s narcissism
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Stupid and energetic: Trump’s dangerous mix
A week or more has passed since the inauguration - a busy one indeed for President Trump, who has attempted to reverse the previous administration’s policy on health care, the environment, trade, immigration, national security and housing.It set me trying to remember the old Army saying about the different types of army officers: there are four characteristics - clever, … [Read more...] about Stupid and energetic: Trump’s dangerous mix
Poetry and the power of simple pleasures
What kind of times are they, whenA talk about trees is almost a crimeBecause it implies silence about so many horrorsBertolt Brecht A catalogue in the post. Not so very long ago that would have brought a promise of armchair gardening. Happy hours leafing through pages of plants I was unlikely to grow, winter evenings plotting summer crops; neat rows of common … [Read more...] about Poetry and the power of simple pleasures
Will Trump declare war on the EU?
Not in a literal sense, of course, with bombs and armies, but it is a reasonable question to ask given some of what he and his closest supporters have been saying over the last few days.Trump himself has made no secret of his hostility to the EU. The outgoing US ambassador to the EU has said that he believes Trump wants to see the EU break up. And one of those tipped to … [Read more...] about Will Trump declare war on the EU?
Coming of age: 2017 as year of resistance
If humanity is to have a recognizable future, it cannot be by prolonging the past or the present. If we try to build a third millennium on that basis, we shall fail. And the price of failure, that is to say, the alternative to a changed society, is darkness. (Eric Hobsbawm, The Age of Extremes, 1994)It’s possible that we never grow up in the world we imagined. Certainly, I … [Read more...] about Coming of age: 2017 as year of resistance