President Trump’s use of language reminds me of the classic work by George Orwell, written after World War II, titled Animal Farm. For those of you who have not yet read the book, I highly recommend it. It is a satire about communism where the leaders of farm animals rebel successfully against the farmer. The rebellion is reminiscent of the Russian Revolution that upended Czarist rule in Russia. The pigs, the leaders of the animal revolt, represent Marx, Stalin, and Trotsky with one pig, Squealer, representing the propaganda spread by communism. Underlying the revolution, the pigs create their own philosophy called Animalism that will apply to all the animals at the farm. One of the laws is: “Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy. Whatever goes upon four legs or has wings, is a friend.”
Orwell employed language to demonstrate the erosion of the original laws elicited by the animals when the pigs begin to change the direction and purpose of their revolt. During President Trump’s campaign, he pledged that he would reduce the inflation that many Americans felt, especially, when they went food shopping. One of his more frequent chants was that people will be able to afford what they cannot presently under the leadership of President Biden. In fact, a significant factor contributing to Mr. Trump’s winning the presidential election over Kamala Harris was the economy.
Mr. Trump campaigned that inflation would lessen under his guidance, resulting in a drop of interest rates by the chair of the Federal Reserve, Mr. Powell. The argument posited that a reduction of the interest rates would be not only good for the stock market, but also for the real estate market where lower interest rates would lower the actual cost of buying a new home.
But as Mr. Trump threatened to impose tariffs on all the countries with whom the United States had a trade deficit, whether friend or foe, the stock market began a rapid sell off. With the market decline, Presdient Trump changed his tune from a much less optimistic call for the end of inflation and prosperity for all, to a call for people to have patience. Now, he was saying that in the beginning we will all feel some pain in the economy that might lead to a recession. But he pleaded with the public, in due time things will improve and any current sense of discomfort will be well worth it. When he imposed the tariffs on almost all foreign trade, the stock market collapsed.
The part of this declaration that shocked many of Trump’s allies in business was that he no longer appeared concerned about the performance of the stock market like he had previously in his first term as president. He remained resistant to the pleas of former business supporters of his candidacy. The unspoken message implied in tariffs to countries that export to us would result in the necessary increase in the price of these same goods. Perhaps President Trump understood these implications, but nevertheless, he appeared impervious to the consequences of his actions.
Of late, Mr. Trump withdrew from imposing any large levies on all the countries except China in which he increased the tariff foisted upon that country. He declared a three-month waiting period before placing a much higher tariff on these same countries many of which have been our friends. The market sighed relief and responded with the Dow Jones Industrial Average going up about 2000 points. But the next day this momentary breather was snuffed out by a drop of over 1000 points on the Dow. Two factors are working against both our market and international markets: 1`) President Trump’s unpredictability and 2) The potential repercussions of the tariffs he has imposed in conjunction with his desire to raise the levy of these taxes on all allies in the months to come.
Additionally, President Trump has managed to cast the Ukraine in an unfriendly light commenting that it is responsible for the war against Russia, at one time even referring to Ukraine’s, President, Volodymyr Zelenski, as a dictator. Mr. Trump has conveyed the idea that Zelenski and not Putin was the aggressor provoking this war. What is disheartening now is that Mr. Zelensky has said he wants peace with Russia, but Putin refuses to cede his position with his troops, resulting in the continuous bombing of the Ukrainian people. During the meeting between Trump and Zelensky at the White House, when Mr. Trump said we are holding the cards not you, Mr. Zelensky replied by saying we are not in a card game, but rather we are in a war. However, true this statement was it did not move Mr. Trump from his position as the superior player if any hope of peace could occur. If anything, the interaction between Zelensky and Trump helped raise the former’s popularity amongst his people.
The distortion of language was made clear when toward the end of Orwell’s Animal Farm, the wording of the laws had been altered taking on a meaning quite the opposite of their original intent. Now, for example, the law that had stated: “Whatever goes on two legs is the enemy,” was changed by the pigs to: “Four legs good, two legs better.” The pigs, as rulers of Animal Farm had alienated their followers in their lust for power and the concomitant material rewards that they obtained at the expense of their fellow animals. Now, I ask, readers, are we approaching the point of no return where Mr. Trump bellows: “Democracy is good but autocracy is better.”
The animals in Animal Farm submitted willfully to the change of laws prescribed by the ruling pigs. To keep our democracy alive and well we cannot be passive, but rather we must actively protest when we observe the obstruction of the rule of law. This requires that both Republicans and Democrats forge an agreement to sustain a free society where every man and woman possesses, as per the Declaration of Independence, “the inalienable rights of Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
Dr. Bernard F. Natelson 