Every so often in history a man comes along who overthrows a corrupt elite and resets the political establishment. We live in such a time. In our time that man is Donald Trump.
Establishment politicians, media and academics are now all united against Trump’s presidency. They are also all revealed as being more interested in protecting their power and their reputations than in principles, truth or serving the people. The rage of the elites against Trump is so obvious it’s shocking. They know that if Trump becomes president they face exposure. What the public has already seen through the leaked emails and videos has been enough to make many of us sick. What else will be exposed to the public should Trump become president?
Julius Caesar played the same role in Roman history two thousand years ago. The Roman Republic was dying, falling apart under the mismanagement and cronyism of a corrupt ruling class. Caesar was opposed by all of them, yet by sheer talent, determination and good fortune was able to make Rome great again. He brought Rome’s enemies to heel, curbed the excesses of the greedy establishment and restored the real economy so everyday Romans could prosper again.
Trump’s similarities to Caesar are striking. Both Trump and Caesar are expert deal-makers. Like Trump, Caesar was also a man of constant action, clear-headed and politically decisive. He excelled at turning defeated foes into firm friends. Both are masters at communicating directly with the people. Trump uses Twitter to distribute his message constantly to people across America. In the same way, Caesar was famous for regularly sending pamphlets back to Rome to be read directly to the people of the city. In much the same way as Trump, the Roman people saw Caesar as their champion against their oppressors.
Like Trump, Caesar made his name as the quintessential Roman winner. In Rome, that meant having military victories and conquering new lands for the empire. At this, Caesar was unparalleled. In America today, our heroes are entrepreneurs and celebrities. Trump has managed to make himself the king of both.
Like Julius Caesar, Trump has exploded onto the stage of history at a time of economic turmoil, civil unrest, falling moral standards and a sense of widespread decline. There is a yawning gap between the official version of reality put forward by the establishment media and people’s everyday experiences. Americans know that things have been going wrong now for a very long time, and that their rulers are not representing their interests. Trump did not create these conditions. Instead he is the man of the hour, riding a wave of popular revolt perhaps to the White House itself.
Events which were unthinkable ten years ago are today everyday headlines that barely raise an eyebrow. Many of us can feel that there is a madness rising up in the world. After eight years of a supposedly post-racial president, there is today the risk of a race war breaking out in America. Despite the growing threat of Islamic terrorism, Hillary Clinton has indicated that she will greatly increase Muslim immigration from Middle Eastern war zones should she become president. Her performance during the second presidential debate also revealed clearly that her strategy for winning the White House involves creating a dangerous war climate against nuclear-armed Russia.
All of these frightening developments have been driven by a Democratic party elite which is being revealed as completely lawless. The ongoing revelations by WikiLeaks of insider emails and other leaks are showing us an inner circle around the Clintons which is corrupt, dishonest and ruthless. What is most disturbing is that this crooked culture seems to have its tentacles across the entire American ruling establishment.
The current political class has encouraged divisions inside and outside America to further their own ends. Rather than demonstrating true leadership and seeking to unify and pacify the nation and the world, today’s ruling elite have sought to divide, conquer and plunder instead.
Like Caesar, Trump has become a lightning rod for the growing discontent of the American people. Romans during the Late Republic were also fed up with a deadbeat economy which relied upon the indebtedness of the many to fund the luxuries of the few. Caesar’s solution was to grant partial amnesty on all debts to revitalize the economy by freeing up capital for enterprise. It was this move against the interests of the bankers which, more than any other, probably led to his assassination.
Caesar’s assassins were the oligarchs and politicians themselves. These men belonged to an exclusive club which was accustomed to running the government for their own benefit. Like in America, families had formed political understandings to guarantee turn-taking and political dynasties. Caesar instead brought with him talented outsiders, and preferred merit to privilege when deciding promotions. This enraged his fellow aristocrats.
The root of Caesar’s appeal to everyday Romans was his success at overturning the corrupt political system and restoring the fortunes of the Roman middle class. Tired of seeing that the scales were always tipped against them, the common people of the empire saw in Caesar a hero who could restore virtue and decency to public life. Caesar’s enemies attacked him viciously for egoism and ruthless ambition. His opponents circulated rumors about his sexual behavior, and accused him of being under the influence of foreign powers. Whether any of this was true or not about Caesar, it was certainly true about them.
Many Americans can sense that this presidential election is a crucial turning point in American history. Already it has become a political circus like nothing we have seen before. Like Caesar, Trump tells us constantly that his desire is to restore America to its former greatness. This appeal to a higher level of principle is powerful, and the opponents of Trump trying to destroy him should take heed. Caesar overcame all his foes and became master of Rome; in the end, they had to murder him. Even then Caesar’s legacy lived on, and the force for change which Caesar unleashed in the hearts of men proved unstoppable. It was Caesar’s vision, not his opponents’, which finally triumphed.