"History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes." This quote is often attributed to Mark Twain but a web search suggests psychoanalyst Theodor Reik is the earliest exponent of the precise notion.
I was musing on the Trump phenomenon this morning and its similarities to the reign of Amenhotep IV, later known as Akhenaten, the father of Tutankhamun. He was most famous for overturning the polytheistic religion of Egypt and imposing a monotheistic religion dedicated to Aten.
When Akhenaten's reign ended, the Egyptians scrapped his changes and went back to their polytheistic faith. They dumped his new capital Akhenaten. known today as Amarna, returning the capital to its former location of Thebes. Egyptologists view the Akhenaten pharaohic period as an anomaly in Egyptian history, an outlier or aberration.
What I wondered was if, looking back, the Trump second term will be similarly viewed, as an attempt at a new direction that, eventually, failed to overcome institutional and cultural inertia. I can imagine the media describing the four years as a national spasm or mental breakdown, from which we subsequently recovered fortunately.
Understand, this is not my preferred outcome. I like what Trump has done so far, and what he proposes to do. But a relatively large bloc don't like it a bit, and would love nothing better than a return to the status quo ante. Let's hope they are disappointed, I believe there is a good chance.
