Dave,Prometheus and Donald

 Dave, Prometheus and Donald 

This story begins with Dave, one of my  Denby high school friends.  Prior to Dave's  graduation, he went to work at General Motors. He graduated and married  Darlene  after her Dominican graduation. Shortly after, they bought their first home in Warren, Michigan and started their family . Later on they moved to St. Clair Shores where he accumulated cars, trucks and boats.  After retirement, an economically  secure Dave and Darlene moved to Florida.  This essay incorporates the last 67 years with the Prometheus myth.

Over time, the ravages, fears, anxieties and stresses from mother nature, economics and health have increased and , in the process, many white  male  high school educated individuals' security and well-being have been compromised.  We've had devastating fires,  catastrophic hurricanes, destructive snowstorms,  leveling flooding and distressing  heat conditions.  An article in the New York Times titled “Hot Mess”, July 16, 2023 reported the planet was burning and was running out of time. According to the article, death is  now more common  and it is not  limited to humans . When it gets too hot, things especially .  the old, sick and the poor die .  In  2021 , the heat wave suffocated salmon and melted asphalt . In other words, global warming  impacts  all including plants  and therefore our food supply which affects economics . 

Economic conditions have also been thoroughly noted such as income inequality . Statistically , the middle class man has  suffered the most with stagnant wages.  However, on  the other end of the scale , Wilt Chamberlain in 1974  had a salary about 20 times higher than  the median household income.  Recently, Jaelyn Brown  of the Boston Celtics signed a contract that paid him about 800 times  higher than the median US salary.  Also,  during this time  period ,three social trends have occurred. These three trends, according to some, explain the rise of female economics .  First,a role change has occurred with less traditional marriages and child rearing roles for females.  Second, there is less production and more service related opportunities for females.  Third  , females are more college educated and have more skills than  white high school educated males.  In other words, young women are working at   record rates while there are falling employment rates for white middle-age  high school educated men per  The New York Times ,December 24,2023 , What Social Trends Taught Us About the Economy.

Currently statistics on longevity are decreasing , especially  for white high school educated males . They have excessive rates of overweight and obesity , gun  deaths , drug dependency and suicide.  Further, the Covid -19  and related variants has had a preponderance of negativity and pessimism effect   Surveys measuring mood  found doom and gloom highlighting many  Illusions regarding  our healthcare system and our ability to  manage and control both internal and external  events in our life space.  According to one economist, "The pandemic caused the sudden increase in pessimism that hasn't gone away. “ This pandemic has affected  almost everyone.  We are individually worried about infection as well as the realities of death and dying. We are unable to control the cavalier and oppositional attitude of others toward disease . One survey described Americans as not happy and  that figure almost doubled early in the pandemic and has barely changed since .  Poor white male health  has negative consequences for  affiliations , economics , education , politics etc  as  lives have been  turned upside down per The New York Times, December 10,2023 ,It’s No Surprise That America Is Pessimistic..

With this in mind ,enter Greek mythology, as a parable, to describe our understanding  of today’s political  morass for high school educated white males. Prometheus was a demigod - someone who was part human and part God.  He was also a supreme trickster; was oppositional , stole and defied the gods. Further, he was credited with  creating humanity from Clay. According to the myth , he stole fire from Zeus, the King of the Olympian gods. In revenge,  Zeus condemned Prometheus for this transgression by binding him to a rock with an eagle sent to eat his liver daily .Note , there are many versions of this myth, such as  Prometheus striving ,  overreaching  with unintended consequences that results in tragedy.  The  Prometheus myth  illustrates and/or represents the current crisis for our Democratic Republic.

Trump symbolizes the rebellious Prometheus with the powerful  Zeus  or  our  Republic’s Constitution and criminal justice system . Being chained to a rock with an eagle tearing away at the liver, punishment for  attempting to overthrow democracy ; and the 91 indictments are the repeated  attacks on Trump’s  soul .

In the allegory, man's nature can be described as being fearful,  weak, cowardly, irrational, easily manipulated and dependent.  Man’s behavior can  also be seen as  a tendency for seeking both immediate, short-term  pleasure  as well as self-inflicted pain .  Man must be taught to delay and to refuse immediate rewards in order to grow while attaining adulthood.  Unfortunately, man doesn't have this ability to achieve and accomplish self reliance because of his insecurities, dependencies ,irrationality ,moral failings , intellectual shortcomings  along with his contradictory ego needs . Therefore , incompetent and infectional man must be saved from himself .

This dynamic sets the stage for the  great white hope father figure, the Hercules hero , and/or God’s “ shepherd to mankind “ . Only this god-like figure  knows the way for salvation, for happiness and he alone has the power to make that happen.  Further, those that doubt him , his power, his omnipotence are  the evil enemy . They are traitors , heretic’s , and will be left behind to be revengefully punished   Those that follow will become  saved ,become masters, and king of their castle .They will have regained their slippage  from falling to second place ,being replaced  and once again establish  power  and again be first in dominance and  supreme over all others. They want their god of sadomasochism, cruelty , and exploitation to become like Caesar so they can succeed .

Sometime near the end ,the hero  in his rebellion, will assume an aspect of his victims in that he finds himself  alone, humiliated  with eternal  suffering .The Daves of today are in a different place than my friend Dave. My friend had a secure and optimistic  looking future. Too many Daves of today are fearful , resentful, angry , alienated without a moral purpose and a dim future .