Crackpot Connections

Editor,

Donald Russell mentioned in his recent Crackpot’s Desk, a book authored by Lewis H. Lapham, The Wish for Kings: Democracy at Bay- 1993, proving to be prophetic, at least in my mind. A review of that book reads- an individual “who could fulfill America’s ‘wish for kings,’ fostering the illusion of change while relieving the populace of the hard work of democratic participation.”

Lew Lapham was a roommate of my brothers at Yale and we have corresponded through the years, he is the editor of Harper’s Magazine. I agree with Russell when he lamented the transition of the Republican party into the cult of Donald J. Trump. There was not time for me to consult Mr. Lapham to be timely for this letter; however, I found the following in a more recent publication, the Winter 2020 issue of Lapham’s Quarterly- Memory.

American democracy ceased to move forward as a living force in the 1980s. Given the impetus of what was billed as the Reagan Revolution, old-line Tory republicanism has grown into the petrified forest of a selfish and frightened plutocracy in the essence of Donald J. Trump. We live in the spirit of an age convinced that money is the hero with a thousand faces, technology the salvation of the human race.

When considering that this was written some four years ago, it may be fair for me to bet that Lapham and Russell are on the same page now. Just to see if I am right with that impression, I will get a note off to Lew with the hope that an updated response may add to this discussion. It is always fun to find Russell right, on target once again!

Mary P. Johnsen

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