The East Wing's Destruction: A Blow to Democratic Values | Francine Prose
Our kids ought to be able to tour the nation's capital without being reminded of Donald Trump and the extensive damage he inflicted on it.
Our kids ought to be able to tour
Our kids ought to be able to tour the nation's capital without being reminded of Donald Trump and the extensive damage he inflicted on it.
Throughout history, autocrats and would-be autocrats have shown a deep fondness for erecting monuments to themselves. They relish demonstrating their unchecked power, indifferent to the laborers who build these structures or the financial and human toll they exact.
They favor grandiose constructions—heroic arches, soarin…
They favor grandiose constructions—heroic arches, soaring towers, and imposing columns—designed to etch their signature and aesthetic into eternity, as if they might outlive death itself, though tyrants often fancy themselves immortal.
Francine Prose, a former president of PEN American Center and a member of both the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, reflects on these themes.