What the “prince of paradox” meant is that legends, the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves and the world, give us a sense of self. They codify our mores, giving us a sense of meaning that impels us to act. But history books come after the legends and are written to nudge history along a particular person’s desired arc—bulldozing the villages, legends, and people along the way.
Something similar is true of institutions: they arise from the people in order to serve the people, but in time they turn on them. Four years in and it appears that President Trump’s administration is becoming one of those institutions.
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