Based in Sydney, Australia, Foundry is a blog by Rebecca Thao. Her posts explore modern architecture through photos and quotes by influential architects, engineers, and artists.

Divided on what’s admirable

Divided on what’s admirable

ObamaTrump.jpg

To the Editor,

In a year-end poll, Donald Trump and Barack Obama were tied for being the “most admired” men in the country. How does this happen and what does it say about us, the American people? It is true that both men occupied the White House as our president, one currently and the other formerly, but there the similarities end. Obama was president for eight consistently scandal- and corruption-free years. He was a trailblazer as the first black person elected president. Obama is known to be a voracious reader, a deep thinker, and a cautious and prudent decision-maker. Of course, Donald Trump was also a “trailblazer,” as the first reality TV show host elected president. The Trump administration has also been consistent — but consistently racked by non-stop scandal and corruption. Trump is famously a non-reader and a non-contemplative, non-reflective man, given to transactional, impulsive, non-strategic behavior and decision-making. The lack of similarity between these two men cannot be overstated.

What does it say about us that these two men are tied in the polls as being the most admired men in the U.S.? It may say that these polls fail to accurately measure complex attitudes such as admirability, but I think it is more than this. Just as our political attitudes are bifurcated, so too are our attitudes toward what makes a person truly admirable. In November 2020, we will face a decision where we will have chance to concretely translate our assessment of admirability into a decisive factor as to who we elect as our next president. Hopefully, before then, we can come to more of a consensus as to what makes a person truly worthy of our admiration.

Ken Derow
Swarthmore

Small symptoms of climate change

Small symptoms of climate change

Ranked-choice voting, and other solutions to one-party rule