A response to a previously-published en article by Rhys Laverty which was entitled "In Defence of Trump"
In October 1922, George Orwell stepped on board the SS Herefordshire, on his way to his new life as an Indian Imperial Policeman. It was to be a short career - he resigned in 1928 to commit himself to writing.
Yet it contained one formative moment. In his short essay ‘Shooting the Elephant’, Orwell recalls the exact day he realised how powerless his role actually was. A runner had been sent for him with this message: a runaway elephant was causing damage, could he come and shoot it? Orwell arrived on scene to find not a rampaging beast, but a docile creature munching on grass. He shot it nonetheless. Not to save property, or people, but because he didn't want to look like a fool in front of the native Burmese. He was officially there as the righteous deliverer of British imperial power and justice. In fact he was a lone marionette, at the mercy of the popular mood and pressures of his role.
There is a temptation, of course, to see President Trump as the great runaway elephant of international affairs. Over a week, tariffs might be announced and suspended, ideas of conquering foreign territories mulled over and discarded, constitutional law barged into and broken. And - after watching some videos on Youtube and reading a Substack article - a temptation for us to be our own Orwells, and reach for the (metaphorical!) elephant gun.
In defence of Trump
One thing most British evangelicals have in common with the majority of their fellow countrymen is a shared dislike of …