Tyrant

Michael Shubert
Blog 1
In ancient history, tyranny was merely an authoritarian sovereignty. A tyrannous leader wasn’t necessarily bad. When observing tyranny in ancient Greece we saw a more negative connotation with philosophers such as Plato. The newly evolving connotation in ancient Greece shaped what we think of today when we hear tyranny. Our modern term for a tyranny is “a cruel and obsessive ruler”. In the U.S. our president has made some controversial moves and as a result, some have become upset and labeled President Donald Trump as a “tyrant”.
On March 23 of this year, an article on “Interesting Times” was titled “America Takes the Next Step Toward Tyranny.” In the article, author Andrew Sullivan compares the actions of our president to the model of a rising tyrant created by the ancient philosopher Plato. Sullivan analyzes actions of President Donald Trump, such as firing several members of his cabinet, and compares them to the model created by Plato. Sullivan makes the argument that President Donald Trump is slowly gaining power over the U.S. and is making moves to exert more dominance over the government. President Trump is labeled as rude and cold. The connotation created by Sullivan in the article is more closely related to the modern term of a tyrant. President Donald Trump secured his position of power from an election by the people and has been entrusted to both lead and serve the people. Additionally, although President Donald Trump can be an aggressive individual and at times cold hearted, his power is still checked by the legislative and judicial branches of the U.S. Therefore, the connotation carried with the label of tyrant on Donald Trump cannot be the same connotation as a tyrant in ancient (pre-democratic) societies.
In conclusion, the use of “tyrant” in this article would not fit the ancient definition of a tyrant; therefore, the label of tyrant labeled on President Donald Trump must have the same connotation as the modern definition of a tyrant. The president, in the article, is labeled as rude, aggressive, and power hungry which are similar to the modern definition of tyrant, “a cruel and obsessive leader”. The context of a modern tyrant, as conveyed in this article, proves that the modern use of tyrant today would not fit into ancient society’s definition of a tyrant.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/tyrant
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/03/america-takes-the-next-step-toward-tyranny.html