In his later years, the poet Walt Whitman wrote an essay entitled "Democratic Vistas", in which he posed a crucial question: Is there a great moral and religious civilization — the only justification for a great material one?

This query is timely in the era of Trump.

Whitman wrote in a time of economic excesses and concentrationof power in the hands of "Robber Barons."

Mark Twain labeled it the"Gilded Age" — shiny surfaces to cover deep injustices, public greed,and phony piety. 

This pattern is echoed in the Trump Administration with power vested in the ultra-rich — especially the tech billionaires — and scant regard for the well-being of ordinary Americans. One visual symbol of Trump's renewal of the Gilded Age is his make-over of the Oval Office with so much gold on display that it looks likea high-class bordello.

What evidence is there of a "great moral civilization" under Trump? Far beyond any prior President, Trump has cashed in on the office. Through the 2024 election and early months of his second presidency, Trump has more than doubled his personal wealth to about $5.4 billion through real estate deals and especially personal crypto and meme-coin income streams.

Pardons are brazenly dispensed for big contributions. Qatar seeks favor by offering a "flying palace" jet liner for Trump's personal use after he leaves office.

This squalid spectacle of massive corruption threatens whatever is left of "moral civilization" as well as our democratic values.

Today's Republican Party has become a cult of silent partners in Trump's worst excesses. The "Big Bill" now in Congress embodies Trump's twisted priorities — cut deeply into programs for health,food aid, education, environment, and other public protectionsin order to enact tax cuts for the ultra-rich. 

If passed, the result would be the largest transfer upward of resources from ordinary citizens to the wealthy in U.S. history.

Twain and Whitman would recognize in Trump's conduct a full re-enactment of Robber Baron misrule.

The remarkable nationwide turnout for the recent NO KINGS rallies indicates public rejection of Trump's corrupt and anti-democratic Administration. Now we should each find our own way to make that opposition effective.

Jim Matlack lives in Camden