~ a column by Colleen O’Brien
A special issue, May 2026, of National Geographic, that inspiring, admirable,138-year-old magazine, recently published an entire edition on “The Most Influential Figures of Ancient History.”
Most of them are men, of course, because most of history apparently happened only to men.
Too much power and wealth seem to foster hubris, notable in the dozens of males showcased in this issue of National Geographic who built giant gold statues, immense coliseums, 50,000-square-foot halls, 80-foot pillars and wide arches to glorify themselves.
After 110 colorful pages of these vast (AKA gros, as in ‘huge’), self-important edifices, it dawned on me that our Person-in-Charge-Who-Thinks-of-Himself-as-Either-King-or-God has inadvertently glanced through enough history magazines to come to the conclusion that he, too – glutton for riches that he is –- must honor himself in the debasing influence of too much material wealth because he deserves to leave to history a few mammoth proofs of his righteousness during his sorry sojourn on Earth.
Thus, on his passing, we shall have arches, ballroom, pillars, plus likenesses – deified in gold spray paint – on golf courses, in cemeteries and along thoroughfares in and around the once-dignified hub of American democracy. And someday, our beloved National Geographic editorsmay have to decide if they will or will not include one more gold-lovin’ man-god in one of their special issues.
