The 1939 voyage of the MS St. Louis is a metaphor for America today.

You may find this simplistic, but I saw these parallels as I read the story. (parentheses)

MS St. Louis¹ , a German passenger ship under the Nazi flag left Germany with 937 passengers², nearly all Jewish, bound for Cuba³ with valid Cuban visas. Cuba revoked their visas while at sea and turned them away. The ship turned towards America⁴ where they cruised close to Miami but were not allowed entry.

My analogy breaks down here because today’s ship is just leaving Miami and heading to an unknown destination.

Franklin Roosevelt is one of my heroes, but this was not one of his finest decisions to refuse to make an exception for this ship of persecuted Jews. Roosevelt was engulfed in war preparation and the death camps were not yet born. He had no way of knowing the hell Europe would face. The ship headed back to Europe where four nations took the passengers in. About 254 of them were murdered or sent to death camps as the Nazis rolled over Europe.

In 1939, America was very isolationist, as the Trump administration strives for America to be today. There were strict immigration quotas favoring immigrants from countries like Britain, Ireland, Germany, and Scandinavia, ensuring that the majority of immigration visas would be issued to people from these regions. This system was racially discriminatory and aimed to maintain the existing ethnic composition of the United States. I was surprised that certain countries, such as those in the Western Hemisphere, including Canada, Mexico, and other Latin American countries. The law completely excluded Arab and Asian immigrants - sound familiar?

I see America as a bipolar nation: Expansionist or Isolationist. Even helping Europe during WW1 and WW2 was sold to American business as a way to make a profit. Things did not change during the Iraq wars - Rumsfeld wanted the oil and had Bush’s backing. Trump often said he wanted Iraq’s oil. Now he wants Greenland’s and Ukraine’s minerals for a promise to help them - a promise - a puff of smoke in a tornado.

I guess America is on a full-on expansionist binge. Too bad there is not a magic pill for this bipolar disorder.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." – George Santayana. I believe this quote fits Trump exactly. He has no idea of the past.

¹ The 2024 Election Contest.

²The Citizens of America

³The Biden Contest

⁴The Harris Contest