It has been suggested by some that there is a little-visited intersection of mindfulness and healthy self-governance. While a seemingly new thought for those who feel we must be pragmatic, let's explore the concept with a "risk and reward" lens.
Mindfulness is a mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while acknowledging and accepting (but not being captured by) one's feelings, thoughts and bodily sensations. Through various techniques such as meditation, or just regular exercise one can learn to be more present in the moment, i.e. more mindful.
With the seemingly endless new problems that the world faces at an accelerating rate, perhaps contemplation can meet action in a positive way.
Is it possible that through deep reflection — stepping back from the rhetoric, from the "I'm right, you're wrong" mentality — our leaders might legislate and govern more effectively?
Albert Einstein famously said we cannot solve problems with the mindset that created them.
"We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if humanity is to survive." He went on to say that freeing ourselves from the "optical delusion" can "widen our circle of compassion."
As stated by the Garrison Institute, which is dedicated to inspired thinking and thoughtful action, "Contemplation — the practice of reflecting deeply — opens fresh possibilities for new thinking, and can be an indispensable part of the solution to today's real-world, human-created problems, from an epidemic of psychological trauma to global climate change."
The risk is negligible — a little time and ego invested in contemplation and reflection. The reward is quite substantial. Better thinking, innovative ideas and real-world solutions.
In the coming months The Fulcrum will explore spirituality and mindfulness within our Pop Culture section. Pop culture is not just trendy music, theatre or art. Pop culture is everything that impacts the culture of our society, and certainly religion, spirituality and mindfulness are immensely important to millions of Americans and thus critically important in determining how our society functions.
Enjoy this short, humorous video about mindfulness as former British Prime Minister Theresa May answers questions — and good-natured heckling — regarding the use of mindfulness as a tool for solving social issues. It is revealed that several members of Parliament and their staff attended a mindfulness workshop to increase their effectiveness.
https://vimeo.com/333330057
As always we encourage your engagement so please offer any ideas you may have as to the connection between spirituality and mindfulness on healthy self-governance and our democracy. You may email us at pop-culture@fulcrum.us.
A golden tray sits on the Resolute Desk as President Donald Trump speaks during an announcement on American nuclear innovation in the Oval Office at the White House on July 24, 2026, in Washington, D.C. Trump is signing multiple executive orders targeting the nuclear energy sector and easing rules for new reactors and nuclear fuel supply chains.
Trump’s hubris rivals the fallen heroes of ancient Greek mythology
In January, the New York Times asked President Donald Trump if there were any limits on his global powers.
“Yeah,” the president responded, “there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”
That was eight months ago, but fortunately Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster adaptation of “The Odyssey” has made ancient Greek literature newly relevant. Before that window closes, I’d like to talk about hubris.
Today, the term mostly means excessive pride or arrogance. That’s part of what the Greeks meant by it too, but the meaning was a bit richer and more specific. Hubris was an insolent or outrageous act that offended the gods, often because the transgressor was claiming abilities or authorities that solely belonged to supreme beings.
Nolan renamed and slightly modified the concept of xenia for the film, calling it “Zeus’ law.” In the director’s telling, mortals should follow the rules laid out by the gods, specifically the requirement to treat strangers with respect lest they be gods in disguise.
In a sense, hubris is the opposite, or at least the rejection, of xenia. The hubris of the suitors, and at times Odysseus himself, invites punishment by the gods and their mortal instruments.
Which brings me back to Donald Trump. His claim that there are no constraints on his personal power to dictate events on the global stage was one of the greatest expressions of hubris ever uttered by a political leader.
Trump’s claim was obviously false when he made it.
He vowed that he could end the Russia-Ukraine war in 24 hours. He’s proved powerless to make that happen. If he had divine powers to work his will, why would he have balked at implementing his tariffs so often that Wall Street adopted the “TACO trade” term for his deals? “TACO” stands for “Trump always chickens out.”
And why would Trump have made so many embarrassing concessions to China — from rescinding tariffs on Chinese goods to allowing them to buy crucial and incredibly valuable computer chips?
But Trump saw his success at capturing Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro as proof of his ability to launch missiles to the same effect as Zeus’ lightning bolts. Trump believed he was the most powerful man who ever lived.
This is no exaggeration. In March, when the Iran invasion seemed successful, Trump gave a document penned by“Presidential Historian David King” to New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan purporting to prove that Trump was “the most powerful person to have EVER walked this planet.” King was, in fact, a businessman and occasional caddy for legendary golfer Gary Player.
King compared Trump favorably to many of history’s most powerful, and often heinous, figures: Alexander the Great, Attila the Hun, William the Conqueror, Napoleon Bonaparte, Joseph Stalin, Genghis Khan, Mao Tse Tung, Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Lenin. Many of these men thought they were the most powerful person in the world, too. And many were defeated precisely because they believed it.
At least Napoleon and Hitler had a string of truly impressive victories before they learned the folly of hubris. The limits on Trump’s power have been exposed by far less august forces than the combined might of the allies in World War II or the fearsome Russian winter.
Iran is a comparatively middling power. But the regime’s ability to absorb punishment while imposing its will on the Strait of Hormuz has proved to be a greater constraint on Trump’s power than his morality or mind. We should note that, at least rhetorically, his morality has not proved much of a constraint. He has repeatedly promised to destroy Iranian “civilization” if the regime refuses to capitulate.
But they haven’t — and won’t anytime soon — because the regime’s tolerance for pain far outstrips Trump’s. The combined fear of skyrocketing oil prices, outrage of Gulf state potentates, diminishing weapon supplies and domestic unpopularity is doing the work that international law, congressional oversight and the collective opinion of foreign policy experts can’t or won’t do.
If I considered Trump more heroic than reason and facts could allow, I would say his Sisyphean predicament has the whiff of Greek tragedy to it. Trump is vexed by the fact that the Iranians won’t honor deals or ratify his countless premature claims of victory — giving new meaning to his vow that his presidency would make people tired of winning. It’s almost like they’re out-Trumping Trump.
Things might have gone better if he’d heeded that great Greek tragedian Sophocles: “For Zeus utterly abhors the boasts of a proud tongue.”
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Jonah Goldberg is editor-in-chief of The Dispatch and the host of The Remnant podcast. His Twitter handle is @JonahDispatch.