Trump and the Balrog. The World as a Role-Playing Game

Who are the Dungeon Masters?

Something that Shakespeare never said: “All the world is a role playing game, and people merely players”

The last few hectic weeks looked very much like a LARP game, a “Live Action Role Playing.” As in “Dungeons and Dragons,” the players in the game play their roles according to their character class, level, and life points. The game includes a certain degree of randomization, but the distinct impression is that there is a game master somewhere.

Just like in a game, the master has no absolute power. He knows the rules of the game, the maps of the dungeons, the location of the hidden treasures, the strength of the monsters guarding them, and what exactly the chances are for the players to keep going with their quest for riches and power. But the game unfolds according to one die roll after the other, and, at any moment, the most powerful characters may lose their grip on the game.

So, a die roll ruled Donald Trump’s survival last week. The game master told him, “Very good, Mr. Chaotic Wizard, you were lucky to escape losing just a few life points. But that was just the work of a level-one goblin. Next time, we’ll send a Balrog, and we’ll see how you’ll fare with that!"

“And you, Ms. Harris, you have been lucky to find a hidden treasure left unattended by a lazy dragon. Now you are a level 12 Chaotic Pixie, but you still are a Pixie. If you meet a troll with a big pixie swatter, you won’t even leave a dark spot on the wall!”

“How about you, evil paladin Joe Biden? One of your dark spells backfired, and now you are being turned into a frog, only able to croak unintelligible words. And we’ll see later what to do with your Nazgûl friend who just came to visit you.”

And the game keeps going….