Trump’s Greenland delusions of grandeur are based mostly on a deceiving map

Donald Trump is a megalomaniac with Putinesque delusions of grandeur. But regardless of his apparent skill to attach with less-educated Individuals (successful non-college-educated white voters 66-32), he’s additionally very silly. 

And that’s possible on the root of his obsession with Greenland (and to a lesser extent, Canada). 

The whole lot about Trump’s life has revolved round being the most important, the best, the most important. He clearly has his eye on his historic legacy, and no president is remembered for his tax cuts for billionaires. He needs one thing that will cement his place within the historical past books, and a geographic enlargement suits the invoice. 

In his first time period, Trump supplied to commerce Puerto Rico for Greenland, which many learn as extra of his regular racism—buying and selling brown Puerto Ricans for white Greenlanders. But there may be one other believable clarification, and it’s all about measurement.

Attribution: Mapswire, through Pixabay

Have a look at how massive Greenland is! Think about slapping Ol’ Glory on all that! Why, nobody may take a look at a map with out considering, “THANK YOU, SIR, MR. TRUMP” whereas pantomiming a patriotic salute! 

The factor is, that map, which all of us have deeply imprinted in our brains, is a lie. It’s a bald-faced lie that not solely supplies a distorted view of the world, however continues the ages-old custom of minimizing the southern hemisphere. 

This map known as the Mercator Projection. It distorts the scale of land mass the additional away from the equator one will get as a way to preserve a uniform sq. grid—useful for 18th-century navigation. 

The Northern Hemisphere is additional away from the equator, in comparison with the Southern Hemisphere, therefore the exaggerated view of the north. 

Have a look at Russia. It appears monumental! May you imagine that in actuality all of Russia may match inside Africa? Check out the precise measurement of nations:

Attribution: @neilrkaye on Twitter, through r/MapPorn on Reddit

The U.S., Alaska, Canada, Europe, China, Scandinavia, and Russia are all considerably smaller than the Mercator Projection would have us imagine. Russia appears hilariously puny in actuality. Africa and Brazil look smaller compared, whereas the Mercator Projection shows them precisely. When you would possibly suppose that Canada is way larger than the U.S., in actuality, they  are nearly equal: Canada is 3.855 million sq. miles, whereas the U.S. is 3.810 million sq. miles. Loopy, huh? 

After which there’s Greenland, which is legitimately a giant chunk of actual property, however nowhere close to the map-dominating characteristic that has Trump salivating about conquest and glory. 

In fact, none of this issues in any possible way. Trump isn’t getting Greenland. But it surely was a pleasant excuse for me to write down a few subject (the Mercator Projection) that has all the time fascinated me, and which few individuals find out about. And it’s humorous to me that Trump’s megalomania is perhaps fueled by a distorted map.

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