The Gilded Age, Orange Edition.

Watching HBO’s The Gilded Age felt less like history and more like the Trump years in period costumes.

Then it was Vanderbilt and Carnegie. Now it is Trump, Musk and Bezos along with assorted hedge-fund darlings.

The plot is the same. The rich amass fortunes while the rest of us play extras in their drama.

Back then, robber barons eventually bought redemption with libraries, museums, cultural centers and universities. Carnegie gave us steel and stacks of books. Today’s billionaires? Mostly rockets, girlfriends with glam going to the outer edge of outer space, ostentatious yachts and condos with gold faucets.

The Trump era has showered tax cuts and deregulation on the already wealthy. The question is will they give back and establish institutions that endure or just buy Mar-a-Lago memberships and expensive real estate to isolate their families from the flock of American underlings that repulse the uber rich.

History’s tycoons left us enduring institutions. Ours may leave us memes and a judgmental, mean spirited social network nobody asked for.

Both periods were marked by a rise in extreme wealth and social inequality, a populist backlash and concerns over the influence of corporate power on politics.

The comparison has been highlighted by critics, who note that despite Donald Trump promising a “Golden Age,” his policies and connections to billionaires echo the economic and political climate of a gilded one. 

Despite this gruesome scenario, do not miss out on The Gilded Age which just completed a stunning third season. It is much more entertaining than reality. Let’s just hope the Trump version is not renewed.

Photo illustration:Sam Whitney NYTimes