4 ms·

It's scary to think that Trump seems to actually believe right wing media's black and white propaganda. The end point of this kind of anti-intellectual, anti-ur

by guelo 2y ago

It's scary to think that Trump seems to actually believe right wing media's black and white propaganda. The end point of this kind of anti-intellectual, anti-urban movement is something like Pol Pot's killing fields.

A4ET8a8uTh0_v2 2y ago
Doesn't it seem a tiny wee bit like a hyperbole?
- guelo 2y ago
  Probably. But this political movement won't stop with this term. 2016 Trump was more moderate than today's Trump. The next time the movement is stopped it will come back even more ferociously, especially since the movement is fed constant propaganda about being aggrieved and revenge fantasies.
  - riiii 2y ago
    [flagged]
- tclancy 2y ago
  Dunno. Wasn’t there for the ramp up.
- _yb2s 2y ago
  What I think we're re-discovering is that it's not so straightforward to tell while it's happening. I'm willing to bet during the rise of people like Mussolini, Pol Pot, Stalin, Hitler, etc. many people were concerned, and many others were saying it was nothing and they were just being hyperbolic. However, it was the same with times when it didn't turn out like that. What concerns me most about this, is the general attitude of entirely dehumanizing specific groups of people. That, I expect, is the crux that makes atrocities possible, and it is happening now.
  - shigawire 2y ago
    >What concerns me most about this, is the general attitude of entirely dehumanizing specific groups of people And they are armed to the teeth.
  - twodave 2y ago
    What does America or even Trump have to gain by installing a dictatorship? Assuming he even could, which is probably worth arguing. He is already the most powerful executive of the most powerful (by far, it is not close) and future-proof (again, by far) nation on Earth. His actions in my view are more aligned with getting America the best deal ahead of whatever unfavorable population and trade collapses await the world in the next few decades. As an American, I only half expect democracy to survive putting my cohort (millennials) through retirement. Industrialization has left the world on a pretty bleak course, with America most equipped to weather it. Most of the moves I see the current administration readying itself for are ones to strengthen our already dominant geopolitical advantages worldwide. Hard to do that if you have a civil war to manage on top of it.
    - _yb2s 2y ago
      What did past demagogues and dictators have to gain? It always turned out awful in the end, but concerns over that didn't stop them or their supporters. Trump appears to have no stable ideals, he seems to be only interested in attention and appearing successful. He's previously tried unsuccessfully to launch into politics from the left, right, and center but eventually found traction with this new movement, so he doubled down and played the demagogue after a lifetime of being the epitome of the elite. Ultimately there is a narrative that regular people are doing bad economically because of a few specific groups of people, and that this can be fixed by dehumanizing, terrorizing, and persecuting these people. They will need an all powerful leader not constrained by laws, opposing politics, or human rights to "solve the problem." Of course people think his actions are "aligned with getting America the best deal" or else they wouldn't want to help install him as dictator. Trump seems to have gotten pretty far along this path already. He appointed his own sycophant supreme court that ruled him above the law and unprosecutable. He failed at trying to overthrow an election, but managed to get away scott free by intimidating people out of doing their jobs, and eventually pardoned everyone criminally convicted of participating. He was convicted of 34 felonies in a trial by jury, but received no sentence. Now he's experimented with simply announcing the 14th amendment of the US constitution invalid by executive order, and will see if he gets away with it- if so, I think that qualifies as being successfully installed as a dictator.

by guelo 2y ago

A4ET8a8uTh0_v2 2y ago

Doesn't it seem a tiny wee bit like a hyperbole?

guelo 2y ago
Probably. But this political movement won't stop with this term. 2016 Trump was more moderate than today's Trump. The next time the movement is stopped it will come back even more ferociously, especially since the movement is fed constant propaganda about being aggrieved and revenge fantasies.
- riiii 2y ago
  [flagged]
tclancy 2y ago
Dunno. Wasn’t there for the ramp up.
_yb2s 2y ago
What I think we're re-discovering is that it's not so straightforward to tell while it's happening. I'm willing to bet during the rise of people like Mussolini, Pol Pot, Stalin, Hitler, etc. many people were concerned, and many others were saying it was nothing and they were just being hyperbolic. However, it was the same with times when it didn't turn out like that. What concerns me most about this, is the general attitude of entirely dehumanizing specific groups of people. That, I expect, is the crux that makes atrocities possible, and it is happening now.
- shigawire 2y ago
  >What concerns me most about this, is the general attitude of entirely dehumanizing specific groups of people And they are armed to the teeth.
- twodave 2y ago
  What does America or even Trump have to gain by installing a dictatorship? Assuming he even could, which is probably worth arguing. He is already the most powerful executive of the most powerful (by far, it is not close) and future-proof (again, by far) nation on Earth. His actions in my view are more aligned with getting America the best deal ahead of whatever unfavorable population and trade collapses await the world in the next few decades. As an American, I only half expect democracy to survive putting my cohort (millennials) through retirement. Industrialization has left the world on a pretty bleak course, with America most equipped to weather it. Most of the moves I see the current administration readying itself for are ones to strengthen our already dominant geopolitical advantages worldwide. Hard to do that if you have a civil war to manage on top of it.
  - _yb2s 2y ago
    What did past demagogues and dictators have to gain? It always turned out awful in the end, but concerns over that didn't stop them or their supporters. Trump appears to have no stable ideals, he seems to be only interested in attention and appearing successful. He's previously tried unsuccessfully to launch into politics from the left, right, and center but eventually found traction with this new movement, so he doubled down and played the demagogue after a lifetime of being the epitome of the elite. Ultimately there is a narrative that regular people are doing bad economically because of a few specific groups of people, and that this can be fixed by dehumanizing, terrorizing, and persecuting these people. They will need an all powerful leader not constrained by laws, opposing politics, or human rights to "solve the problem." Of course people think his actions are "aligned with getting America the best deal" or else they wouldn't want to help install him as dictator. Trump seems to have gotten pretty far along this path already. He appointed his own sycophant supreme court that ruled him above the law and unprosecutable. He failed at trying to overthrow an election, but managed to get away scott free by intimidating people out of doing their jobs, and eventually pardoned everyone criminally convicted of participating. He was convicted of 34 felonies in a trial by jury, but received no sentence. Now he's experimented with simply announcing the 14th amendment of the US constitution invalid by executive order, and will see if he gets away with it- if so, I think that qualifies as being successfully installed as a dictator.