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Things aren't perfect in a lot of countries, but what is happening in the US right now is absolutely unique. Things are careening out of control, and the politi

Things aren't perfect in a lot of countries, but what is happening in the US right now is absolutely unique. Things are careening out of control, and the political system seems completely incapable of getting a handle on it. Most people I speak to in Canada, Europe and Central America seem perplexed why Americans they know do not seem more alarmed.

js2 9mo ago
> Seem perplexed why Americans they know do not seem more alarmed. It's because we live in the beginnings of a dual state: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/18/opinion/renee-good-ice-immunity.html?unlocked_article_code=1.FlA.9fcA.iH2kMs3IjKrI&smid=url-share https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/18/opinion/renee-good-ice-im... Quoting the key point: > The two components of the dual state are the normative state — the seemingly normal world that you and I inhabit, where, as Huq writes, the “ordinary legal system of rules, procedures and precedents” applies — and the prerogative state, which is marked (in Fraenkel’s words) by “unlimited arbitrariness and violence unchecked by any legal guarantees.” > “The key here,” Huq writes, “is that this prerogative state does not immediately and completely overrun the normative state. Rather, Fraenkel argued, dictatorships create a lawless zone that runs alongside the normative state.” > It’s the continued existence of the normative state that lulls a population to sleep. It makes you discount the warnings of others. “Surely,” you say to yourself, “things aren’t that bad. My life is pretty much what it was.” More at https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/05/trump-executive-order-lawlessness-constitutional-crisis/682112/?gift=3qx5DAUwXOU-zo0uuMqXXXBdr-lY__ZS3Hup3wCAyzA https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/05/trump-e...
- jjav 9mo ago
  Excellent article, thanks.
Muromec 9mo ago
>Things aren't perfect in a lot of countries, but what is happening in the US right now is absolutely unique It's not unique. If anything, it's inevitable regression to the mean. Entropy rises eventually and does this
Uvix 9mo ago
It’s not that we’re not alarmed, it’s that voters are unable to do anything about it for the next several months (if even then).
- wood_spirit 9mo ago
  They could peacefully protest
  - Uvix 9mo ago
    Protest only works if there’s someone to listen. The Republicans in Congress don’t care what their constituents want.
  - nobody9999 9mo ago
    There have been peaceful protests all over the country for months. Have you not been paying attention? And there will be more, and soon (tomorrow -- 20-Jan-2026 -- in fact)[0] [0] https://www.freeameri.ca/ https://www.freeameri.ca/
deleted 9mo ago
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js2 9mo ago

> Seem perplexed why Americans they know do not seem more alarmed. It's because we live in the beginnings of a dual state: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/18/opinion/renee-good-ice-immunity.html?unlocked_article_code=1.FlA.9fcA.iH2kMs3IjKrI&smid=url-share https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/18/opinion/renee-good-ice-im... Quoting the key point: > The two components of the dual state are the normative state — the seemingly normal world that you and I inhabit, where, as Huq writes, the “ordinary legal system of rules, procedures and precedents” applies — and the prerogative state, which is marked (in Fraenkel’s words) by “unlimited arbitrariness and violence unchecked by any legal guarantees.” > “The key here,” Huq writes, “is that this prerogative state does not immediately and completely overrun the normative state. Rather, Fraenkel argued, dictatorships create a lawless zone that runs alongside the normative state.” > It’s the continued existence of the normative state that lulls a population to sleep. It makes you discount the warnings of others. “Surely,” you say to yourself, “things aren’t that bad. My life is pretty much what it was.” More at https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/05/trump-executive-order-lawlessness-constitutional-crisis/682112/?gift=3qx5DAUwXOU-zo0uuMqXXXBdr-lY__ZS3Hup3wCAyzA https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/05/trump-e...

jjav 9mo ago
Excellent article, thanks.

Muromec 9mo ago

>Things aren't perfect in a lot of countries, but what is happening in the US right now is absolutely unique It's not unique. If anything, it's inevitable regression to the mean. Entropy rises eventually and does this

Uvix 9mo ago

It’s not that we’re not alarmed, it’s that voters are unable to do anything about it for the next several months (if even then).

wood_spirit 9mo ago
They could peacefully protest
- Uvix 9mo ago
  Protest only works if there’s someone to listen. The Republicans in Congress don’t care what their constituents want.
- nobody9999 9mo ago
  There have been peaceful protests all over the country for months. Have you not been paying attention? And there will be more, and soon (tomorrow -- 20-Jan-2026 -- in fact)[0] [0] https://www.freeameri.ca/ https://www.freeameri.ca/

deleted 9mo ago

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