3 ms·

In Idiocracy, president Camacho actually had the decent idea of trying listen to (somewhat) reasonable people with relevant abilities or skills rather than insi

In Idiocracy, president Camacho actually had the decent idea of trying listen to (somewhat) reasonable people with relevant abilities or skills rather than insisting that his failures are actually successes and just trying to force it until that worked. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Juliate 7mo ago
Because he was stupid, and not evil.
- ModernMech 7mo ago
  I think that’s where Idiocracy goes wrong; stupidity is indistinguishable from evil when deployed at scale. Living through 2026 I find the distinction meaningless -- Hanlon's razor needs refinement.
  - deleted 7mo ago
    [deleted]
  - Juliate 7mo ago
    Evil has a motive (defensive or offensive). Stupidity has none. You can derail stupid towards something. Even de-stupid it. That does not work with motivated people, even less evil ones.
    - ModernMech 7mo ago
      Neither evil nor stupidity have motives, motives are attributed to people. Why isn't it evil to have ultimate power and use it to be just be greedy, self absorbed, and vain in the face of pain and suffering? That's the prime motive of most stupid people I know. How do you derail that towards something positive and de-stupid it? People have thought they could do that with Trump to achieve their objectives for years, only for them to end up disgraced, diminished, and discarded.
armada651 7mo ago
I'd like to bring your attention to the fact that society had deteriorated to the point of imminent famine before Camacho thought to try and listen to the smartest person around in an attempt to avert disaster. We are not quite there yet.
- pluc 7mo ago
  I'd argue that as soon as Camacho became aware of Not Sure's IQ test, he reached out. He didn't call on him before because he didn't know he existed (and/or he wasn't around), so he couldn't have helped prior. If Trump spots a mentally capable person that is also stupid enough to eat his slop (or evil enough), he gets a job.
  - jacquesm 7mo ago
    > If Trump spots a mentally capable person that is also stupid enough to eat his slop (or evil enough), he gets a job. Isn't that a bit like a wooly mammoth? In theory it could exist but in practice you're not going to find anybody that is both mentally capable and at the same time stupid enough to eat his slop. That leaves evil enough and there are plenty of those...
    - pbhjpbhj 7mo ago
      There are plenty of intelligent people that are willing to ride on the back of the Trump regime. That seems mostly to be the problem, in fact. Whoever suggested that using Tariffs to provide a handle to move stocks that they could use to trade, I very much doubt it came from Trump. That was provided the means to keep all the greedy grubbers in the Republican party onside whilst they hid Trump's involvement with Epstein so the train could keep running. Musk is evil. But he's clever, he knew to over pay for Twitter so he could use it to help swing elections and put himself in political power. He failed to get the response to his salute he expected, and knew enough to slink off into the background (or listen to his advisors telling him that). Amazingly he's still making money hand-over-fist from USA's regime. You'd think standing on a dais and thinking you're Hitler reincarnate would have been enough to make tax-payers rise up; clearly not. They've absolutely destroyed USA, there is no Constitution now, there's not even lip service to war crime treaties. But there's a lot of intelligent people onboard that we underestimate at our peril.
sidewndr46 7mo ago
I've generally held that Camacho is actually a model political leader. Despite growing up in a society that apparently didn't value education, he managed to rise to the top. He made legitimate, albeit ineffective attempts to address issues the country's problems. When someone showed up who had better ideas he promptly delegated both authority and responsibility.
seydor 7mo ago
and he hired the smartest of the smart

Juliate 7mo ago

Because he was stupid, and not evil.

ModernMech 7mo ago
I think that’s where Idiocracy goes wrong; stupidity is indistinguishable from evil when deployed at scale. Living through 2026 I find the distinction meaningless -- Hanlon's razor needs refinement.
- deleted 7mo ago
  [deleted]
- Juliate 7mo ago
  Evil has a motive (defensive or offensive). Stupidity has none. You can derail stupid towards something. Even de-stupid it. That does not work with motivated people, even less evil ones.
  - ModernMech 7mo ago
    Neither evil nor stupidity have motives, motives are attributed to people. Why isn't it evil to have ultimate power and use it to be just be greedy, self absorbed, and vain in the face of pain and suffering? That's the prime motive of most stupid people I know. How do you derail that towards something positive and de-stupid it? People have thought they could do that with Trump to achieve their objectives for years, only for them to end up disgraced, diminished, and discarded.

armada651 7mo ago

I'd like to bring your attention to the fact that society had deteriorated to the point of imminent famine before Camacho thought to try and listen to the smartest person around in an attempt to avert disaster. We are not quite there yet.

pluc 7mo ago
I'd argue that as soon as Camacho became aware of Not Sure's IQ test, he reached out. He didn't call on him before because he didn't know he existed (and/or he wasn't around), so he couldn't have helped prior. If Trump spots a mentally capable person that is also stupid enough to eat his slop (or evil enough), he gets a job.
- jacquesm 7mo ago
  > If Trump spots a mentally capable person that is also stupid enough to eat his slop (or evil enough), he gets a job. Isn't that a bit like a wooly mammoth? In theory it could exist but in practice you're not going to find anybody that is both mentally capable and at the same time stupid enough to eat his slop. That leaves evil enough and there are plenty of those...
  - pbhjpbhj 7mo ago
    There are plenty of intelligent people that are willing to ride on the back of the Trump regime. That seems mostly to be the problem, in fact. Whoever suggested that using Tariffs to provide a handle to move stocks that they could use to trade, I very much doubt it came from Trump. That was provided the means to keep all the greedy grubbers in the Republican party onside whilst they hid Trump's involvement with Epstein so the train could keep running. Musk is evil. But he's clever, he knew to over pay for Twitter so he could use it to help swing elections and put himself in political power. He failed to get the response to his salute he expected, and knew enough to slink off into the background (or listen to his advisors telling him that). Amazingly he's still making money hand-over-fist from USA's regime. You'd think standing on a dais and thinking you're Hitler reincarnate would have been enough to make tax-payers rise up; clearly not. They've absolutely destroyed USA, there is no Constitution now, there's not even lip service to war crime treaties. But there's a lot of intelligent people onboard that we underestimate at our peril.

sidewndr46 7mo ago

I've generally held that Camacho is actually a model political leader. Despite growing up in a society that apparently didn't value education, he managed to rise to the top. He made legitimate, albeit ineffective attempts to address issues the country's problems. When someone showed up who had better ideas he promptly delegated both authority and responsibility.

seydor 7mo ago

and he hired the smartest of the smart