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Entry tags:
Politics
For anybody who hasn't already read David Frum's recent Atlantic article, go do that.
My summary: Donald Trump is taking us not towards an ideological dictatorship in the style of Franco, Mussolini, Hitler, Stalin, or Castro, but rather towards a kleptocracy in the style of Orbán, Chávez, Zuma, Suharto, Marcos, Milošević, Duvalier, Putin, .... There is certainly ideology among his allies -- Bannon, Pence, Ryan -- but as long as Trump himself is at the helm, they will get their ideology enacted only in exchange for their help in furthering Trump's profits and glory. The biggest loser in all this is not oppressed minorities but America's idealistic beliefs in the existence of sincere public service and non-partisan criticism. Once the American people have accepted that "they all do it", that the only reason to vote for one leader or party over another is which one has promised you a patronage job, and that the only reason to believe one news source over another is which one supports your party, it'll be extremely difficult to ever restore the faith that democracy can work.
My summary: Donald Trump is taking us not towards an ideological dictatorship in the style of Franco, Mussolini, Hitler, Stalin, or Castro, but rather towards a kleptocracy in the style of Orbán, Chávez, Zuma, Suharto, Marcos, Milošević, Duvalier, Putin, .... There is certainly ideology among his allies -- Bannon, Pence, Ryan -- but as long as Trump himself is at the helm, they will get their ideology enacted only in exchange for their help in furthering Trump's profits and glory. The biggest loser in all this is not oppressed minorities but America's idealistic beliefs in the existence of sincere public service and non-partisan criticism. Once the American people have accepted that "they all do it", that the only reason to vote for one leader or party over another is which one has promised you a patronage job, and that the only reason to believe one news source over another is which one supports your party, it'll be extremely difficult to ever restore the faith that democracy can work.